This new and important study of semantic change examines the various ways in which new meanings arise through language use, especially the ways in which speakers and writers experiment with uses of words and constructions. Drawing on extensive research from over a thousand years of English and Japanese textual history, Traugott and Dasher show that most changes in meaning originate in and are motivated by the associative flow of speech and conceptual metonymy.
Author(s): Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Richard B. Dasher
Series: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 97
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 363
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 7
FIGURES......Page 11
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 13
(ii) Conventions for English......Page 15
(iii) Conventions for Japanese......Page 16
ABBREVIATIONS......Page 19
1.1 Aims of this book......Page 23
1.2 The theory of grammar and of language use......Page 28
1.2.1 Meaning and grammar......Page 29
1.2.2 Polysemy, homonymy, monosemy......Page 33
1.2.3 Meaning and use......Page 38
1.2.4 Subjectivity, intersubjectivity, objectivity......Page 41
1.3 Semantic change......Page 46
1.3.1 Mechanisms of semantic change: metaphorization, metonymization......Page 49
1.3.2 The Invited Inferencing Theory of Semantic Change model of semantic change......Page 56
1.4 Child vs. adult acquisition in semantic change......Page 63
1.5 The hypothesis that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny......Page 64
1.6 The nature of evidence for semantic change......Page 66
1.6.1 The validity of written data......Page 67
1.6.2 The language and data sources for this book......Page 70
1.7 Summary and outline of later chapters......Page 71
2.2 Backgrounds to contemporary work......Page 73
2.2.1 Bréal......Page 74
2.2.2 The early twentieth century......Page 82
2.2.3 Semantic fields......Page 87
2.3.1 Metaphor......Page 97
2.3.2 Metonymy and invited inference......Page 100
2.3.3 Grammaticalization and unidirectionality......Page 103
2.3.4 Subjectification and intersubjectification......Page 111
2.3.5 Historical pragmatics......Page 121
2.4 Conclusion......Page 126
3.1 Introduction......Page 127
3.2.1 Subjects of modals......Page 130
3.2.2 Conceptual sources......Page 131
3.2.3 Generalized deontic and epistemic necessity and possibility......Page 133
3.2.4 Scope......Page 134
3.2.5 (Inter)subjectivity......Page 135
3.2.6 Temporality......Page 138
3.2.7 Scales of modal strength......Page 139
3.3 Semantic sources of deontic and epistemic modals......Page 140
3.4.1 English must......Page 142
3.4.2 English ought to......Page 159
3.4.3 Chinese de......Page 166
3.5 Conclusion......Page 169
4.1 Introduction......Page 174
4.2 Discourse markers......Page 176
4.3 The development of discourse markers signaling local connectivity......Page 179
4.3.1 English indeed......Page 181
4.3.2 English in fact......Page 187
4.3.3 English actually......Page 191
4.3.4 Comparison of the three adverbials......Page 192
4.4 Subjectification and intersubjectification......Page 196
4.4.1 English well......Page 197
4.4.2 English let’s......Page 198
Stage I: sate: “thus”......Page 200
Stage II: sate: connection between p (as a whole) and q......Page 201
Stage III: sate: scene-shifter......Page 204
Stage IV: sate: exclamation (and hedge)......Page 206
Stage V: sate: epistolary formula......Page 207
4.6 Conclusion......Page 209
5.1 Speech act and performative verbs......Page 212
5.2 Some issues for studies of the development of performative verbs......Page 217
5.3 Precursors of performative verbs......Page 223
5.4.1 Some directives: PROMISE in English......Page 226
5.4.2 A declarative: Chinese bao......Page 236
5.4.3 Another declarative: Japanese aisatu......Page 237
5.5 On the recruitment of modals for performative uses......Page 241
5.6 Conclusion......Page 246
6.1 Introduction......Page 248
6.2.1 Referent and addressee honorifics......Page 249
6.2.2 Politeness and honorific social deictics......Page 250
6.2.3 A model of deixis......Page 253
6.3 Classes of honorifics and patterns of semantic change in Japanese......Page 257
6.4 The development of referent social deictic function......Page 264
6.4.1 Japanese kudasaru “RESP: give to SP/W (group)”......Page 267
Stage II: kudasaru: “RESP: give”......Page 268
6.4.2 English pray (ADV)......Page 274
6.4.3 English please (ADV)......Page 277
6.5 The development of predicate addressee honorifics in Japanese......Page 280
6.5.1 Japanese saburahu “HUMIL:be” > “be:POL”......Page 285
Stage I: saburahu: “wait on”......Page 286
Stage II: saburahu: referent honorific......Page 287
Stage III: saburahu “addressee honorific”......Page 291
6.6 Conclusion......Page 298
7.2 Summary of major findings......Page 301
7.3 Directions for future work......Page 305
PRIMARY REFERENCES......Page 308
SECONDARY REFERENCES......Page 317
INDEX OF LANGUAGES......Page 350
INDEX OF NAMES......Page 352
GENERAL INDEX......Page 357
