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Diachronic Changes in the Lexicon - Coggle Diagram
Diachronic Changes in the Lexicon
Nativization
Words are
adopted
and
adapted
to the phonological and morphological rules of the recipient language
Morphological
adaptation: sg. comma, pl. comma-s
Phonological
adaptation: Renaissance
OE Word Formation
Germanic
core vocabulary
low percentage of loan words
(about 3%)
fromLatin, Old Norse and Celtic
OE word families
are related by productive word-formation patterns > high semantic and morpho-logical transparency
Old English lexicon =
homogeneous
and
associative
ModE Word Formation
Modern English lexicon =
heterogeneous
and
dissociative
Over time the English language adopted numerous
lexical borrowings
from other languages
ModE word families
very often contain Germanic items along with semantically but not morphologically related items
Etymology
Etymology
= the study of the
origin
of words and
relationships
between words, also between words in different languages
can help to identify
cognates
, i.e. morphologically related words in different languages
can help explain the meaning of
“odd“ words
The etymological fallacy
Original meaning perceived as the „true“ meaning
But
: meanings change all the time
Semantic Change
Narrowing
The word is used to describe a more specific concept
Amelioration
The meaning improves
Extension/widening
The word is used in a broader context
Pejoration
The meaning becomes worse