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Major Concepts: Lessons XIV-XVII

Major Concepts: Lessons XIV-XVII. Pejoration, Change from Abstract to Concrete, Hyperbole, New Noun-Forming Suffixes, Conceptual Change, Diminutives. Pejoration and Elevation of Meaning (14). Pejoration occurs when a word comes to have negative connotations (e.g., hacker ): Amateur Villain

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Major Concepts: Lessons XIV-XVII

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  1. Major Concepts: Lessons XIV-XVII Pejoration, Change from Abstract to Concrete, Hyperbole, New Noun-Forming Suffixes, Conceptual Change, Diminutives

  2. Pejoration and Elevation of Meaning(14) • Pejoration occurs when a word comes to have negative connotations (e.g., hacker): • Amateur • Villain • Senile • Vulgar • Elevation occurs when a word comes to have positive connotations: • Urbane • Chancellor (< cancellarius ‘doorkeeper’) • Lord

  3. Bases and Prefixes from Lesson 14 • AM • DE, DIV • JOURN • OR • PROB, PROV • RAP, RAPT, REPT • STRING, STRICT, STRAIN • VER • -ity • -itude • -acy

  4. Bases and Prefixes from Lesson 15 • CID, CIS • MATR, MATERN • PATR, PATERN, PATRI, PATRON • SEQU, SECUT, e.g., sequence, execution, sue (< French suivre) • SOL • VIV • -(i)mony: testimony, matrimony • -acity: audacity, capacity • -y: jury, controversy • -ate: senate, electorate

  5. Change from Abstract to Concreteand vice versa(15) • Metonymy is a major factor in the shift from concrete to abstract. • So is metaphor. • The shift from abstract to concretefrequently involves functional extension. • But sometimes a word’s meaning can become concrete while it retains its original functional category.

  6. Concrete to Abstract:Examples Involving Metonymy Please keep your mouth shut about it. I can’t stomach another movie like that. I stuck my head in. He has a wandering eye. What does your heart say? They’re rednecks. He drinks.

  7. Concrete to Abstract:Examples Involving Metaphor Do you follow me? Her visit was short. He exploded. I’m not wedded to that idea. The stock price rose last week. New ideas are taking root. He’s a snake. Let’s stay on the topic. I can’t believe I was so blind.

  8. Abstract to Concrete:Examples InvolvingFunctional Extension • She kept a diary. DI ‘day’+ -ary ‘pertaining to’ • They sang a verse. VERS- ‘turn’ • It’s a play in several acts. AG ‘do’+ t ‘participle’ (cf. fact) • She’s an agnostic. a ‘not’ + GNOS ‘know’ + tic‘pertaining to’ • Two juveniles were arrested. JUVEN ‘young’ + -ile ‘tending to’ • This was difficult case. CAS ‘fall’

  9. But a Word can sometimes become Concrete while Keeping its Original Functional Category Our testimony put those crooks away. testis ‘witness’ Gravity causes objects to fall. GRAV (II) We saw an old Civil War monument. MON (16) The jury deliberated. JUR (3) That’s an interesting specimen. SPEC (5) She asked a question. QUEST (17) They held an election. LEG (16) She reads fiction to relax. FAC (12)

  10. Perspicuous Nascent Deciduous Effusive Cursory Desultory Discursive Inexorably Probity Surreptitious Affability Acuity Rapacious Verisimilitude Define these fancy words from Lessons 13-14

  11. Abstract and Concrete Uses: A Quiz • Use each of the following words in two sentences, the first (a) expressing an abstract meaning and the second (b) a concrete meaning. • Example: delicacy. (a) She handled the situation with delicacy. (b) Frog legs are a delicacy in France.

  12. Authority Scholarship Impurity Novelty Justice Favor Divinity Likeness Brotherhood Inheritance Tragedy Intelligence The Words

  13. Hyperbole (16) • A Greek etymology: hyper ‘over-extended’ + bole ‘toss’ • Exaggeration for effect leads to semantic weakening. • Examples: awful, awesome, excellent, terrible, terrific, gigantic, insane, crazy, wonderful, infinite, starving, a baby, colossal, kill.

  14. A Few New Noun-Forming Suffixes • -ion ‘act of, state of, result of’ (16) completion, prevention, excision (16) • -ment ‘result of, means of, act of, state of’ ligament, monument, predicament, regiment (16) • -men ‘result of, means of, act of, state of’ specimen, acumen, regimen (16)

  15. Bases from Lesson 16 • CRE, CRESC, CRET • I, IT • JUG, JUNCT, JOIN, JOINT • LEG, LIG, LECT • MON • SOLV, SOLUT

  16. Alliteration Anadiplosis Metabasis Anacoluthon Enumeratio Apostrophe Litotes Chiasmus Epistrophe Zeugma Rhetorical Devices

  17. Anadiplosis: ‘again +doubling’ Metabasis: ‘passing between’ Anacoluthon: ‘together path’ Epistrophe: ‘upon turning’ Apostrophe: ‘away turning’ Litotes: plural form of litos ‘simple, smooth’ Chiasmus: ‘markingwith the letter chi’ Zeugma: ‘yoking together’ Etymologies of the Names of these Rhetorical Devices

  18. Meaning Change from Conceptual Change (17) • Sometimes a word lives on even when the concepts around it have changed: birth mother, acoustic guitar, analog watch, hard copy, snail mail. • Greek cosmology • Medieval theories of bodily humors • Astrology • Roman politics

  19. Greek Cosmology • The Greeks believed that the world was composed of 4 substances: air, fire, water and earth. • Aristotle postulated a fifth element: a highly concentrated substance comprising the heavenly bodies. • This concept gives rise to the word quintessential.

  20. Ancient and Medieval Theories of Human Dispositions and Emotions • These theories were based upon bodily humors. • When one humor predominated, the person took on the characteristics of that humor: sanguine, melancholy, choleric, phlegmatic, humorous. • Many terms refer to mixture: temper, temperament, distemper, idiosyncrasy, complexion.

  21. Ancient Astrology • Heavenly bodies are thought to influence human behavior and outcomes: lunatic, somber (< sub umbra), influenza, disaster. • It is also believed that the planet under which one is born influences one’s future personality, hence: jovial, saturnine, mercurial.

  22. Roman Political Life • senate (SEN) • ambition (AMBI + IT) • candidate (CANDID) • censor (CENS) • suffrage (SUB + FRAG) • pontiff (PONT + FAC) • forum (FOR ‘door’)

  23. Diminutives • All languages have ways of ‘minimizing’ concepts by means of a set of forms called diminutives. • Suffixes: kitchenette, booklet, starlet, mannequin, duckling, gosling, doggie, kitty, Johnny, alrighty, sweetie, cutie. • Reduplication: John John, bye bye, papa, mama.

  24. Diminutives from Latin (17) • Latin has a set of diminutive suffixes that come into English: • -(i)c(u)le: molecule, muscle, particle, ventricle, minuscule, ridicule, follicle • -el: novel, morsel, panel • -il: pupil, codicil, fossil • -(o)le, -(u)le: scrupulous, formula, calculus, gladiolus, globule, circular, oracle, Caligula.

  25. Bases from Lesson 17 • FERV • FRANG, FRING, FRACT • GRAN • MINOR, MINUS, MINUT • PATI, PASS • QUIR, QUISIT, QUEST • SEC, SEG, SECT

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