26.

Assimilation of borrowings
When words migrate from one language to another
they assimilate themselves to their new
environment and get adapted to their norms of that
language. They undergo certain changes. Adoption
of words of a foreign origin to the norms of the
borrowing language is called assimilation.
There are 3 types of assimilation of borrowings
according to the linguists.
1)phonetic assimilation – it is Due to changes sound
form and stress
Ex – the letter e in French borrowing is alien to
English speech. And it is rendered with the help of
[ei]. Café, communiqué or régime, ballet
2)grammatical assimilation – it is according to the
grammatical categories. Borrowed words into
English lost their grammatical categories with other
English words. Some borrowings have 2 plural forms
Ex – vacuum (lat)- vacua and vacuums
Or Russian word “sputnik “is used in 6 cases, but in
English it is used in 2 cases.
3)lexical assimilation – it is according to the
meaning.
Ex-“umbrella “-it was borrowed from Italian
language. And it meant sunshade but in English
language it is an item to avoid getting wet
Sometimes the primary meaning of a borrowed
word becomes a secondary meaning.
Ex – fellow – meant” comrade, companion “but now
it means “ a man or a boy “
27. Neologism
The vocabulary of any language doesn’t remain the
same,but changes constantly. New notions come
into being, requiring new words to name them.
A neologism is a newly coined word or phrase that
may be process of entering common use, but has
not yet been accepted into mainstream language.
This term comes from Greek origin. Neos – new,
logos-speech
The term is first attested in English, borrowed from
French neologism.
New words or expressions are created for new
things. Neologism are frequently coined out of
elements (morphemes, words)which in a given
language.
There are acronyms among neologism.
Ex – UNESCO (united nations educational scientific
and cultural organisation), NABISCO (national
biscuits compony)
According to the science or industry néologisms are
created.
Ex- computer, tape recorder, super – market,
izotop, aerobic etc.
Or According to the political life new words are
created.
Eg – unemployment – unused
There are some compositions
Ex – love- in, teach - in, pray- in, lie - in, sleep- in
Accordin to the shortening
Ex- bionics - bio (electr) +nics ; slimnastic – slim. +
(gym) nastics
Some affixes can creat new words
Such as – holic, re,Anti, de, un, self, super, mini
Ex- alcoholic, workaholic, bookaholic, resit, rehouse,
anti – body etc.
There are some words which were used like
archaism, but now they are neologism
Ex – blood money, angel etc.
28. Archaism
Archaic words which drop out of the language
altogether. The term comes from Greek origin.
The disappearance of words may be caused by
purely linguistic factors.
Ex – ere – before ; save – except, lists – arena
Most of arcahisms(them) are lexical archaism and
they are stylistic synonyms.
Ex – steed (horse) ; behold (see) ; slay (kill) ;woe
(sorrow)
Some archaisms are substituted by some other
words.
Ex – eke – alo ; ere – before
There are poetic archaisms
Ex- behold-see ; steed – horse ;thou – you, of yore –
of ancient time ; spouse – wife
There are also grammatical archaisms
Ex – hath – has ;doth – does
Some compound words, set expressions keep
archaic elements
Ex – stepson – step ( OE steop) means destitute)
Some archaisms are used in historical books, novels
for the sake of some special stylistic colouring or for
saying things which once existed.
When the things named is no longer used, its name
becomes historism.
Such as – names of weapons, clothes, musical
instruments etc
Ex – archer – shooter, baldric- belt for a sword.
Some words were used like archaisms, but now
they are neologism
Ex – blood money, angel etc.
There are some reasons why archaisms exist
1.object doesn’t exist in English
2. Substituted from another word
3.borrowing
4.changing meaning of the word.
29 Semasiology, types of meaning
Semasiology is a branch of linguistics concerned
with the meaning of words and word equivalents.
Semasiology term comes from Greek origin. Səma
means sign, loges means learning, study.
There is a main question in Semasiology
What does the word x mean?
Onomosology is the opposite approach to
Semasiology.
There are differences between Onomosology and
Semasiology
Semasiology – expresses object;onomosology –
names of objects
Ex- what are the names of long, narrow pieces
deep fried potato – French fries
It is Onomosology, because l interested in name
of the word
What is the meaning of French fries (chips)
It is Semasiology.
Types of meaning
In any language, we can find word with one
meaning or word with 2 or more meaning
If a word has 1 meaning, it is monasemantic
If a word has 2 or more meaning, it is
polysemantic.
Polysemantic words are more than monasemantic
words.
There are also types of meaning :primary,
secondary ; nominative (direct) , figurative ;
grammatical and lexical ; cannotive, denotative
1)primary meaning – it is the original meaning of
the word.
2)secondary meaning – it is derived from the
primary meaning
Ex – eye (à part of body)
Eye (the eye of needle)
3)nominative (direct) – the meaning is nominative
when it nominates the objects without the help of
context.
4) Figurative meaning – object is named and at
the same time characterized through its similarity
with another object.
