Linguistic Change

Sturtevant, Edgar H.

ISBN 10: 0226779157 / ISBN 13: 9780226779157

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1961

Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # GRP103984840

Synopsis:

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ...praetorium "general's tent." 1 Allen and Greenough, New Latin Grammar, p. 260. In addition to their intellectual content words suggest certain emotions. The word "home" differs from "house" chiefly in its emotional content, and that is also the main distinction between "blockhead" and "fool," "brats" and "children," "sweetheart" and "lover." Sometimes the emphasis on the emotional content of a word becomes so great that the intellectual content is lost sight of. Many conservatives regard "anarchists" and "socialists" with equally intense dislike; and so one often hears the two words coupled, as if they applied alike to all undesirable citizens, although anarchy and socialism are really opposite extremes of political theory. In several of the cases just discussed the shift of emphasis has led to an increase in the range of applicability of a word. The change in the meaning of "knave " from "servant boy " to "servant" was due to an exclusive emphasis on one element of the idea and the consequent elimination of the other element; and then the new meaning automatically applied to a serving man as well as to a serving boy. The decrease in the logical content of the word involved an increase in its range of applicability. Such an extension of application cannot be consciously recognized by the speaker; since " knave " means to him merely "servant," he is not aware of an innovation when he applies the word to a servant of mature years. Worn-out Figures of Speech The causal relation of these two processes is sometimes reversed; a word may be consciously employed in a wider application and...

Bibliographic Details

Title: Linguistic Change
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication Date: 1961
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Good