Semantic Evolution Research Articles

Changes in the concept designated by the term mariage civil throughout the history of French law 1791–2013

Abstract In 1791, the term mariage civil first appeared in French law in order to designate a civil and secular union recognised only by the State. After the introduction of this term into the French legal domain, there were legislative changes regarding the rules of civil marriages over the following years. The present paper examines the semantic evolution of the term mariage civil in French law, relating this evolution to socio-cultural and historical aspects of France between 1791 (when civil marriage was instituted in this country) and 2013 (when the most recent legislative change in the area occurred). Based on this investigation, it is possible to affirm the transformations in the French society and legislative changes have modified the concept designated by the term mariage civil, especially concerning the notion of family and the achievement of rights by women and homosexuals.

Typology of Words and Constructions with a High Degree of Meaning

The article is devoted to the study of the semantics of units expressing the value of intensity. The concept of the lexical function Magn of the “Meaning ↔ Text” model is used in the article. Lexical functions are a tool for describing limited lexical collocation. Magn is an abstract typical meaning of ‘very’, ‘intensity’, ‘high degree’, which is expressed in a significant number of different words, and in many cases in an idiomatic way. Lexical units expressing the meaning of ‘very’ / ‘large’ / ‘intense’ are represented in different languages by a large number of words and constructions. The designation of intensity in many languages has lexically determined variants of expression, often linguistic specific. A brief overview of the main models of the formation of the meaning of intensity in a language, examples of linguistic-specific units are given. The novelty of the research is determined by the presentation in the work of new models of the formation of the meaning of Magn and linguistic-specific expressions of this meaning. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the study of models of the formation of the value of intensity is in line with modern research on the study of semantic evolution, the construction of a typology of semantic transitions, the identification of the features of the picture of the world of different languages, the creation of explanatory models of the language.

The Socio-historical Factor Behind Change in Meaning: The Case of Old French

This article is about studying an essential factor in the change of direction. The analysis of the semantic evolution of words in usage makes it possible to compare the meanings of words between different periods in the history of the language. The comparison is made here prospectively, thus going back to the etymological meanings and to the first meanings found in Old French. This shows that the words adapt to the social, historical and cultural situation as well as the expressive needs of its users. Beyond the comparison which puts the etymon and the word in parallel in the context of the 12th century with a feudal society governed by chivalrous values, we notice these semantic changes imbued with the history and the lived experience of the speakers. Words have acquired new meanings from the change of context and to meet the demands of a new context. The history of French therefore teaches us that language is a system subject to change. The evolution of language brings about the evolution of the meaning of words. These changes in meaning take place for different reasons which involve the speaker and which are correlated with context and socio-historical events. Various factors are likely to motivate the passage from one direction to another. The procedures are also varied and always offer surprising results which arouse the curiosity of the researcher. Both should be considered as a whole and analyzed according to usage to judge their relevance. We have learned from this study that the French language, as well as any other language, lives and progresses to meet the need for expression of speakers.

Public Opinion Early Warning Agent Model: A Deep Learning Cascade Virality Prediction Model Based on Multi-Feature Fusion.

With the rapid popularity of agent technology, a public opinion early warning agent has attracted wide attention. Furthermore, a deep learning model can make the agent more automatic and efficient. Therefore, for the agency of a public opinion early warning task, the deep learning model is very suitable for completing tasks such as popularity prediction or emergency outbreak. In this context, improving the ability to automatically analyze and predict the virality of information cascades is one of the tasks that deep learning model approaches address. However, most of the existing studies sought to address this task by analyzing cascade underlying network structure. Recent studies proposed cascade virality prediction for agnostic-networks (without network structure), but did not consider the fusion of more effective features. In this paper, we propose an innovative cascade virus prediction model named CasWarn. It can be quickly deployed in intelligent agents to effectively predict the virality of public opinion information for different industries. Inspired by the agnostic-network model, this model extracts the key features (independent of the underlying network structure) of an information cascade, including dissemination scale, emotional polarity ratio, and semantic evolution. We use two improved neural network frameworks to embed these features, and then apply the classification task to predict the cascade virality. We conduct comprehensive experiments on two large social network datasets. Furthermore, the experimental results prove that CasWarn can make timely and effective cascade virality predictions and verify that each feature model of CasWarn is beneficial to improve performance.