5) Grammatical – it is according to the
grammatical functions
Ex – tables, boys, books, students etc
6)lexical meaning - it is the meaning proper to
the given linguistic unit in all its forms and
distributions.
The grammatical meaning is more abstract and
more generalized than the lexical meaning.
Lexico – grammatical meaning is usual to classify
lexical items into major classes (nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs and minor word classes
(articles, prépositions, conjunctions and others).
Lexical meaning may be denotational and
cannotational meaning.
The component of the lexical meaning which
makes communication possible is the
denotational meaning.
Ex- Hornby charaterized the word cat
Denonative express notion which exist in a
language.
2. Cannonative meaning is an additional meaning
to Denonative meaning. It is the pragmatic
 communicative value the word receives
depending on “where, when, how, by whom, for
what purpose and in what contexts it may be
used.
There are 4 main types of cannotational meaning
1) Stylistic – it is understood in a synonymic
group.
Ex – child, kid, infant.
It is used in different styles
2)Emotional – it is used according to the
emotional situations
Ex – mummy, mother
3)Evaluative – expresses approval and disapproval
Ex – shut up
4)Intensifying – (expressive, emphatic)
Eg – magnificent, splendid, terrific
They are used as terms of exaggeration
Denotational depends on our conscious
Connatational depends on name of the word.
 30.connotattional,dennotational.
Lexical meaning may be denotational and
cannotational meaning.
The component of the lexical meaning which
makes communication possible is the
denotational meaning.
Ex- Hornby charaterized the word cat
Denonative express notion which exist in a
language.
2. Cannonative meaning is an additional meaning
to Denonative meaning. It is the pragmatic
communicative value the word receives
depending on “where, when, how, by whom, for
what purpose and in what contexts it may be
used.
There are 4 main types of cannotational meaning
1) Stylistic – it is understood in a synonymic
group. Ex – child, kid, infant.
It is used in different styles
2.Emotional – it is used according to the emotional
situations
Ex – mummy, mother
3.Evaluative – expresses approval and disapproval
Ex – shut up
4.Intensifying – (expressive, emphatic)
Eg – magnificent, splendid, terrific
They are used as terms of exaggeration
31. Results of semantic changes
The etymological analysis make it possible to see
the development of the meaning of the word and
the changes of denotational meaning of the word.
There are 4 types of semantic change.
1)extention of meaning (generalisation)
It means widening Of the word. Extention of the
meaning is one of the most common features in the
history of words.
Ex – manuscript – it refers author’s copy which is
written by hand or typed,but originally it meant
only smth written by hand
Or season it meant “the period of sowing “but now
it means “4 parts of year “or season of the film etc
The original proper name is usually forgotten
Ex – picture – painted
Cravat – from French – men are covering their neck
Scene – Greek – for tent
Pipe – a simple musical instrument
Extention of the meaning includes not only the
change from concrete to abstract, but also from
specific to general.
While generalizing, the words acquire figurative
meaning, but there are some words which can
substitute any word of their class. They are called
“generic terms”
Ex – person – man or woman
Furniture – table, chair, wardrobe buffet
Animal – dog, cat, fox, horse etc
2)narrowing of the meaning – if a word begins to be
applied to a narrower number of objects or
phenomena its meaning is narrowed. In the process
words lose 1 or more meaning and become
international words
Ex-to starve-meant to die. But after Scandinavian
word to die was borrowed and narrowed. Now it
means “to die of hunger”
Meat – meant food and drink
Wife – meant woman but now it means “married
women”
There are some place names (toponyms)
The tower, Oxford, the Highlands, the city etc.
3.Elevation of meaning (amélioration)
In the course of time some words have
completely changed their meanings. It happened,
because people’s attitude have changed to same
things or phenomena
Eg – knight - it meant “boy" then “servant”.
But now it means “a title of rank “
Minister meant servant, now it means an
important public official, person
Lord – God, manage, important person
4)dégradation of meaning (pejoration)
Dégradation is such a process that a word falls
into disrepute for some reasons.
Eg- knave – meant a boy, servant boy
Because masters thought servant boys are
rouges. Knave descended to the meaning “Rascal”
Rascal meant “naughty “
Gossip – meant “God parent “
Silly – meant “happy “
Idiot –meant “private person”
32. Extention of meaning (generalisation)
It means widening Of the word. Extention of the
meaning is one of the most common features in
the history of words.
 Ex – manuscript – it refers author’s copy which is
written by hand or typed,but originally it meant
only smth written by hand
Or season it meant “the period of sowing “but
now it means “4 parts of year “or season of the
film etc
The original proper name is usually forgotten
Ex – picture – painted
Cravat – from French – men are covering their neck
Scene – Greek – for tent
Pipe – a simple musical instrument
Extention of the meaning includes not only the
change from concrete to abstract, but also from
specific to general.
While generalizing, the words acquire figurative
meaning, but there are some words which can
substitute any word of their class. They are called
“generic terms”
Ex – person – man or woman.
Furniture – table, chair, wardrobe buffet
Animal – dog, cat, fox, horse etc