Lexical Change in English语言学论文.doc
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1、Lexical Change in English Abstract: As the time goes by, changes of English strike our eyes quickly and easily. Especially, the changes in lexical items are comparatively more obvious and noticeable. Therefore,a description and explanation of this change is necessary for any comprehensive diachronic
2、 theory. And a study of lexical change supports and suggests modifications for the theories of language change of Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog and Samuels. We can see the rarest neologisms are nonce words and words created from scratch (zero-derivatives). Somewhat more common are words consisting of
3、 new or uncommon morphs combined with more ordinary ones. Least rare are new combinations of old morphs, borrowings from other languages, cultures or specialized or non-elite dialects, words created by analogy, and words modified to fit new syntactic slots. Words may simply have their semantic range
4、 altered or existing words may fossilize in phrases acting as single semantic units. Lexical change usually involves material already present in the language system or in that of a contact system. It occurs in all idiolects and registers in response to definable linguistic forces, in various degrees
5、 of consciousness and its diffusion, while not necessarily predictable, can be mapped according to a number of specific linguistic, social and psychological variables. Particular attention is paid to the neutralization of sex references where they are not contextually relevant. Then, the following p
6、assage is mainly focused on illustrating the lexical changes of English.Key words: lexical change English language words I. Introduction Lexical change is probably the most frequent type of language change and certainly the easiest to observe. Generally speaking, there are mainly two possible ways o
7、f lexical changes: the addition and loss of words, which often reflects the introduction of new objects and notions in social practices. For the addition of new words, there are a number of ways such as coinage, clipped words, blending, acronyms, back-formation, functional shift, and borrowing. Mean
8、while, new words may come into a language, and some words can disappear in use over time, which can be seen obviously from reading any Shakespeares works. Intriguingly, in the case of wireless, the word has experienced something of a revival. If you hear the word wireless used by a younger speaker,
9、they are almost certainly using it as an adjective rather than a noun and referring to wireless technology, from WAP phones to blackberries and laptops. This exemplifies perfectly how words can virtually disappear or gradually shift in meaning and usage. II. Demonstration2.1 Addition of new words2.1
10、.1 Coinage A new word can be coined outright to fit some purpose, mostly for new things and objects. The following is some examples:Kodak Xerox Taikonaut memory stick digital camera mouse potato 2.1.2 Clipped wordsClipping also called abbreviations is one way in which we change words. A great number
11、 of English words have undergone the process of abbreviation in their etymological history. A new word can be created by cutting the final part or cutting the initial part or cutting both the initial and final parts. Thus, we may shorten dormitory to dorm and thereby create a new word, or we may cha
12、nge condominium to condo. We use the longer term if the situation is more formal and the shorter term if the situation is more informal. However, the new term may entirely replace the longer original word. For example, the word “flu” is created by cutting both the initial and final parts “influenza”
13、. Clipping is a common feature of in-group talk and of slang. For instance, English speakers in Japan have clipped befriended to friended to mark times when they assume the language teachers role outside the classroom, as in “I was friended on the train today” when the speaker was surrounded by stud
14、ents who wanted to practice their English. Additionally, it is observed English speakers tend to use abbreviations for each others names, such as Bob for Robert, Ed for Edward, Liz for Elizabeth, Mike for Michael. Abbreviation is also popular in educational domain, such as chem for chemistry, gym fo
15、r gymnasium, lab for laboratory, math for mathematics. 2.1.3 Blending Blending is a relatively complex form of compounding, in which two words are blended by joining the initial part of the first word and the final part of the second word, or by joining the initial parts of the two words. They can b
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