-
COGNATES
- “two or more words in different
- languages which have the same root”
–e.g. mother/madre/mère/moeder
-
DERIVATIVE
- a word borrowed from another word or
- root, usually from another language”
–e.g. Lat. rivus(“river bank”) > rival
-
DOUBLETS
- two words of the same language which are
- derived from the same original word,”e.g.
–Lat. fragilis(“breakable”): fragile/frail
- –Lat. amator(“lover”):
- amatory/amateur
- –Grk. gramma(“sign”):
- grammar/glamour
-
ASSIMILATION
- “the process by which adjacent sounds
- (usually consonants) acquire similar or identical characteristics,”e.g.
•in-+ literate >
- –the
- reason for this is to ease pronunciation
-
EUPHONY
- “the
- tendency toward greater ease of pronunciation resulting in combinative changes,
- largely due to speed and economy of utterance”
- –e.g. ad-+
- -literation> alliteration
Illiterateoppress
-
VOWEL GRADATION
- “a change
- in the internal vowel of a base, often when the base is prefixed,”e.g. •re-+ CAPT-+ -ion >•in-+ HAB-+ -it(e) + -ion >•the
- reason for this is that the lack of stress on the BASE leads to a weakening of
- its sound–but vowel gradation can occur for other reasons•POND-(“heavy”), e.g. ponderous•vs. PEND-(“hang”), e.g. pendant
- reception inhibition
-
ACRONYM
- “an abbreviation that spells a word or pronounceable
- unit,”e.g.–zip (code):–yuppie: –scuba: –nimby: –snafu: –posh: Zone Improvement PlanYoung Urban ProfessionalSelf-Contained Underwater
- Breathing ApparatusNot In My Back YardSituation Normal All Fouled UpPort Out,
- Starboard Home
-
BACK FORMATION
- the creation of simpler forms
- from more complex forms, usually by the removal of an affix,”e.g.
–reune< reunion
–surveil< surveillance
–lase/lasing < laser
-
HYBRID
- a
- word composed of elements drawn from different
- languages”–off-color:–superman:–ultrafast: –teledata: –audiophile:
- –microprocessor: •why are there hybrids? –why are there morons?
- English/LatinLatin/EnglishLatin/EnglishGreek/LatinLatin/GreekGreek/Latin
-
SUBSTANTIVE
- an
- adjective which functions as a noun, without changing the form of the word,”
- e.g. a deductible
- –the
- good, the bad and the ugly
- –a
- heavy, a stiff, a moderate
- –the
- Aggies, Big Blue, the Longhorns, the Trojans
- –trojans,
- rubbers, prophylactics
-
DISSIMILATION
- the process by which two
- similar or identical sounds diverge or become unlike, usually in order to
- facilitate pronunciation,”e.g. meridiem(< *medi-diem)
- –the most common form of
- dissimilation occurs with l/r, e.g. -arvs. -al suffixes
- •familiar
- < famili-al, cf. general
- •lunar
- < lun-al, cf. renal
–also, -iety< *-iity
- •piety, society, anxiety,
- notoriety, sobriety, propriety, variety, satiety
-
PARTICIPLE
- an adjective formed from a
- verb, in English usually by adding -ing(present) or -ed (past) to a verb
- base,”e.g. preserving, preserved
- •n.b. Latin -t(um) is cognate
- with English -ed
- –-t(um) accounts for the
- frequency of two forms of a base
- •e.g. TEN-/TENT-(present/past);
- REG-/RECT-
-
SEMANTIC CHANGE
the modification of meaning in a word”
–sema(Greek): “significance, meaning”
- •basic
- process: similitude >metaphor >new meaning
- –e.g.
- carrothead, egghead, meathead
-
METAPHOR
- “an implied comparison between
- two things,”e.g. “All the world’s a stage…”
- –the armof a chair, the buttof
- a rifle, a ship plowingthrough waves, head over heels
-
SPECIALIZATION:
- the process by which the meaning of a
- word moves from a more general to a more specific sense,”e.g.
–RADIC-: “root”>“one type of root, radish”
- –RAP-:
- “seize, pillage”> “seize a woman by
- force, rape”
- –VOT-:
- “wish, prayer”>“wish of a
- council, vote”
- –LIQUOR-:
- “fluid”>“alcoholic drink,
- liquor/liqueur”
-
GENERALIZATION
- the process by which the
- meaning of a word moves from a more specific to a more general sense,”e.g.
- –TREMENDUS: “dreadful, to be
- trembled at”> “awesome, huge, amazing, very good, tremendous”
- –COMOEDIA: “party-song, ribald
- verse”> “humorous drama, anything funny or comical”
- –TRIUMPHUS: “Roman parade in
- honor of a victorious general”> “military conquest, any sort of triumph”
-
FUNCTIONAL CHANGE
- the process by which a word takes on a
- new usage as a different part of speech, without a change in form or the
- addition of a suffix”
•vs. participles: verbs >adjectives, with the addition of a suffix
- –e.g.
- what’s in(or out): preposition >adjective
- –to
- outsomeone: preposition >verb
- –prosand
- cons: (Latin) prefix/preposition >noun
- –to while away
- the time: conjunction >verb
- –to
- firmup: adjective >verb
- –to
- blackout: adjective >verb
-
DEGENERATION
- •
- “the process by which a word comes to mean
- something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g.