Diachronic Analysis and Deictic Means of French Benevolences and Curses

Benevolences and curses, integral and authentic part of the discourse, most clearly reflect the culture of people. The use of these expressions in the communication space of different languages indicates the need for their study from the standpoint of linguistics, folklore, stylistics, rhetoric, psychology, cultural studies and other sciences. This article provides diachronic analysis and examines the deictic means of French benevolences and curses in the French language. The material for the study was the texts of the Bible, French epic poems, medieval legends, ballads, tales, and fiction. When considering this topic, the author used both general and special scientific methods and techniques: a historical-etymological method, a descriptive method that includes methods for observing, comparing, interpreting and classifying the material being studied; semantic identification method; distribution method. Comparing the medieval French discourse with the modern French language, the author examined the grammatical and semantic evolution, which underwent benevolences and curses.

On the semantic evolution of Albanian motër 'sister' and vajzë 'girl' in the context of the Albanian extended family

The Albanian extended family includes more generations, elder people, parental couples, all unmarried children and married sons with their wives and children living in the same household. The organization and the function of the extended family take a central place in the Albanian Customary Law (often referred to as Kanun). Its origins reach far back in antiquity. In Northern Albania it has survived in its classical form until the first half of the 20th century. Alb. moter (older motere) 'sister' has been deemed as a reflex of the Pre-Indo-European word for MOTHER in nearly all other Indo-European languages. The semantic change MOTHER → SISTER has been long discussed, reaching no convincing conclusions. Recently M. Majer (2019) has put forward a keen and well argued proposal, reconstructing a PIE derivative *meh2t(e)reh2 'of the mother' as the preform of moter(e). Such a reconstruction fits well in a hypothesis that takes into account the structural frame of the Albanian extended family as described above, as well as the disputed origin of vajze 'girl' from PIE *swesor- 'sister'.

Contempt, humans, and God. The semantics of the words from the lexical nest (contempt) in the Middle Ages and in Jan Kochanowski’s works

In the Middle Ages, words from the nest ‘pogarda’ (contempt) are characterised by semantic and axiological diversity. They can be found in religious texts in requests addressed to God for not rejecting a man or in negative evaluations of the human disregard for God’s commands and rules. With respect to interpersonal relations, they mean that one person disregards another one, rejects or refuses to help him or her. The latter might have had legal consequences if the person was obliged to provide such help. In Jan Kochanowski’s works, the meanings of such words do not change signifi cantly; fi rst of all, they are specifi ed in their humane dimension in the human world and the stylistic use of their religious markedness is also noticeable. A further semantic evolution goes in the direction of “sharpening” the negative sense of the lexemes, which involves, among others, a change of ethics in the democratic society, where every human being is entitled to equal respect. Keywords: history of language – semantics – lexicology – axiolinguistics – artistic language – Jan Kochanowski

