semantic change 0.0 / 5 ? English LanguageInvestigating languageA2/A-levelAQA Created by: Megan MacinnesCreated on: 29-04-14 09:25 broadening a words meaning becomes more general but still retains some of its original meaning (rubbish = rubble but also means anything worthless) 1 of 9 narrowing a word's meaning becomes more specific (e.g 16th century starve = to die or hunger, modern = to be really hungry) 2 of 9 Amerlioration a word acquires a positive meaning (e.g success used to mean simply a result, not means a good result) 3 of 9 Pejoration a word acquires negative connotations (e.g gaudy meant brilliant, now means tasteless) 4 of 9 Weakening words lose some of their original force or strength over time (taboos) 5 of 9 metaphor words aquire new meaning because they begin to be used metaphorically (representation of how words change) 6 of 9 Idiom A group of words whose meaning cannot be interpreted by the meaning of words (cat out of the bag) 7 of 9 Euphenism A polite expression for things to innappropriate to talk about directly. 8 of 9 Political correctness Words and phrases with negative meaning have been changed (mentally handicapped changed to learning difficulties) 9 of 9
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