--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "C. Darwin Goranson"
<cdog_squirrel@...> wrote:
> I've noticed an odd pattern on Modern English. Words that are
adapted
> to mean "bad" (such as "sick" and "sh*t") have switched meaning to
> mean "good" (i.e. "That is SICK" and "give me some of that sh*t").
> Contrariwise, the word "awful" switched meaning (albeit earlier)
from
> "full of awe" and "wonderful" to "terrible."
>
> Why do these shifts occur?
Because metaphorical use of meanings is always possible and usually
more expressive than appropriate use. And in the case of metaphorical
language saying that the sky is the limit is an understatement: you
can basically make any word refer to anything you like, provided that
you can make it stick with your fellow-speakers. The problem is that
members of a new generation may not realize that you're using
metaphorical language and may think that you are using your meanings
appropriately and construct their meanings accordingly. At which
point a real shift has occurred.
> And aside from the religiously forced shift of the Indic gods to
> demons in Aryan cultures, is such a shift actually odd, or is it a
> factor that sometimes, even often, needs to be taken into account in
> tracing words to proto-languages?
One would imagine that it can't fail to lower the expected life span
of writers of etymological dictionaries.
In Dutch the collocation meaning 'old whore, aged prostitute' can be
used metaphorically in the meaning 'person who talks too much'. That
is ordinary metaphorical use. That use has however given rise to a
verb appr. 'act like an aged prostitute' used only with the
meaning 'talk too much'. In the verb, the semantic link with
prostitutes is much less clearly present, it is just a forceful way
of saying 'talk too much'. (In some situations you can actually use
it in a way that suggests it just means 'talk'.) So it would not be
strange if at some stage new speakers would no longer perceive the
link with the sex industry and just construct the meaning 'talk'. Now
put yourself in the place of the writer of an etymological dictionary
who would propose to explain the origins of a verb meaning 'talk' in
a poorly attested language X in terms of a hypothetical older meaning
(pieced together with elements from a hypothetical reconstructed
language like PIE) 'act like an aged prostitute'. The poor soul would
be laughed out of court.
...
Best,
Willem