Beyond the 'Idols of the Marketplace': Managing Semantic Change in Research

Semantic change in language borrowing is a general phenomenon among living languages. When a language borrows lexical items from the other, some modifications occur, thus, affecting the meanings of some of the borrowed items. Scholars at different times have examined semantic change in loanwords across different languages. This current study investigates semantic change in Arabic loanwords within the Baatonum language. Through a comprehensive linguistic analysis, the study explores how Arabic loanwords have been incorporated into Baatonum, focusing on shifts in meaning and usage. The study identifies patterns of semantic transformation and sociocultural factors influencing the changes through analysis of a corpus Arabic loanwords. Adopting a qualitative case design, the study employs the native speaker intuition of the writer and interviews with fellow Baatonum speakers to gather nuanced insights into the semantic transformation of Arabic loanwords. Data for the study is collected a corpus of loan words collected by the author for a PhD dissertation. Findings have revealed that while some borrowed words have retained their original meanings, others undergo significant changes. This study is significant in the sense that it contributes to broader understanding of language contact phenomena and semantic evolution, highlighting the importance of native speaker perspectives in language research, as well as the dynamic interplay between languages in contact.

Public behavior in cyberspace is extremely sensitive to emergency disaster events. Using appropriate methodologies to capture the semantic evolution of social media users’ behaviors and discover how it varies across geographic space and time still presents a significant challenge. This study proposes a novel framework based on complex network, topic model, and GIS to describe the topic change of social media users’ behaviors during disaster events. The framework employs topic modeling to extract topics from social media texts, builds a user semantic evolution model based on a complex network to describe topic dynamics, and analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics of public semantics evolution. The proposed framework has demonstrated its effectiveness in analyzing the semantic spatial–temporal evolution of Chinese Weibo user behavior during COVID-19. The semantic change in response to COVID-19 was characterized by obvious expansion, frequent change, and gradual stabilization over time. In this case, there were obvious geographical differences in users’ semantic changes, which were mainly concentrated in the capital and economically developed areas. The semantics of users finally focused on specific topics related to positivity, epidemic prevention, and factual comments. Our work provides new insight into the behavioral response to disasters and provides the basis for data-driven public sector decisions. In emergency situations, this model could improve situational assessment, assist decision makers to better comprehend public opinion, and support analysts in allocating resources of disaster relief appropriately.

يعد التطور والتغير صورة من صور التطور اللغوي بمستواه الدلالي. يوجد خلط وتداخل بين مفهوم التطور الدلالي ومفهوم فالتطور يعني ما يطرأ على استعمال الکلمات من تطوير ويکثر ذلک في دخول الکلمات العامية إلى اللغة الفصحى القياسية في اللغة الواحدة ، ومنه أيضا دخول کلمات من لغة إلى أخري وهو ما يسمى الدخيل . أما فهو انحراف يطرأ على دلالة الکلمة عن المعنى المعياري لها عبر عصور اللغة ، فتدل على معنى هامشي مستوحى من المعنى الحقيقي. ومن خلال تعريف کل من المصطلحين ( التطور والتغير ) يتضح أن التغيير ينطبق على المصطلح أکثر من التطور الدلالي، لذا آثرت الباحثة استعمال مصطلح التغير عنوانا للدراسة بدلا عن التطور الدلالي . واستخدمت الباحثة المنهج المتکامل حيث شمل المنهج الوصفي والاستقرائي والمقارن ، ونتج عن البحث أن هناک فرق بين مصطلح לשון תשפה ، رغم الخلط الشائع في استعمالهما، کما اتضح ضرورة ظاهرة الترادف في اللغة . is a form of linguistic ent anddevelopm Semantic confusion and overlap is a There.development at its level between the con semantic and the concep cept of t of semantic change, evolution means what develops in the use of words development and more frequently in the entry of slang words into the language standard in one language, and also the entry of words from one language to another, which is The so-called intruder. The is a deviation in the significance of the word from the normative meaning of it through the ages of language, indicating a marginal meaning inspired by the true meaning.By defining both terms (semantic evolution and change) it is clear that applies to the term more than evolution, so the researcher chose to use the term semantic change as the title of the study instead of semantic evolution.

