Семантична еволюція прикметників розміру в англійській мові

Ключевые слова: лексико-семантическая группа, семантическая деривации, семантическая структура слова, семантический сегмент, синтагматические связи, парадигматические отношения.

Summary

Soloviova O.V. Semantic Evolution of Adjectives Denoting Size in the English Language. - Manuscript.

Thesis for the Scholary Degree of Candidate in Philology. Speciality 10.02.04 - Germanic Languages. - Yuriy Fed'kovych Chernivtsi National University. - Chernivtsi, 2010.

This thesis is concerned with the analysis of the semantic evolution of the lexical-semantic group of adjectives denoting size in all periods of the English language development. It consists of three chapters with concise conclusions, general conclusions, two supplements, and a list of references that includes lexicographical sources.

Dimensional adjectives always attract the attention of linguists due to their significance for world representation, frequency of use, and their ramified network of synonyms and antonyms. Setting the various dimensional lexemes with a common meaning along a range is of great importance, though quite a difficult task.

The first chapter is devoted to the introduction to the meaning of words, and its changes: reasons, ways and results. Establishing the semantic structures of adjectives in any language requires determining their meanings based on their use within certain contexts. Thus, we can define the lexical meanings of words from the number of their potential typical collocations. While describing and analyzing lexical relations between the meanings of different words, the meaning of one word is defined and described not as a separate unit, but as the combination of its relations with other meanings. This means that to describe the semantic structure of any word one should determine its paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations. In this paper, these relations are established on the basis of quantitative methods, namely correlation coefficient (paradigmatic) and fitting criterion ч2 (syntagmatic). We try to establish the meaning of every adjective based on its compatibility with different groups of nouns and adjectives. While nouns help to establish the segments of meaning that adjectives realize in certain combinations, co-used adjectives give more information about those meanings.

The lexical-semantic group differs from period to period, and the process of inventory is based on the dictionaries. The words which are defined through the main adjectives (big, great, little, small, high, wide, long, short, low, narrow) were selected from dictionaries of Old English, Middle, Early Modern and Modern English. The analysis of text corpus of around 5,000,000 words allows establishing dominants and central elements of the group in each period. These lexemes are used more than certain amount of times, while others though have ramified semantic structures have restricted amounts of examples and belong to the periphery of the group. But it should be mentioned that peripheral elements of the group have certain features that make adjectives more specific in their usage or pertain to a particular stylistic layer.

In the second chapter, the elements of the group in Old and Middle English periods are analysed. Research of the lexical-semantic group in these periods makes it possible to establish basic processes that form semantics in the vocabulary. Semantic evolution of dimensional adjectives can be explained by extralinguistic factors: the political system, the influence of dialects of dominant kingdoms, wars of Vikings, and the Norman expansion. Reflecting the basic concept of the surrounding world, the group of adjectives denoting size responds to any change in the outside world. The equally significant role in the formation of the group played intralinquistic factors: the impact of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and the sound symbolism.

In the third chapter, the main steps in the evolution of adjectives denoting size are analyzed. Early Modern and Modern periods in the English language show a single trend in the evolution of semantic adjectives in size. There exists a tendency to increase the relations within the group and unification of the semantic structures of the given adjectives.

Keywords: lexical-semantic group, semantic derivation, semantic structure of words, semantic segment, syntagmatic ties, paradigmatic relations. Размещено на Allbest.ru