Semantic Change. Metaphor. Metonomy. Hyperbole. Litotes. Simile

Summary

This educational script delves into the fascinating world of semantic change, focusing on the concepts of narrowing and widening of word meanings. It provides historical examples, such as 'meat' evolving from a general term for food to its current reference to edible flesh. The script also explores figures of speech like metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, and litotes, illustrating their use in language to convey deeper or altered meanings. Through examples and explanations, it offers insights into how language evolves and the rhetorical devices that enrich our communication.

Takeaways

• 😀 Semantic change is an inevitable part of language development, affecting the meaning of words over time.
• 🔍 Two primary types of semantic change are narrowing (specialization) and widening (generalization) of word meanings.
• 📚 The word 'meat' exemplifies narrowing, evolving from meaning 'food' in Old English to 'edible flesh' in Modern English.
• 🌐 'Disease' originally meant 'discomfort' but now specifically refers to 'illness', showing how meanings can become more specific.
• 👰 The term 'wife' has narrowed from its original meaning of 'woman' due to the addition of descriptive terms.
• 📈 'Fly' demonstrates widening, as it transitioned from 'moving through the air with wings' to a more abstract concept of 'moving quickly'.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The word 'sister' in Ukrainian has widened to include various familial relations like 'parents' sister' or 'wife of parents' brother'.
• 🌟 Metaphors and similes are figures of speech that involve the comparison of one thing to another, with metaphors being more implicit.
• 🏆 Metonymy is a figure of speech where a word is replaced by something closely associated with it, often an attribute or a part of a whole.
• 🎈 Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally, used to express strong emotions or for dramatic effect.
• 🤐 Litotes, or understatement, conveys a positive meaning by negating its contrary, often used in English to soften statements or show politeness.
• 🤗 Euphemism is the substitution of a word or phrase with a milder or more pleasant term, often to avoid offense or express delicacy.

Q & A

What is semantic change?

Semantic change refers to the alterations in the meaning of words over time, which is an inevitable part of language development.

What are the two most important types of semantic change mentioned in the script?

The two most important types of semantic change mentioned are narrowing and widening.

Can you provide an example of semantic narrowing from the script?

An example of semantic narrowing is the word 'meat' in Old English, which meant 'food' and in Modern English, it has narrowed to mean 'edible flesh'.

How is the meaning of 'woman' an example of semantic narrowing?

In the script, 'woman' is an example of semantic narrowing because it originally meant 'female person' and now it specifically refers to 'a married woman'.

What is the difference between metaphor and simile as discussed in the script?

A metaphor is a figure of speech that directly compares one thing to another without using 'like' or 'as', while a simile explicitly uses 'like' or 'as' to make the comparison.

What is metonymy and how does it relate to semantic change?

Metonymy is a figure of speech where a word or phrase is replaced by another closely related word or phrase to represent it. It relates to semantic change as it involves a shift in meaning based on contextual associations.

Can you give an example of hyperbole from the script?

An example of hyperbole from the script is 'I almost died from laughter', which is an exaggerated statement to express that something was very funny, not literally dying.

What is the purpose of using understatement in language as described in the script?

Understatement is used in language to convey a positive meaning by negating its contrary, often to soften the impact of a statement or to avoid offending someone.

How does the script explain the use of euphemisms?

The script explains that euphemisms are used to replace words or phrases with milder terms to make sentences sound less offensive or harsh, while preserving the original meaning.

What is the significance of the semantic change from 'holiday' to 'any day off' as mentioned in the script?

The change from 'holiday' meaning 'holy day' to 'any day off' illustrates the process of widening, where the original, more specific meaning expands to a broader, more general meaning.

How does the script differentiate between the narrowing and widening of word meanings?

The script differentiates between narrowing and widening by showing that narrowing involves adding descriptors to make the meaning more specific, while widening allows the word to take on a more general or abstract meaning.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Semantic Change and Language Evolution

The script discusses semantic change, a fundamental aspect of language evolution, focusing on the concepts of narrowing and widening of word meanings. Examples provided include 'meat' evolving from 'food' in Old English, 'disease' narrowing from 'discomfort', and 'starve' becoming specific to death by hunger. The paragraph explores how words can become more specific or generalized over time, affecting their meaning and usage in language.