This study employs a mixed-methods research approach, constructing a diachronic corpus of English euphemisms from the 20th to 21st centuries (with a scale exceeding 5 million word tokens) to systematically examine the semantic evolution trajectories of euphemisms across five thematic domains—death, disease, disability, occupation, and gender—and their interactive relationship with sociopsychological changes. The research utilizes multiple methods including corpus linguistics, cognitive semantics, social attitude surveys, and discourse analysis, combined with Granger causality tests, cross-lagged correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling, revealing that euphemistic semantic evolution follows a cyclical pattern of "innovation-popularization-erosion-reinnovation," with euphemistic intensity declining by an average of 0.8-1.2 points per decade. The study finds that sociopsychological changes exert a dominant driving force on semantic evolution (path coefficient β=0.76, p<0.001), a conclusion supported by multiple lines of evidence: Granger causality tests show that changes in sociopsychological indicators temporally precede semantic changes in time series; cross-validation demonstrates that sociopsychological variables' explanatory power for semantic evolution (R²=0.852) significantly exceeds that of the reverse path (R²=0.717); and this dominant effect remains robust after controlling for confounding variables such as media influence and policy interventions. Factors including social taboo intensity, value transformation, and social movements drive euphemistic innovation through multidimensional mechanisms, but exhibit a 3-7 year time lag effect. This temporal discrepancy stems from three reasons: cognitive internalization requires time (converting new concepts into linguistic habits takes an average of 3.2 years), social diffusion exhibits gradation (the dissemination cycle from elite classes to the masses is approximately 4-5 years), and institutionalization processes are delayed (from policy formulation to full implementation averages a 5.8-year lag). Simultaneously, euphemisms exert a significant reverse shaping effect on sociopsychology (path coefficient β=0.58, p<0.01), influencing public attitudes by reconstructing cognitive frameworks and reducing topic taboo intensity. Language policy, media discourse, and educational practices play crucial mediating roles in the interactive process, with mediating effects accounting for 42.3%-58.7% of total effects. The interactive relationship exhibits nonlinear and dynamic characteristics, including inverted U-shaped effects, critical mass effects, and threshold effects. This study enriches the theoretical framework of linguistic social psychology, establishes a dynamic model of euphemistic semantic evolution, and provides theoretical support and practical guidance for cross-cultural communication, language teaching, and social policy formulation.

Semantic evolution at the microscopic level: the case of suoyi

<p>This study attempts to defend the claim that politics is a linguistically constituted activity, and to show that the terms that inform political beliefs and behavior have historically mutable meanings that have undergone changes related to real political events. Namely, these terms correspond to the experiences which package the semantic material into them .i.e. verbal and situational context yield the shift in meaning. This issue is, however, much more complex and it requires a truly integrating approach, where morphological and semantic criteria are all relevant, as well as psycholinguistic considerations (holistic storage and processing), and sociolinguistic and pragmatic factors.</p><p>To support the claim above, this study aims to explore the semantic change of some Arabic words after January 25 Revolution in Egypt. It is an attempt to trace evidences of semantic shift in words used during and after the January 25 Revolution through the Egyptian newspapers and social sites. It is concerned with terms used by the pro and anti-revolution activists to name themselves and their opponents. Through this study, the researcher expects that the findings may be useful to enrich the knowledge about the semantic change in Egyptian Arabic in general and to give a better understanding of the meaning shifts and changes that occurred to some lexemes as a result of January 25 Revolution in particular. Moreover, the result of this study is hoped to be used as reference and comparison to other studies in order to make better analysis for further research in semantic change (broadening, Narrowing, Amelioration, Pejoration, Weakening, and Semantic Shift). The study, then, is limited to the purpose of analyzing the semantic changes. The analysis of the collected data represents the semantic change in some Arabic words after January 25 Revolution.</p>