- intercourse (< “between + run/go”)
– monster:
- •
- Lat. monstrum (“omen, marvel”)
- •
- > “a horrific thing, a cruel person”
– rococo:
- •
- Fr. roche, rocaille (“rock,
- rock-work”)
- •
- > “florid and tasteless”
-
ELEVATION
- •
- the process by which a word comes to mean
- something more pleasant or lofty than it did before”
- –
- eutopia: orig. utopia (“no-place”)
- •
- from Thomas Moore’s satire Utopia
- •
- > “an idyllic locale” (lit. “good-place”)
- •
- for u- prefix, cf. uchronia (“no-time”), a novel
- about an imaginary historical period, e.g. Hitler winning WWII
– angel: orig. “messenger” (Greek angelos)
- •
- > “a heavenly herald, a savior”
-
CONCRETE-TO-ABSTRACT
- •
- :“the process by which a word which is concrete
- in meaning comes to have an abstract sense, without the addition of a suffix”
- •
- –e.g., the association of a particular type of
- sensitivity with a part of the body:
- •
- •ear(hearing): She’s got a good “ear”for music.
- •
- •eye(seeing): The tennis player has a good
- “eye”for the ball.
- •
- •hand(control of an instrument): Rembrandt’s
- “hand”was clearly evident in the painting.
- •
- •lip(sassy speech): Don’t give me any more
- “lip”! Just do your homework
•
-
ABSTRACT-TO-CONCRETE
- •
- :“the
- process by which a word which is abstract in meaning comes to have a concrete
- sense, without the addition of a suffix”
- •
- –a
- very common type of
- change!
- •
- •because people find it easier on the whole to
- speak about concrete things rather than intangible abstracts
- •
- •also, when we need to create an abstract noun,
- we have many abstract noun-forming suffixes at our disposal, e.g.
- •
- –Latin: -imony (matrimony), -ity (propensity)
- •
- –English: -hood (childhood), -dom (freedom)
- •
- •but the reverse is less true: we have far fewer
- concrete noun-forming suffixes (“the result of,”“the product of”)
•
-
HYPERBOLE:
- •
- –literally in
- Greek “over-throw”
- •
- –often used for
- emphasis or humorous effect
- •
- •i.e. it’s not
- meant to be taken literally but to get attention
- •
- –hyperbole is a
- natural extension of human exuberance and love of comedy
- •
- •works on the
- same principle as the rule that “bigger is better”
- •
- •in this case, a
- point becomes clearer and more interesting when it is overstated
-
WEAKENING
- The process
- by which a word with a stronger sense acquires a weaker one–the constant
- fireworks in language can lead to boredom
- that boredom
- then creates a need for even more extreme languag–and that new
- extreme language suggests that the older, now less extreme language is merely
- the normal or unexaggerated way of saying something •this is why
- certain Latin prefixes came to represent mere intensification (ad-, con-, de-,
- ex-, etc. they were
- stronger forms that were “weakened”in later Latin
- mortify:
- originally, “kill”(lit., “make dead”)
- •>“humiliate, shame, embarrass”
- –unique: originally, “being one of a kind,
- standing as the only example of something”(from UN-, “one”) “very different,
- special”–atom: originally, “a thing that is
- unsplittable”(lit. “not-split”)
- “a thing that is
- very small” thus, “splitting the atom”is technically an oxmoron
-
EUPHEMISM
• “the act of replacing a word which is more
• disagreeable or unpleasant with one that is less so”
• – also, “the more pleasant word which replaces the less
• pleasant one”
- •
- • n.b. “a euphemism”: example of
- abstract-to-concrete change
-
CIRCUMLOCUTION
- “an
- indirect or lengthy way of
- expressing
- a simple or concrete idea”
- –
- n.b. the point of circumlocution is to avoid the obvious
- or
- literal, often to cover up or disguise a truth
- –
- e.g. from psychology: “His family is dysfunctional.”
- •
- – from sports: “He was a little
- shaken up on the play.”
-
FOLK ETYMOLOGY
- •
- the
- process by which a word changes form through a mistaken assimilation of that
- word to another word or form which it resembles”
- •
- –also
- called paronomasia (“mistaken word creation”)
- •
- •this
- is also the technical term for punning
- •
- –folk
- etymology is the product of misunderstanding
- •
- •i.e.
- basic human ignorance, especially of history
- •
- –e.g.
- momento, for memento
- •
- •a
- confusion of the Latin word memento(“remember!”) with the word “moment”(“importance, turning point”)
- •
- –as in “the moment of truth”or “of great
- moment”; cf. momentous
-
CLIP
- •
- “a
- word which has lost its initial or final part (or both) but retains the same
- general meaning,”e.g.
- •
- •boot
- <“bootstrapping program”or
- “bootstrap loader”
- •
- –a program which loads the rest of the operating
- system
- •
- –n.b. a metaphor from skiing
- •
- •prep <prepare (e.g. for surgery)
-
BLEND
- •
- a
- word formed by combining two other words such that a part of each remains and
- the meaning of the new word suggests both of its constituent members,”e.g.
- •
- –herstory=her +history: “the study of
- the past focusing on issues relating to women’s lives and concerns”
- •
- –affluenza=affluent +influenza: “an unnatural
- interest in making and keeping wealth”
- •
- •also,
- called “portmanteau words”
- •
- –portmanteau:
- a steamer trunk that opens like a book
- •
- –phrase
- coined by Lewis Carroll
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