05:02

🌐 Metaphor and Simile in Language

This paragraph delves into the figures of speech, specifically metaphor and simile, which are integral to rhetorical language. Metaphor is described as a transfer of name based on similarity, often resulting in a generalization where the original comparison is forgotten, as seen in phrases like 'a mountain of a man'. Simile, on the other hand, is a direct comparison using 'like' or 'as', such as 'as brave as a lion'. The paragraph provides examples to illustrate the differences and usage of these rhetorical devices.

10:03

🔄 Metonymy and the Shift of Meaning

The third paragraph examines metonymy, a figure of speech where a word is replaced by another closely related in meaning. This can involve using an attribute to represent the whole, such as 'the crown' for the monarchy or 'Wall Street' for the financial industry. Examples from Ukrainian are also given, like 'suits' to denote businesspeople. The paragraph explains how metonymy contributes to the transference and evolution of meaning in language.

15:09

🎭 Hyperbole and Its Role in Expression

Hyperbole, the use of exaggeration for emphasis or effect, is the focus of this paragraph. It discusses how hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally but serves to express strong emotional attitudes or opinions. Examples include 'I'm never going to finish this meal' or 'He has been talking for a week', which use exaggeration to convey a point more dramatically. The paragraph also touches on the use of hyperbole in different contexts and its function in language.

20:10

🤐 Litotes and Euphemism in Figurative Speech

The script explores litotes, an understatement that conveys a positive meaning through the use of negatives, such as 'not bad' to imply 'good'. It also covers euphemism, a mild expression used to replace harsher terms, often to avoid offense or to soften the impact of a statement. Examples provided range from 'passed away' for 'died' to 'kicked the bucket' for death. The paragraph discusses the reasons and contexts for using these forms of figurative language.

25:13

🛁 Euphemism and Social Interaction

This final paragraph continues the discussion on euphemism, highlighting its role in social interaction and communication. It explains how euphemisms are used to make conversations more palatable by avoiding direct mention of unpleasant topics. The paragraph provides various examples of euphemisms in everyday language, such as 'put to sleep' for euthanasia or 'out of work' for unemployment, emphasizing their prevalence and importance in softening language.

Keywords

💡Semantic Change

Semantic change refers to the evolution of meaning of words over time, which is a fundamental aspect of language development. In the video, it is discussed in the context of narrowing and widening of meanings, where 'narrowing' involves a word becoming more specific, and 'widening' means a word's meaning becomes more general. For example, the word 'meat' originally meant 'food' in Old English but narrowed to refer specifically to 'edible flesh' in Modern English.

💡Narrowing

Narrowing is a type of semantic change where a word's meaning becomes more specific or specialized. The script provides the example of 'woman', which originally could refer to any woman but now specifically denotes a 'married woman'. This process often involves the addition of descriptors to make the meaning more precise.

💡Widening

Widening is the opposite of narrowing, where a word's meaning expands to encompass a broader range of concepts. The script illustrates this with the word 'fly', which in Middle English meant 'to move through the air with wings' but now can be used to describe any mode of transportation. Widening often leads to higher abstraction in the meaning of a word.

💡Metaphor

Metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. In the video, metaphor is discussed as a transfer of name based on similarity, with linguistic metaphors being a result of generalized meaning where the original comparison is forgotten, such as 'food' for 'mountain'.

💡Simile

Simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, often using 'like' or 'as' to make the comparison. The script contrasts simile with metaphor, noting that similes are explicit comparisons, as seen in examples like 'as brave as a lion', whereas metaphors imply the comparison without using 'like' or 'as'.

💡Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech where a word or phrase is replaced by another closely related to it, often to convey a specific attribute or context. The script explains metonymy as a transfer of meaning based on the association of contexts, such as 'the crown' referring to the monarchy or 'Wall Street' referring to the financial industry.

💡Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses exaggeration for emphasis or dramatic effect. It is not meant to be taken literally. The script provides examples like 'I'm never going to finish this meal' to illustrate how hyperbole can express strong emotions or attitudes, often by overstating a situation.

💡Litotes

Litotes, or understatement, is a figure of speech that conveys a positive meaning by negating its opposite. The script describes litotes as a way to imply the opposite of a negative statement, such as 'not bad' meaning 'good'. It is often used in English to soften statements or to show politeness.