This research examines the mechanisms of semantic change in English and German, focusing on comparing and contrasting these processes across the two languages and investigating the influence of major historical events and societal shifts. By utilizing digital text corpora, libraries, archives, and modern digital media, the study conducts qualitative analyses, including case studies and discourse analysis, to explore semantic evolution. Thematic analysis was employed to thoroughly examine and interpret the data, allowing for the identification of recurring patterns, themes, and significant insights. The results showed that both English and German undergo significant semantic shifts driven by a metaphorical extension (i.e., narrowing or broadening of meanings, pejoration and amelioration, frequency and pathway of change, cultural and historical influences) and historical events and societal shifts that influence semantic change (i.e., wars and conflicts, industrialization, technological advancement, globalization, and cultural exchange, societal movements, and ideological shifts). The role of metaphorical extension is seen in adapting language to technological advancements while highlighting linguistic evolution through narrowing and broadening meanings influenced by cultural, historical, and linguistic factors. Additionally, pejoration and amelioration reflect societal changes and attitudes. Historical events and societal shifts, such as wars, industrialization, technological advancements, globalization, and social movements, significantly impact semantic changes in both English and German. These external influences catalyze language use and meaning shifts, illustrating the interaction between language and human experience.

This entry presents a conceptual approach for how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to support high school and college students’ reading comprehension of complex texts across disciplines, using the Revised Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI-R), as an organizing framework. Drawing on research in literacy, learning sciences, and educational technology, the entry conceptualizes AI tools as potential metacognitive supports that can assist learners in planning, monitoring, and evaluating reading. At the same time, it distinguishes between AI use that risks promoting cognitive outsourcing, particularly when tools replace rather than support readers’ active regulation of meaning-making. The entry emphasizes the importance of instructional design and teacher mediation in aligning AI-supported reading practices with established models of metacognitive strategy use. Central to this discourse is the distinction between cognitive scaffolding, using AI to support and extend students’ strategic engagement within their zone of proximal development, and cognitive outsourcing, using AI to bypass cognitive effort entirely, thereby undermining active meaning-making. A distinctive feature of this entry is its use of MARSI-R not only as an assessment instrument but also as a design heuristic for structuring AI-supported reading interactions. By mapping AI affordances onto MARSI-R’s three strategy dimensions, the entry provides a conceptual bridge between established metacognitive theory and the practical design of AI-enhanced reading environments. This framing distinguishes the present contribution from prior work that treats AI tools and metacognitive frameworks as separate domains. Using MARSI-R’s dimensions of Global, Problem-Solving, and Support reading strategies, this entry describes how AI may provide personalized prompts and feedback that encourage strategic engagement with texts in STEM, the humanities, and social sciences. Illustrative classroom examples and research findings are used to highlight AI’s potential to support students in becoming “architects of their own understanding,” while also addressing ethical considerations such as overreliance on automated summaries and data privacy concerns. This entry offers a practical and theoretically grounded roadmap for integrating AI to support thoughtful, reflective reading across disciplines.