Польські емотиви зі значенням тривоги та неспокою

The article is devoted to the in-depth historical, etymological and semantic-structural characteristics of vocabulary to denote emotional states of anxiety, excitement, disquiet in the Polish language. Semantic, grammatical, linguo-cognitive properties, as well as the origin and formal-derivational and semantic development of the corresponding lexemes are considered. Polish linguists have repeatedly turned their attention to the relevant group of vocabulary, but they have considered, as a rule, only the key noun pol. strach, and many arrays of relevant language units have not yet received scientific coverage. In addition, the historical aspect is still the least studied in the polish linguistics, which reveals the origin of the names of emotions, their formal derivational development, models of initial semantic motivation and patterns of further semantic evolution. Numerous explanatory, phraseological, etymological lexicographical sources of Polish and other Slavic languages, dictionaries of synonyms and cognate words, The National Corpus of Polish, as well as studies in the field of psychology of human emotions and feelings served as a material for the analysis. Both emotion names pol. trwoga and niepokój are characterized in the modern Polish language by a fairly wide combination, on the basis of which the image of anxiety and disquiet in the minds of Polish speakers is reproduced. Thus, this emotion is represented as a substance (either liquid or volatile) that fills the human body; grain (like sow grain or panic); a tormenting enemy force, causing pain, and so on. Questions about the etymology and semantic development of the protoslav. *trьvoga is complex and still not definitively solved in Slavic linguistics. The analysis of numerous etymological lexicographical sources revealed that the most probable semantic transition is “causing painful physical feeling” → “state of fear”. Name of pol. niepokój is formally a prefix formation with the negative prefix nie- and is an antonym to the appellatives: pokój, spokój “peace, tranquillity”. We interpret the semantic motivation of this name as one that is indirectly related to the seme “movement”, as it expresses opposition to the state of rest. Names of anxiety and restlessness which were traced in the field of the semantic and formal evolution for a significant time frame revealed that these names in the Old Polish era did not mean emotional experience, but functioned to denote very specific situations – disputes, conflicts, skirmishes; devastation, disorder, disagreement. During the historical development of the Polish language, the analyzed lexemes acquired a secondary “emotional” meaning, which is main today, namely “state, feeling anxious about what may happen, threatening; fear, horror”, “mental state characterized by strong arousal, tension, difficulty concentrating thoughts and actions; lack of peace, balance; fear”.

КОГНИТИВНЫЙ ПАТТЕРН «МЕНТАЛЬНЫЕ ЯВЛЕНИЯ» В АНГЛИЙСКОЙ ЛИНГВОКУЛЬТУРЕ

The article contains the results of research on historical continuity and parallelism between concrete eidetic verbal thinking and abstract conceptual verbal thinking. We demonstrate how sensory images acquire a symbolic function, expressing abstract ideas, and how events of the inner (mental) world are modeled by using images of events of the outer (material) world. In the course of historical evolution, on its way to becoming abstract, human thinking inherited patterns developed at previous stages; new ideas concerning the world are based on old ones, used as a foundation. The cognitive basis of abstract thinking consists of sensory images. By way of illustration, we study the cognitive pattern ‘Mental Phenomena’ belonging to the English linguoculture, in which images of events occurring in the objective (material) world serve as models of events occurring in the subjective (mental) world. The results of this process are embodied in the meanings, the inner form, and the combinability of units of the English language. The examples given in the article show that the sensory substrate has deeply and organically grown into abstract thinking and latently influences it. Even scientific abstract thinking is not free from sensory visualization; the latter acts as its cognitive substrate. This visualization, which makes it possible to model objects by analogy, plays a useful role in scientific thinking. In many units of the English language having an abstract meaning and included into the semantic field ‘Mental Phenomena’, a concrete meaning may be found at some point of their semantic evolution. This is a manifestation of historical continuity and structural parallelism between concrete and abstract thinking.

Праславянский след в русинской лексике и паремиологии: потя*

The article offers a detailed analysis of the Rusin lexeme potya (‘small bird’) inherited from the Proto-Slavic language. The form and semantics of the lexeme fully corresponds to its Proto-Slavic prototype reconstructed in the article. The author cites a representative series of derivatives of this lexeme (potyata, potyatko, potyaytko, pot’ka, potyuk, potyukh, potich, potak, potyachnyy, pot’ichiy etc.), fixed in the dictionaries by I. Franko, D. Pop, I. Kerchа, M.Y. Onyshkevich, M.D. Matviyiv et al. to trace its semantic evolution and demonstrate its connotative potential. The lexeme is compared with the East Slavic and Slovak lexemes of the same root to register semantic similarities and differences. Particular attention is paid to sayings (resp. phraseological units) and proverbs with the potya component. The following five sayings are characterized in terms of their chronology, area, structure and semantics: Põtya maloye beresya na svõyi kryla; Vadyat’sya tak, shto y põtya by na khizhu ne sіlo; Tsi sova ne põtya? Lem põtyachoye moloko mu khibit’. They are compared with Ukrainian, Russian and other Slavic or common European sayings. Revealed are both common and their various features. The detailed analysis of the following eight proverbs has shown that some of them have a narrowly regional character, while the area of others goes beyond the common Slavic pace: Põtya vidko po pіryu, a cholovіka po robotі; Vpoznati potya po piryu; Põtyati, shto zvyklo lіtati, tyazhko na klіtku zvykati; Yake gnizdo, taki y potita; Kazhdoye põtya lyubit’ krikhotya; Krikhõtyata day põtyatam; Serencha gi põtya, de khõche, tam i syade; Yedno põtya lіs ne nasvishche; Yak potya yimayut’, ta go gladkayut’. The data proves the ProtoSlavic status of the Rusin lexeme potya (*pъtę) and allows its attribution to the ancient Rusin linguistic and cultural heritage. A comparative and etymological analysis of the lexeme convincingly shows its originality in the regional language and as well as its uniqueness and proto-Slavic antiquity. It retained the Proto-Slavic form and semantics and gradually enriched with phraseological and paremiological connections. Proverbs and sayings, whose semantic core is the Rusin lexeme, reflect multi-layered interlanguage connections with other Slavic and European areas, without losing their figurative and regional uniqueness.