💡Euphemism

Euphemism is a mild expression used to replace one that might be considered harsh or offensive. The script discusses euphemisms as a way to make sentences sound less offensive, such as 'passed away' instead of 'died'. Euphemisms are common in everyday language to lessen the harshness of certain topics.

💡Generalization of Meaning

Generalization of meaning is a process in semantic change where a word's meaning becomes more abstract and widely applicable. The script mentions this in the context of metaphor, where the original comparison is forgotten, and the word takes on a broader meaning, such as 'fly' evolving from a specific action to a general term for transportation.

💡Specialization

Specialization is the process by which a word's meaning becomes more specific or restricted. The script uses 'meat' as an example of a word that specialized from meaning 'food' in Old English to specifically referring to 'edible flesh' in Modern English. This process often involves narrowing the scope of a word's application.

Highlights

Semantic change is an inevitable part of language development.

Two primary types of semantic change are narrowing and widening of word meanings.

Narrowing refers to the specialization of a word's meaning, exemplified by 'meat' evolving from 'food' in Old English.

Examples of narrowing include 'disease' shifting from discomfort to illness, and 'starve' from dying to dying of hunger.

Widening is the opposite of narrowing, where a word's meaning becomes more generalized.

The term 'lexan fly' illustrates widening, changing from moving through the air with wings to any movement.

Metonymy is a figure of speech where a word is replaced by something closely associated with it.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement used to express strong emotions or for dramatic effect.

Simile and metaphor are figures of speech that compare two unlike things, with simile using 'like' or 'as'.

Linguistic metaphors are a result of generalized meaning where the original comparison is forgotten.

Euphemism is a mild expression used to replace harsher terms, often to avoid offense.

Understatement is a figure of speech that conveys a positive meaning through the use of negatives.

The use of understatement in English is common for politeness or to convey subtlety.

Semantic changes can involve the deterioration or amelioration of a word's meaning.

The process of semantic change can be complex, involving shifts in connotation and denotation.

Exercises in the transcript involve comparing similar and metaphor to understand their differences and usage.

The discussion also covers the transference of meaning and its relation to rhetorical figures like metaphor and metonymy.