This volume, co-edited with France’s foremost sociolinguist, Francoise Gadet (Universite de l’Ouest de Paris/Nanterre), and with Nigel Armstrong from the University of Leeds, breaks new ground by bringing together researchers from different traditions working in different linguistic domains. In introductions to the three main sections, the co-editors of the volume contribute overviews of their respective areas of expertise, namely phonological variation and leveling in hexagonal French and elsewhere, syntactic and stylistic variation and lexical variation and semantic change. These set the scene for the more focused studies presented in the individual chapters. A unifying theme of the volume is the role of external sociolinguistic factors in both variation and change. From a diatopic perspective, varieties of French in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Africa and Canada are considered, mainly with respect to phonological variation (Section I) but also with respect to syntactic and lexical features (Knutsen in Section II on French in the Ivory Coast; Dostie in Section III on Canadian French). The intersection between social factors and phonological change is explored in Armstrong and Boughton’s chapter on dialect leveling in hexagonal French. Hambye’s paper on word final consonant devoicing in Belgium is original in highlighting diastratic as well as regional factors, while variation with age is the focus of both Violin-Wigent’s and Pustka’s papers on the phonological features of Southern France. Miller’s study of style-shifting in Swiss French is unique in the volume in focusing on prosody and finally, a contrast between English and French is drawn in Pooley’s review of the impact of an influx of immigrants on local varieties. Many of these studies paint a similar overall picture: that European French is undergoing standardization or is tending towards a supra-local norm, a norm which is not necessarily that of classical standard French but has currency over the region as a whole and is not restricted to one locality. Sociostylistic and syntactic features are the focus of a number of the papers in Section II. Bilger and Tyne’s study of syntax across speech styles in UK anglophone learners focuses on the use of parce que while Rossi-Gensane compares the use of non-standard non-finite forms in the spoken language, in newspapers and in novels. Knutsen examines relative clauses in the French spoken in the Ivory Coast, while Buson traces the perceptions of pre-teenagers with respect to stylistic variation and relates these to social class. Finally, in Section III, we look at the impact of social and stylistic factors in lexical variation and semantic change. Dostie looks at diatopic variation, suggesting that the degree of pragmaticalization of discourse markers in Quebec French may vary from one region to another. Beeching, on the other hand, examines the extent to which sociosituational variation has contributed to the rise in distributional frequency and pragmaticalization of discourse-marking bon in modern hexagonal French. The social and economic factors behind the shift in meaning of fortune from ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’, along with the resistance to change evident in metalinguistic works across the centuries, form the subject of Courbon’s highly detailed study of this lexical item which concludes the volume. Written entirely in English, the volume allows scholars of sociolinguistic variation access to work which might otherwise appear only in French and was reviewed as “ a most valuable mise au point on the variability of contemporary French, synthesising French and Anglo-American methods and perceptions in a highly creative way” (Anthony Lodge, St. Andrews University) and “An interesting and diverse collection of articles. This will offset the commonly heard claim that no one does quantitative sociolinguistics in France”. (Naomi Nagy, University of Toronto).

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected every aspect of human life. Our health, social relationships, education, and all others spheres of life have been hit hard by this pandemic. One of the less talked about but an important area affected by the pandemic is human language. New words are invented during COVID-19 and shift in meanings (Semantic Change) could also be traced in languages, especially English language because of its international status. The main aim of this article is to investigate new vocabulary invented, technically called Coinage and semantic Changes i.e. changes in meanings of words taking place due to COVID-19 dominating the social discourses. To highlight these changes, authentic Pakistani English is analyzed to seek such linguistic instances caused by COVID-19. Qualitative analysis is employed for this purpose. Implications of the findings for English language users/practitioners are the creation of COVID-19 discourse, special jargons, invention of totally new words, changes in meanings of English words among others. The study also revealed the ways and processes by means of which English language adopted and changed lexicon and its meaning during COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19 impact, English Language Use.

This paper explores new developments in Shona lingo, whereby Shona lingo borrows words from mainstream Shona and assigns new meanings to them. The paper examines this adaptation of adoptives at the semantic level. Data were collected through observation, participant observation and a questionnaire. The paper established that Shona lingo borrows different items of grammar as they are from mainstream Shona but attaches new meanings to them. The identified resultant semantic changes include, changes in the ranges of meaning resulting in extension or narrowing the semantic content of the word, radical shift in meaning and changes in emotive value resulting in amelioration or pejorative meanings. The paper also shows how Shona lingo is reflective of the socio-economic situation of the Zimbabwean society.