À propos du supposé ποι[ν]ίον « amende » de la loi de Cadys. Retour sur le groupe de ποινή, ἄποινα et leurs composés dans le vocabulaire juridique grec

In a Delphian inscription, a word ποι[ν]ίον has been restored in a fragmentary place. The word, which is a hapax, allegedly similar to ἐπιτίμιον ‘ fine’, has since been registered in dictionaries. The article concludes that the restoration ποι[ ν] ίον is very dubious. The study relies on a reexamination of the meaning of ποινή and its compounds ἄποινα, νηποινός, showing that the semantic evolution of these words has been misunderstood and must be revised, which also leads to a revision of the meaning of τιμή in Homer.

Grammaticalization of qәl ‘gourd’ in Amharic

The Amharic word qəl ‘gourd’ represents a rare case where a plant term serves as the source of a grammaticalization chain. The development occurred in two stages, first metaphoric change, then grammaticalization proper: gourd > skull/head > Intensive (never Plain) Reflexive (‘he himself, etc.’). This process was entangled with the grammatical evolution of two other words, ras and gəll. Ras, which is the basic unmarked term for ‘head’, as such underwent the basic unmarked grammaticalization into a Plain Reflexive (and only secondarily into an Intensive Reflexive). The other word, gəll ‘separate, individual’, phonetically quite similar to qəl but with no etymological connection to ‘head’, grammaticalized directly to the meaning ‘one’s own, by oneself’, thence secondarily to an Intensive Reflexive (but never a Plain Reflexive). Thus two near-synonyms (qəl, ras ‘head’) underwent two parallel grammaticalizations, but yielding different results: qəl, unlike ras, was never a Plain Reflexive. Why? The distinctive semantic evolution of qəl, I suggest, was partly driven by its phonetic similarity to the historically unrelated gəll, which also was never a Plain Reflexive. The phonetic similarity helped to foster a semantic attraction between the two grammaticalizing morphemes.

Figure, image, reputation of politicians in the language and the actual political discourse (a corpus research experience)

The purpose of the article is to show the evolution of the concepts of “figure”, “image” and “reputation” in the Russian language in the last fifty years, to analyze their use in modern political discourse. The corpus study on the material of modern political journalism, showed that “image”, the emotionally affecting perception of a person, does not always coincide with the “figure” as the type or character associated with the speaker. Content-analysis of the use of lexemes imidzh, obraz, reputatsiya showed that in the semantic plan they influenced each other, becoming synonyms in various meanings. The semantic evolution of the word imidzh went from an impression of appearance to stereotypical ideas that can be appreciated by society. The “figure”, judging by the Russian National Corpus data, today looks more like a “role” in a film or a play, responding to the theatricalization of the political process. An analysis of the speeches of the president, the prime minister of the country, regional rulers, deputies, and opposition leaders reveals the “masks” of the Grate-Powerman and Patriot, People’s Chosen, Ordinary Man, Strong Man (Powerful Hand), Debater, Distressor, and some others, used as an element of a discursive strategy.