Transcripts

so we're talking about semantic

change and about

such moments as narrowing

widening results of semantic changing

then we'll discuss metonymy

hyperbololite is similar

and then we'll do the exercises

that please stop what is semantic change

a semantic change meaning of every word

undergoes some changes which

are inevitable in the development of the

language

narrowing and widening so

uh two most important changes are

narrowing and widening the dash and

talk about narrowing place

a narrowing of meaning or specialization

occurs

when the world comes from the sphere of

road usage

to the special sphere is

the best known example of specialization

is as policy in old english

the lexi meter meant a food

while in modern english it developed

into the meat

minion edible flesh

yeah and we see that it was

meat then originally it meant

food and now it means

edible flesh so

other examples

disease and discomfort illness

yeah disease meant discomfort

like any discomfort and

now it means illness

wifi roman origin is original meaning

and

meaning after naren is married to woman

yeah so early it was

any woman and now it is only a

married woman yeah then

starv original minion is to die

and meaning of generating to die or

hunger

yeah you see that you can die of any

reason

but to starve you die of hunger

and turn

original minion is irrange and dominion

after nearing is unfortunate in range

you see that if we think of

all these examples uh what

is the conclusion that we can make about

narrowing

what is the conclusion what happens to

word

die die of hunger woman

married woman event unfortunate event

what happens to the word

no we usually add something

either adjective or any kind

of description and

narrow its meaning okay

our generalization of meaning occurs

when the scope of the notion

is further than in original word in this

case the meaning of the word gets

higher abstraction the example of this

change is lexan fly

that in middle english meant to move

through the air with

wings now it denotes and

any moment through the ear the lexing

thing used to mean a mater brought

before this

assembly then caused objectives

decision now it is the most generally

used

word in the language it can substitute

almost

any noun

sister new meaning parents sister

wife of parents brazil okay in ukrainian

we still have the words

we can say titka which is parents sister

wife's parents brother or we can say

as in western ukraine we can say

vuina and strina which greatly

define who the person is

what is the relation next

awards manage uh old dominion handle a

horse

new meaning handle anything so

usually before you handled a horse you

work just with a horse

and now you do anything next time

and finally holiday old meaning holy

day and you mean any day off

so it was holiday meaning it was any

kind

of a church

celebration okay

and when we make a conclusion

on semantic change we'll see

that the result of semantic change

is the change of change

of certain rotational meaning and

change of um divide uh destruction of

meaning

and extension of meaning and change of

the connotational meaning

divided uh in uh into

determine deterioration of meaning and

amelioration of meaning yeah but it

tells us

about the same when we change the

notation of meaning it may be restricted

give me the other give me the other word

for restriction

narrow way it narrows

or it may be extended

give me the other word for extension

an obedient widening why why widening

or broadening and we can say

we can change connotational meaning

enter

connotations are matter from metonymy

and so on and so forth okay

here good thank you let's uh

look at the transference of meaning and

our first task will be to compare

similar and matter to talk about

metaphor and

similar and common stuff

the transparent of meaning includes

other changes of meaning that

are close to such figures of speech as

metaphor

metonymy hyperbole lightitus and similar

these figures used in rhetorical speech

show their processes peculiar to the

transposition

of meaning metaphor is a transfer of

name

based on their association of similarity

and

is actually a hidden comparison it

implies the description that links

one thing to another for example a woman

can be called

a peach a lemon a cat aligners

unlike poetic metaphor that is used in

poetic speech and

is created by an author linguistic

metaphor is

a result of a generalization of meaning

in which the comparison

is completely forgotten what for example

food or for

a mountain lack of a table uh all

linguistic metaphors

are already dead in metaphors

and when we talk about

metaphors we usually compare

a metaphor to a similar

or we pronounce it similarly similar so

what is a simile

similarly is a statement based on the

comparison yeah

so for similar we usually let's uh look

at this table

and let's compare that

[Music]