IntroductionThe dominant paradigm of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education positions it as an omniscient oracle, a model that risks hindering genuine learning by fostering cognitive offloading.ObjectiveThis study proposes a fundamental shift from “AI as Oracle” model to a “Cognitive Mirror” paradigm, which reconceptualizes AI as a teachable novice engineered to reflect the quality of a learner’s explanation. The core innovation is the repurposing of AI safety guardrails as didactic mechanisms to deliberately sculpt AI’s ignorance, creating a “pedagogically useful deficit.” This conceptual shift enables a detailed implementation of the “learning by teaching” principle.MethodWithin this paradigm, a framework driven by a Teaching Quality Index is introduced. This metric assesses the learner’s explanation and activates an instructional guidance level to modulate the AI’s responses, from feigning confusion to asking clarifying questions.ResultsGrounded in learning science principles, such as the Protégé Effect and Reflective Practice, this approach positions the AI as a metacognitive partner. It may support a shift from knowledge transfer to knowledge construction, and a re-orientation from answer correctness to explanation quality in the contexts we describe.ConclusionBy re-centering human agency, the “Cognitive Mirror” externalizes the learner’s thought processes, making their misconceptions objects of repair. This study discusses the implications on assessment, addresses critical risks, including algorithmic bias, and outlines a research agenda for a symbiotic human-AI coexistence that promotes effortful work at the heart of deep learning.

279 Background: Immunofluorescence (IF) performed on tissue microarrays (TMA) is used for biomarker discovery but is limited by the arduous and subjective human visual assessment with an IF microscope. We aim to implement deep learning-based artificial intelligence (AI) models to automate and speed up the analysis of numerous biomarkers and generate prediction models of recurrence and metastasis after surgery. Methods: A TMA was constructed consisting of 648 samples (424 tumors, 224 normal tissue) generated from prostatectomy specimens. IF staining was performed on the TMA using anti Ki-67, ERG antibodies and analyzed for differential expression using “gold standard” manual microscopy and using an AI algorithm. Analysis was done blinded to any clinicopathological data. For manual microscopy, relative mean fluorescence intensity of cancerous versus normal tissue was determined. The AI algorithm was generated using a training cohort of digitized images. To do so the Otsu method thresholding algorithm combined with mean shift clustering was employed to find cell centers, followed by a level-set algorithm, to compute cell boundaries.These predictions were then combined with pixel predictions of a fully convolutional deep model to refine the regions of overlapping epithelium, stroma, and artifact. The algorithm was then validated using a separate cohort. Results from the algorithm were then compared to the data from manual microscopy. Results: Ki-67 and ERG expression levels generated by the algorithm showed only a 5% variance compared to the manually generated results. The algorithm was able to pick out which tumor were positive for ERG with 100% accuracy in spite of variance from artifacts. The algorithm also had the ability to improve its accuracy after each iteration of modifications and feedback through the training cohort. Conclusions: The AI algorithm produced similar outcomes than manual quantification with high accuracy but with more efficiency, cost effectiveness and objectivity. We are now developing more complex algorithms that will include the differential pattern of expression of PTEN, MYC and others with the objectives of streamlining biomarker discovery.

A large and dynamic system of specialized terminology has emerged as a result of the quick growth of information technology. With an emphasis on word-formation models, formation patterns, and semantic evolution, this article examines the structural and semantic characteristics of information technology (IT) terminology. The productivity of borrowing, compounding, and shortening is highlighted in the paper as important structural mechanisms influencing IT vocabulary. Semantic characteristics of IT terminology are analyzed, including polysemy, metaphorization, and restriction of meaning. Additionally, the study looks into how conceptualization and word creation in the digital sphere are influenced by cognitive and cultural aspects. The study attempts to elucidate the mechanisms behind term creation and semantic change by examining real linguistic data from English-language IT sources. The results advance our knowledge of how terminology represents the changing link between human cognition and digital reality and how language adjusts to technological progress.

