--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, rett <rett@...> wrote:

> >
> >Does anyone here know of any scholars that have applied the

Linguistic

> >theory of Semantic Shift and Change [that words have additional

meanings

> >added over time and often loose their origninal meaning] to words

in the

> >Paali texts? I have asked the Paali Text Society and they said

they

> >don't know any, which I was shocked to hear.
>
> Hi,

Hi Rett

> I think to a certain degree the idea you are talking about is

taken

> into consideration within philology, including Pali studies.

I did three semesters of Paali studies at uni, but the lecturer
didn't mention it. Maybe it is left for later, but that was as far
as I could go in my uni.

> There is
> an awareness that Pali words can have different meanings in the

Canon

> than in post-canonical literature, for example. And within

Sanskrit

> the phenomenon is very widespread. It's just that perhaps no-one

has

> done a study explicitly using that theory as a basis.

My former lecturer suggested I do a study on it. Maybe I will for my
honours thesis.

> The examples you provided were interesting, but there is one thing
> I'd like to comment on. This might be totally wrong, but it looked
> like you were mostly talking about technical vocabulary

(concerning

> meditation and techniques of mental discipline).

Yes, mostly.

> I think technical
> vocabulary isn't the best place to look for semantic shifts of the
> sort you're talking about. In natural language shifts take place
> through day-to-day usage, but in technical language there is often

a

> conscious decision to restrict or change the sense of a word. So

the

> mechanisms of change aren't the same.

I appreciate your point. I think the changes occurred early on from
day-to-day usage to techincal terms. :-) E.g. I think Jhaana
meant "awareness" as a day to day word, but then became some almost
superhuman state/practice.

> My guess would be that the
> theory you brough up refers to natural changes, not deliberate

ones.

> It's just a thought.

ok

> best regards,

and to you