Learning a language is a life-long journey; it requires constant practise because a language is a living thing that changes and adapts to new situations like a person. Once you think you have understood the meaning of a word, that meaning might change. So you have to learn the new meaning. I have a lovely older student who has been using a textbook he has kept from the 1960s that uses short stories to introduce new vocabulary and grammar. It's an interesting method but one of the stories introduces a female character as 'a nice little thing'. This would NOT be appropriate today! This morning I saw the adjective 'awesome' in an exercise. In the nineties when I was a young woman this word was on the lips of all Americans but today it's a word your Dad might use to be 'down with the kids'! So how do words change with time? Broadening Otherwise known as generalization, broadening is when a word with a specific maening is extended to make it applicable in more contexts than it was previously used and means more than it previously did. This has happened in recent times when existing words have been used to describe new technologies makeing them more familiar, for example 'mouse' or 'tablet'. Other examples are with the words 'business', 'cool' and 'dog'. 'Business' used to refer to the state of being busy but now refers to work and professional activity. 'Dog' was used to refer to a particularly powerful breed of dog but now has been extended to mean any kind of canine. 'Cool' originally described a style of jazz music. 'Companion' originally meant 'someone who eats with you' but now is 'someone who is with you'. Another similar example is 'holiday' which no longer refers to something only 'holy'. Narrowing If there is broadening, there is also narrowing or specialization where the process is exactly the opposite from a large to a specific meaning. This might happen with loan words from other languages add synonyms which each take on different shades of meaning. Litter originally meant 'bed', then went to 'bedding', 'animals on a bedding of straw' and finally 'things scattered about'. 'Girl' comes from Low German 'gor' meaning 'child' and in the past indicated either sex. 'Meat' (mete) used to mean food in general. 'Starve' comes from Old English 'stearfan' meaning 'to die'. In Old English 'wife' used to refer to any woman ( just like 'femme' in French means both 'wife' and 'woman'. 'Naughty' used to mean 'having nothing', 'nought', then 'good for nothing'. Amelioration Modern examples of amelioration are 'sick', 'bad' or 'wicked', all of which had a negative meaning in the past but have come to be synonymous of 'good' or 'cool' so the sense has changed from negative to positive. Amelioration often means giving a weaker, less negative meaning. For example, 'terribly' and 'awfully' are now synonyms for 'very'. This is happening today in the news when simple events are over-dramatized so a 'tragedy' may just be a sad event or story. Our favourite adjective 'nice' has changed meaning incredibly. It used to mean 'foolish, silly' from the Latin 'nescius' 'ignorant', then 'timid', 'fastidious', 'delicate', 'precise' and 'agreeable'. Its staus as a one-stop adjective is even affirmed in Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey in 1803. “I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should not I call it so?" "Very true," said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement—people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word.” Pejoration Pejoration is to amelioration as broadening is to widening. So this is when a word gets worse. 'Silly' previously meant 'happy', 'blissful', 'fortunate' then 'blessed', then 'weak', 'insignificant' and 'foolish'. It is understandable that words that relate to value or intelligence can often acquire negative connotations as 'cheap' is synonymous with 'low quality'. Someone who is 'clever' may be using their intelligence in a dishonest way. ('Crafty' originally linked with being skilled now means 'dishonestly clever'. Often changes in meaning are associated with social status. 'Villain' originally referred to a medieval servant. 'Ambitious' came from 'ambitio' (going around) to now mean 'eager to win favour'. So, next time you learn a new word beware! Its meaning may change so don't get too comfortable and always be curious! The history of a word can lead to greater understanding.
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What is this?When I started lostinclassics I looked for language lessons in the books I was reading, such as for example the use of phrasal verbs or inversion in conditionals and I explained them through examples found in the text. I also did reviews of the books I read and tried to give some advice on how to read classics using the various resources I know of. Then I switched to just reviews and lately I have been doing a bit of creative writing inspired by my reading. Who knows what I will come up with next! Archives
September 2020
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