On the Formation and Semantic Evolution of “Gou” Word Family

On the Formation and Semantic Evolution of “Gou” Word Family

Эволюция базовой ценности «работа» в современной русской лингвокультуре

The paper aims to trace semantic evolution of the basic value “Labour” in the Russian linguo-culture. The study is based on comparing results of associative experiments provided in lexicographical sources (Russian Associative Dictionary and Bilingual Associative Dictionary) and two associative experiments conducted by the author. According to sociologists, a national value system has a stable structure. Scientific originality of the research involves experimental justification of a provision on transformation of basic social values. The research findings are as follows: evolution of the basic value “Labour” manifests itself in the following ways: changes in quantitative ratio of reactions; development of additional conceptual meanings “career growth” and “financial component”, which indicates that attitude to labour as a basic value is no longer relevant.

A Study on the Semantic Evolution of the Word ‘Ze(責)’

This study focused on the This study focused on the semantic evolution of the word ‘Ze’. It analyzed the changes of the character of ‘Ze’ and the radical ‘Bei’, and also research the semantic changes of the word ‘Ze’. The main conclusions are as follows:<BR> Firstly, the word ‘Ze’ extends from the meaning of ‘seeking’ to a variety of semantics. Generally speaking, when ‘seeking’ is justified, it first extends the meaning of ‘demand/request’. The subject"s ‘demand’ for the object is expressed in the language as ‘criticism’; from language to behavior, it produces the meaning of ‘punishment’.<BR> Secondly, When the meaning of ’demand’ is embodied as the object of the subject"s behavior, the meaning of "debt" is extended. The semantic expression produces ‘exact’ meaning when it is behaviorized; And the semantic expression produces ‘responsibility’ meaning when it is abstract.<BR> Thirdly, the derogatory color of ‘Ze’ in modern Chinese is due to its relationship with the word ‘Zhai(債)’, which is stained with the negative color of the latter.

Logodaedalus: Word Histories of Ingenuity in Early Modern Europe

Logodaedalus: Word Histories of Ingenuity in Early Modern Europe

Particulele afirmative în limba română – perspectivă diacronică și areală

The present article analyses the Romanian affirmative particles from a diachronic and areal perspective in order to determine their origin. The analysis of a corpus of original literary texts and translations of religious texts as well as dictionaries and grammars from different epochs has resulted in distinguishing in Romanian the following affirmative particles: aşa (since the 16th, and especially the 17th century), ei (in the 16th century), ie (since the second half of the 18th century) and da (since the 19th century). As the last three can be put in the East European areal context, a natural explanation of their origin would be the assumption that they were borrowed respectively from Church Slavonic, German and Slavic. However, also because of the special status of affirmative particles as a part of basic vocabulary of most languages, we propose to apply to them the foothold theory inspired by Abraham’s half-open doors theory (2011). Accordingly, we believe that borrowing the particle ei from Church Slavonic could have used as a foothold the Old Romanian conjunction e (&lt; lat. et) and the ie borrowed from German was superposed on the Romanian verbal form e ‘is’. On the other hand, the Slavic loanword da coincided with the inner semantic evolution of the Romanian forms dară ~ dar ~ da from an adversative conjunction to an affirmative particle.

Semantic evolution of Latin doublet borrowings in Old Irish: sén vs sign

Semantic evolution of Latin doublet borrowings in Old Irish: sén vs sign

Verbi a supporto nel latino tardo: il caso di facio

SummarySupport verb constructions are documented throughout the history of Latin. These syntagms are characterized by the presence of a support verb with a more or less reduced semantic force, and a predicative (abstract or verbal) noun that often constitutes its direct object. The present contribution deals, specifically, with the use of facio as a support verb (as in bellum facere, iter facere, insidias facere etc.), focussing on the post-classical and late period. Two main questions shall be discussed: (a) whether, and if so, how facio becomes more productive in later centuries in both non-Christian and Christian sources; (b) what type of semantic evolution the verb undergoes in later Latin and whether, in this respect, continuity or rupture should be assumed with regard to the earlier period. This last point will enable us to suggest a more convincing explanation of an often-quoted passage of Cicero (Phil. 3. 22), in which the expression contumeliam facere is found.