when you use a simile you say that

something is like or as

something else when you paint a picture

by saying that something is

something else you use a metaphor

okay uh exam examples of simile

he it's like a peak it's called like an

anti uh international here

antarctica here her skin was

white as snow she went on working in the

country as white as a mouse she

smelled like rose too the old woman

thought

john sleeps like a baby all night okay

and

exactly if we look i'll stop here if we

look at

similar sir what will we see

always see like like

we'll see that everywhere there will be

the words

as or like so similar we make it uh

we compare it and tell about metaphors

examples of metaphors thanks for mailing

those later

you are an and you are an angel it's

antarctica here uh lotte is the music of

the soul

the computer in the classroom was an old

dinosaur the detective listened to her

tales with a wooden face

i think that new singer is a diamond in

their role

okay so we see that here

so all those examples

they don't have this like

so it's called like in antarctica

or it's antarctica

you are like a pig you are epic

give me your examples if you may think

of

any examples that compare similar to

metaphor for example similar this woman

so beautiful like a rose

and metaphor this woman is a rose

perfect she is a rose yeah

mm-hmm uh marie your example

and this person

is like

like fox as this

he is starving as a fox

he is yeah this person is like a foxer

and

uh you compare to the fox and he's a fox

meaning he is cunning he is not good

to other people so thank you marin

your example uh he is a

as brave as a lion

um and it is what

it is a similar family

and before um

it's a line yeah he is a lion

it is a metaphor yeah

it is obviously a metaphor occasion

enough for this give me your example

here like um

he is a brother he is just a bear

yeah meaning he is big rapha and

okay

is a form of figurative language in

which a word

is replaced by something very close

to the original meaning for example

um metonymy

isn't is the transfer

of meaning based upon the association

of contexts

is the meaning of a word um

shifts the name of an attribute

of an of a scene that substitutes

the name of the scene itself

for example cheers chairman

the bar liars jeans

material genes and

genes is used to detonate detonate the

object made of it okay here so

give me in ukrainian some examples of

metonymy

we use one word one part

of the whole to denote the whole

for example here you have suzer

costume huh and suits means

business people a businessman

so give me more examples from ukrainian

when we say for example

so what what do we mean

marilyn give read the examples

and let me

let me your ear let me your ear

which refers to the royal system of

government of a country

okay to lend

a hand this use of metonymy refers to

helping someone

wall street this term reform

refers to the financial industry um

no wall street bullets of new york

would you like a piece

of my danish in this example

the word danish does not refer

to a person from denmark but rather

the the food i think a danish

pastry okay more examples from ukrainian

this is

exaggerated the statement which

expresses emotional attitude or the

speaker

for example a thousand patterns splendid

in short that hyperbole is a statement

which has been exaggerated it is used to

overstate the situation and is not

intended to be taken literally

hyperbole may be used in a figurative

language to

overexpress what sermon is saying in

such

an example as i almost

died from larfan the speaker didn't

literally almost die but

using these hyperboles they are

expressing that

they loved a great deal

hyperbole can also be used as a rhetoric

device

in this type of use you might see a

phrase

such as we have nurse interfere but

free itself uh in this example the

speaker

is exaggerating how fearful people

should be

or are he probably is used

to over emphasize a statement or

situation

in order to give a more dramatic effect

uh

on the listener or reader examples in

speed

okay so let's say in your words how do

you understand hyperbola

uh probably it is um when we

say something in

exaggerating it very good when we

exaggerate

remember where did we meet the word

exaggeration

in literary genres

tall tale was not a serious exaggeration

yeah so and legend was

a serious exaggeration okay here

and usually we use hyperbola to

overstate a situation

natasha read an example read the

examples

examples in speech i have 101 scenes

to do today but of course we understand

that it's

this job is going to take me forever

i'm never going to finish this meal

she has been at the shop for an eternity

i'm stuck on a level which is impossible

i'm never going to get this job done

that man is as old as time

this is the beggar raised 10

he has been talking for a week when i

was pregnant i was

as big as a house he never died

and now he is ahead as an elephant

okay yeah and we see that

very often in hyperbola

we use what do we use in hyperbola

we use similar we use similar

because with the help of similar

we compare as big as a horse

as heavy as an elephant

and so on and so forth okay

next time light 20 light tortilla

light tortoise or understatement is used

to express

the affirmative by the negative of its

contrary

not bad equals good not rich

poor latertis is a form of the figure of

speech

which and negates a positive in order to

convey under understated irony

the classic example of flightitus is the

term not bad

as you can see both of these words are

negative but when placed together from

a positive sentence in most contexts the

use of literatures

is used to understate a thing or

situation

it's a form of figurative language which

uses a negative to assert a positive

by using this method we use latertis to

imply the opposite meaning of something

for example by saying that some

that someone is not seen you are

implying that they

are fat literatures must always contain

a negative

okay yeah so like 20 or

understatement are very peculiar

to the english language when you don't

want to offend

a person or when you want to show your

suckers

so i give the examples with the examples

please

he isn't he isn't the friendliest person

it was not an awful trip she is not

unkind he is not exactly poor

his cooking is not terrible he is no

spring chicken

that is not too shabby her singing is

not bad

it isn't really a walk in the park

finland

is no ordinary country it isn't rocket

science

he is not unlike his sister that ice

cream was not bad

your house is not untidy she is not

doing too badly at all

he won't regret that decision

so uh what uh what do we

show with these examples

understatement of different

things yeah we we understand

why why do we use this understatement

what is the reason for using in this

understatement

for example he is not exactly poor what

do we mean

he is rich

okay yeah so just uh

let me uh okay we'll we'll do it later

we'll watch your video

why english men like uh understatement

so much

all they taught so it isn't rocket

science what does this mean

it is very simple it's not

difficult so what do we

mean by finland is no ordinary country

finland is no ordinary country

i said it is um

in this country it is unusual country

very good by using mild words

for example to pass away means to die

when a person uses a japanese they are

replacing a word or phrase with another

in order to make the sentence sounds

less offensive in day in day to day

figurative language euphemism can be

used to

internationally alter a sentence to

lessen the harshness of its meaning

without

actually removing the meaning for

example if you

were in a fancy restaurant you may not

announce

that you were going to take a b instead

you may use a japanese such as

i'm going to use the bathroom this would

imply some

the some thing but sound much more

pleasant

in some cases enough i mean enough here

uh once again when do we use euphemism

what do we need euphemisms for

to exchange something um unpleasant by

using more

mild words by using

milder words occasion and

we see that our life is full of

euphemisms

we use euphemisms all the time on

some some of the euphemisms

passed away which is a euphemism for

diet

never say americans never say my mother

died

they will say here past eurasia yeah

then put to sleep which is euphemism

for um euthanized

afternoon uh put usually with

animals my dog was put to sleep

because yeah next time

uh dominate a pregnancy which is

euphemism for

abortion

and lots of us kick the bucket

out of work for unemployed

and so on and so forth

okay here so enough for the