semantic change

?
broadening
a words meaning becomes more general but still retains some of its original meaning (rubbish = rubble but also means anything worthless)
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narrowing
a word's meaning becomes more specific (e.g 16th century starve = to die or hunger, modern = to be really hungry)
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Amerlioration
a word acquires a positive meaning (e.g success used to mean simply a result, not means a good result)
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Pejoration
a word acquires negative connotations (e.g gaudy meant brilliant, now means tasteless)
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Weakening
words lose some of their original force or strength over time (taboos)
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metaphor
words aquire new meaning because they begin to be used metaphorically (representation of how words change)
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Idiom
A group of words whose meaning cannot be interpreted by the meaning of words (cat out of the bag)
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Euphenism
A polite expression for things to innappropriate to talk about directly.
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Political correctness
Words and phrases with negative meaning have been changed (mentally handicapped changed to learning difficulties)
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

narrowing

Back

a word's meaning becomes more specific (e.g 16th century starve = to die or hunger, modern = to be really hungry)

Card 3

Front

Amerlioration

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Pejoration

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Weakening

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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