RECURRENT PATTERNS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE. EVIDENCE FROM GLOBAL ETYMOLOGIES

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Semantic laws have been a widely discussed issue since the discovery of Grimm’s laws. Having started with the descriptions of individual lexical items, comparative linguists went on to deal with the typology of semantic derivations, systemic modifications in various word groupings, and regular meaning changes. This was conductive to understanding semantic laws, i.e. rules referring to similarities of meaning shifts in semantically close expressions found in languages with different degree of genetic relatedness. Etymologists considered typical semantic changes to question word origins and reconstruct protomeanings. Cognitive linguists revealed the significance of such general mechanisms of semantic change as metonymy and metaphor in structuring our experience. They also contributed to diachronic semantics by proving the efficiency of prototypicality and family-resemblance principles in semasiological changes. This study intends to examine the directionality of semantic changes accompanying the diversification of the 14 Borean etymons meaning ‘shine’. Another objective is to see whether it is possible to establish any patterns in the semantic changes discovered in the global etymologies.