HISTORICAL DYNAMICS OF MEANING: CHANGE AND LOSS OF MOTIVATION

Categorisation

the mental process by which we group distinct objects/experiences/concepts together because they share similarities or fulfill common structural criteria, serving as our primary cognitive tool for survival

Naming

the linguistic process of giving labels to mental categories, allowing humans to name things, store these names, and retrieve them at any time

Three ways of naming

1. Lexical naming via words and word combinations, 2. Propositional naming via sentences that name a situation, 3. Discursive naming via whole texts that name a chain of events

Lexical naming

the process of giving a concept a name with words or stable word combinations

Concepts

mental representations of things, qualities, relations, or objects

Conventional signs

signs establishing that there is no natural or inherent connection between a word form and the thing it represents

Lexicalisation

the process by which a syntactic phrase, a combination of morphemes, or a specific metaphor solidifies into a single, unanalyzable vocabulary item in a language's dictionary

Lexicalise

to permanently accept a fluid mental concept, a temporary phrase, or a grammatical relationship into the lexicon of a language

Examples of lexicalizations

Words or phrases that have frozen into independent vocabulary units, such as "to silverline" (to make something tolerable), "404 error", or "ghostwriter"

Lexical gaps (lacuna)

concepts that exist in the cognitive system or culture of one speech community but have no single-word equivalent in another language

Types of Lexical Gaps

1. Absolute / Conceptual Gaps where a concept lacks a word token cross-linguistically (e.g., German Schadenfreude), 2. Systemic / Structural Gaps where a language's own morphological grid leaves a logical slot empty

Primary nomination

the process where a word is used for the very first time to name an object, establishing its core literal meaning (e.g., "hand" as a part of the body)

Secondary nomination

the process where an existing word is co-opted to name other, similar objects through semantic extension (e.g., "hand" meaning a factory worker, clock pointer, or applause)

Lexical-semantic derivation

a process where a completely new word or meaning is born without changing the physical shape, spelling, or morphology of the original word

Outer naming

occurs when a language borrows a label from outside its internal system, either by adopting a foreign word or by treating the new concept as an arbitrary, unmotivated token

Inner naming

occurs when a language uses its own internal resources, such as existing roots, word-formation rules, or semantic shifts, to forge a new name

Affixation (Affixal Derivation)

the process of adding a bound morpheme (a prefix or a suffix) to an existing root word to alter its meaning or grammatical category

Conversion (Zero-Derivation)

the process where a word shifts into a completely new grammatical category without any physical change to its spelling or pronunciation (e.g., from noun to verb: to facebook)

Composition (Compounding)

the fusion of two or more independent, standalone roots to create a single, unified lexical unit (e.g., downcycle, speciesism)

Abbreviation (Shortening)

the process that reduces the phonetic and graphic length of words or phrases to maximize communicative efficiency (e.g., E-mail, imho, omg)

Multiword expressions

set phrases and phraseological units that function collectively as single naming units (e.g., a white elephant)

What makes each naming system unique?

1. Culture & environment, 2. the structural properties of the language itself, 3. systemic linguistic compression and creativity

Creative naming (in comparative onomasiology)

the process by which different languages select different salient features of the exact same referent to serve as the core logical motivation for its name

Motivation

the transparent relationship between the structural/phonological form of a word and its actual meaning, providing the logical explanation of why a specific signifier represents a concept

Types of motivation

1. Phonetic motivation, 2. Morphological motivation, 3. Semantic motivation

Phonetic motivation

a direct and natural connection between sound and meaning relying on onomatopoeia, where the phonetic structure mimics an acoustic phenomenon (e.g., buzz, hiss, cuckoo, splash)

Morphological motivation

a relationship where the meaning of a complex word is completely transparent because it is a direct product of its constituent morphemic parts (e.g., skyscraper, rethink)

Semantic motivation

a relationship where a new meaning is forged by co-opting an existing word based on a recognized cognitive association like similarity or contiguity (e.g., calling a computer navigation device a "mouse")

Demotivation (loss of motivation)

the historical process by which a word loses its structural, phonetic, or semantic transparency over time

Phonetic Attrition

a cause of demotivation where rapid speech over centuries compresses sounds and erases original morpheme boundaries (e.g., Old English hlāf-dīġe eroding into "lady")

Semantic Drift / Obsolescence

a cause of demotivation where an internal morphemic component drops out of active use or loses cultural salience, becoming an unmotivated fossil (e.g., "cran-" in cranberry)

Idiomatic Locking

a cause of demotivation where a compound takes on a specific figurative meaning that completely severs ties with its literal roots (e.g., holy day shifting to holiday)

Remotivation [folk etymology]

the cognitive process where speakers encounter an old, borrowed, or demotivated word that feels completely arbitrary and force a new, false but seemingly logical motivation onto it