The study of language change has evolved at a high rate throughout the last century.
Significant insights have been gained concerning the workings of the human mind and,
by extension, the workings of semantic and linguistic change. Set in comparison and
contrast, however, it becomes obvious that some convictions have remained stable and
still play a role as prominent as they did in the year of 1880. It can even be argued that
most of the accomplishments of today’s language change researchers strongly build on
those of the last century and could not have been achieved without them. To illustrate
this assumption, the present termpaper compares two works on language change that
were written in two different centuries in two different countries; Prinzipien der
Sprachgeschichte (Chapter 4: Wandel der Wortbedeutung) written by Hermann Paul in
1880 and Semantic Change and Cognition written by Gábor Györi in 2002. Hermann
Paul was a German linguist and lexicographer, who was born on August 7 in 1846 and
passed away on December 29 in 1921. He was a significant representative of the
Neogrammarian school of thought. The cognitive linguist Gábor Györi is associate
professor and head of the department of English linguistics at the University of Pécs,
Hungary and has a strong focus on the evolution of cognition and categorization.
It shall furthermore be shown that Paul’s work shares many of the tenets of
modern cognitive linguistics even though that might not be obvious at the first glance,
due to differences in terminology and methodology.
In order to filter out similarities and differences between both the authors’ points
of view, chapter 1.1 will briefly summarize the contents of Paul’s text, while chapter 1.2
will give an account of the most important tenets of Györi’s work. In chapter 2.1, the
terminology Paul and Györi used will be explained and contrasted. Chapter 2.2 then
deals with the contentual comparison of both texts. Here the focus will be set on the role that the authors assign to metaphor and metonymy as mechanisms of semantic change.
In chapter 2.3, it will be analyzed, which notion of language is manifested in the
respective works.
Table of Contents
0. Introduction
1. Summaries
1.1. Hermann Paul: Wandel der Wortbedeutung
1.2. Gábor Györi: Semantic change and cognition
2. Comparison
2.1. Terminology
2.2. Similarities and differences
2.3. The authors’ notion of language
3. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the mechanisms of semantic change by comparing Hermann Paul’s 1880 work "Wandel der Wortbedeutung" with Gábor Györi’s 2002 paper "Semantic change and cognition." The research objective is to demonstrate that despite being separated by more than a century and using different terminology, both authors identify remarkably similar cognitive processes—specifically metaphor and metonymy—as the driving forces behind the evolution of word meanings and linguistic usage.
- Comparison of historical versus modern linguistic approaches to semantic change.
- Distinction between "usual" and "occasional" (or occasion-bound) significations.
- The role of cognitive factors such as cue-validity, cognitive economy, and perceived world structure.
- Analysis of metaphor and metonymy as mechanisms for conceptualizing reality.
- The influence of human cognition and subjectivity on the evolution of language.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1. Hermann Paul: Wandel der Wortbedeutung
An important distinction that is drawn in Paul’s chapter about changes in word-signification is the one between usual and occasional signification. The usual meaning comprises the entirety of associations of a speaker with a word. The occasional meaning, as can be inferred from the expression, is built ad hoc. It comprises the entire contents of conception that the speaker associates with the word that he utters. It is commonly richer in content, and narrower in extent than the usual one. Paul’s main intention is to describe how the occasional signification of a word comes to be its usual one, or in other words; he describes the workings of semantic change.
Paul furthermore discusses the question under which circumstances speakers feel the need for the creation of new, occasional meanings. Concerning these processes, Paul names three major categories; a specialization of meaning, an extension of meaning and the transference of a concept onto other concepts that are locally, causally, or temporally related. In the following, these three mechanisms are going to be summarized.
According to Paul, a specialization of meaning by reducing the scope and enriching the content of a concept is the first main kind of modification of the usual to the occasional meaning. One of the areas where specialization of meaning can be seen at work is e.g. the emergence of proper names and toponyms. Furthermore, Paul subsumes amelioration, pejoration, agentive derivation and compounding under the heading of specialization.
Summary of Chapters
0. Introduction: This chapter introduces the comparative scope of the paper and outlines the historical and theoretical contexts of Hermann Paul and Gábor Györi.
1. Summaries: This chapter provides brief overviews of the foundational texts, focusing on Paul’s classification of semantic change and Györi’s cognitive approach.
2. Comparison: This chapter analyzes the terminology, thematic overlaps, and distinct linguistic perspectives of the two authors, highlighting how they share fundamental insights despite their historical separation.
3. Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the findings, confirming that both authors view semantic change as a cognitively grounded phenomenon influenced by speaker subjectivity.
Keywords
Semantic change, Hermann Paul, Gábor Györi, Cognitive linguistics, Usual meaning, Occasional meaning, Metaphor, Metonymy, Cue-validity, Cognitive economy, Perceived world structure, Conjunctivity, Neogrammarian, Conceptualization, Subjectivity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental subject of this academic paper?
The paper provides a comparative study of two linguistic texts on semantic change: Hermann Paul's 1880 work "Wandel der Wortbedeutung" and Gábor Györi's 2002 paper "Semantic change and cognition."
What are the primary thematic areas explored in the analysis?
The core themes include the definitions of meaning, the cognitive mechanisms behind linguistic innovation, and the comparison of historical linguistics with modern cognitive perspectives.
What is the primary research goal of the author?
The goal is to illustrate that Hermann Paul, a Neogrammarian from the 19th century, anticipated many of the tenets of modern cognitive linguistics, specifically regarding how speakers use cognitive shortcuts to adapt word meanings.
Which scientific methodology does the author apply?
The author uses a comparative, qualitative analysis of both texts, breaking down their terminology and theoretical arguments to identify underlying commonalities and points of divergence.
What topics are covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body compares the terminology used for "usual" vs "occasional" meanings, examines the roles of metaphor and metonymy, and contrasts the authors' differing notions of language as a communication tool versus a cognitive tool.
Which key concepts characterize the linguistic arguments in the paper?
Key concepts include cue-validity, cognitive economy, perceived world structure, the subjectivity of the human mind in language, and the transition of ad-hoc meanings into established linguistic norms.
How does Paul’s historical approach compare to Györi’s modern cognitive framework?
While Paul focused on historical changes without explicitly citing "cognitive science," the author demonstrates that his description of how speakers conceptualize meaning aligns surprisingly well with Györi's modern four-factor cognitive framework.
Why does the author differentiate between "usual" and "occasional" meanings?
This distinction is crucial for understanding how language change occurs; individuals create meanings on an ad-hoc basis (occasional), which may eventually become standardized within the speech community (usual) through repetition.
- Citar trabajo
- B.A. Marie Adler (Autor), 2013, Semantic Change. A Comparison between "Wandel der Wortbedeutung" by Hermann Paul and "Semantic change and cognition" by Gábor Györi, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/272623