For all human beings, a crucial function of language is to draw attention to things in the world. Like most languages, Vietnamese has its set of ‘pointing words’ that fulfil this function, including nay ‘this’, đây ‘this/here’ and đấy, đo, kia ‘that/there’, ấy ‘that’, and nọ ‘that’. Though the meaning of these seven words has expanded and changed over time, all of them originally served to orient the hearer’s attention to something proximal or distal to the speaker’s location. These words are termed demonstratives in English or chỉ định từ in Vietnamese. Chỉ định từ currently play a wide range of syntactic and semantic roles. They can occur as the determiner in a noun phrase (nha nay ‘this house’, nha ấy/kia/nọ ‘that house’) or appear on their own as either pronominals (đây/đấy, đo, kia la nha toi ‘this/that is my house’) or as locative adverbs (lại đây ‘come here’, đến đấy/đo/kia ‘go there’). In the appropriate syntactic environments, these terms allow the speaker to ‘point’ not only to specific objects but also to abstract, invisible concepts that are present, distant, remembered or imagined. Despite the wide range of uses of chỉ định từ, an exhaustive analysis of their syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic functions has previously been lacking in Vietnamese. Even a cursory analysis of the seven Vietnamese demonstratives reveals that each has not just one meaning or sense, but rather a complex network of related senses, or polysemy network. For example, the demonstrative ấy has thirteen different senses, including the function of indicating the position of a referent in space (a spatial sense), preceding discourse (an anaphoric sense) or in the memory of the speaker and/or hearer (as in recognitional, presentational, place holder, or avoidance usages). In addition, ấy has extended senses indicating person deixis, discourse cohesion, modality and interjective usages. Unquestionably, the form ấy has a wide variety of uses in Vietnamese. Is it coincidence that these uses share the same form ấy? If that were the case, the uses of ấy would be unconnected homonymous meanings. Or are these uses somehow related? If so, then the uses of ấy are polysemous senses, and it should be possible to trace how each sense evolved from another, ultimately tracking the evolution of the polysemy network back to a single ancestral sense. This study analyses the form and function of chỉ định từ as found in a range of written texts, and finds that the various functions of Vietnamese demonstratives are related. The extensions responsible for the current range of demonstrative functions follow recognised paths of metaphoric and metonymic change, so that these changes can be reconstructed from synchronic data even in the absence of direct historical evidence. Although all of the seven demonstratives are argued to be polysemous as the result of semantic extensions, each demonstrative has followed its own path of change and no two demonstratives have identical polysemy networks. These differences are due both to the individual semantics of the different demonstratives, and to the stage of change that each demonstrative has reached. The demonstrative nọ may be the best illustration of this second factor, the stage of development of a demonstrative. The demonstrative nọ once had a spatial sense referring to a distant referent, which is argued to be its oldest and most basic sense. This spatial sense extended to a range of other senses, but over time, the spatial sense itself was lost. The demonstrative nọ is the only one in the system currently lacking any spatial function, though its later, extended senses remain. A logical explanation of the present-day senses of nọ can only be achieved through a reconstructed connection with its now-defunct basic meaning. The polysemy structures of chỉ định từ can only be fully understood via the reconstruction of their earlier senses and the extensions these senses underwent. Without the reconstructed spatial sense of nọ, for example, the demonstrative’s polysemy network looks like a scattered system of unrelated senses, rather than a tidy network of senses related by recognised regular semantic changes. The current study, then, is intended to contribute to the field of linguistics in two ways. First, the study provides an in-depth documentation and analysis of the Vietnamese demonstrative system, which has previously been lacking. This comprehensive documentation and analysis could be used as a resource for diachronic or further cross-linguistic study. Second, the semantic evolution and polysemy of demonstratives has previously received relatively little attention in any language. It is therefore hoped that this research will contribute more generally to the study of universal tendencies of grammaticalisation, language change, and the polysemy networks that can result.