How the Meanings of Words Change
Stick
around long enough and you'll notice that language
changes—whether you like it or not. Consider this recent report from
columnist Martha Gill on the redefinition of the word literally:
It's happened. Literally the most
misused word in the language has officially changed definition.
Now as well as meaning "in a literal
manner or sense; exactly: 'the driver took it literally when asked to go
straight over the traffic circle,'" various dictionaries
have added its other more recent usage. As Google
puts it, "literally" can be used "to acknowledge that something
is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling."
. . .
"Literally," you see, in its development from knock-kneed, single-purpose utterance, to swan-like dual-purpose term, has reached that awkward stage. It is neither one nor the other, and it can't do anything right."
(Martha Gill, "Have We Literally Broken the English Language?" The Guardian [UK], August 13, 2013)
"Literally," you see, in its development from knock-kneed, single-purpose utterance, to swan-like dual-purpose term, has reached that awkward stage. It is neither one nor the other, and it can't do anything right."
(Martha Gill, "Have We Literally Broken the English Language?" The Guardian [UK], August 13, 2013)
Changes
in word meanings (a process called semantic shift)
happen for various reasons and in various ways. Four common types of change are
broadening, narrowing, amelioration, and pejoration. (For more
detailed discussions of these processes, click on the highlighted terms.)
- Broadening
Also known as generalization or extension, broadening is the process by which a word's meaning becomes more inclusive than an earlier meaning. In Old English, for instance, the word dog referred to just one particular breed, and thing meant a public assembly. In contemporary English, of course, dog can refer to any hairy, barking, four-legged creature, and thing can refer to, well, anything. - Narrowing
The opposite of broadening is narrowing (also called specialization or restriction), a type of semantic change in which a word's meaning becomes less inclusive. For example, in Middle English, deer could refer to any animal, and girl could mean a young person of either sex. - Amelioration
Amelioration refers to the upgrading or rise in status of a word's meaning. For example, meticulous once meant "fearful or timid," and sensitive meant simply "capable of using one's senses." - Pejoration
More common than amelioration is the downgrading or depreciation of a word's meaning, a process called pejoration. The adjective silly, for instance, once meant "blessed" or "innocent," officious meant "hard working," and aggravate meant to "increase the weight" of something.
Over the
course of time, words "slip-slide in all directions," says linguist Jean
Aitchison, and for that reason "traditional lists of causes" (such as
the list above) can "reduce semantic change to the level of stamp
collecting, an assembly of colourful bits and pieces" (Language Change:
Progress Or Decay? 2013).
What's
worth keeping in mind is that meanings don't change over night. Different
senses of the same word often overlap, and new meanings can co-exist with older
meanings for centuries. In linguistic terms, polysemy
is the rule, not the exception.
"Words
are by nature incurably fuzzy," says Aitchison. And in recent years the adverb literally
has become exceptionally fuzzy. In fact, it has slipped into the rare category
of Janus words,
joining terms like sanction, bolt, and fix that contain opposite
or contradictory meanings.
Martha
Gill concludes that there's not much we can do about literally,
"other than avoid it completely." The awkward stage that it's going
through may last for quite some time. "It is a moot word," she
says. "We just have to leave it up in its bedroom for a while until it
grows up a bit."
