Linguistics & Linquology

The internal causes of the semantic broadening of "midiwfe"

2008-12-26T23:13:00.012+08:00

original version with a slight modification

Wu, Xiaojing

Abstract：The English word midwife has undergone the process of semantic broadening, i.e., a shift from midwife1 (a woman who helps women in childbirth) to midwife2 (a person who helps women in childbirth). This change took at least more than four hundred years. That men began to “help women in childbirth” can be considered as the external cause. This paper shows that the important factors which constitute the internal cause include Antonym-as-Head (a process of compounding), the Return Effects (a type of reanalysis), etc. This paper also shows that the following factor should be another cause inside language for the change. That is, the shift from man/male midwife1 to man/male midwife2 makes simpler and easier the processes of encoding and decoding.
Key Words: Antonym-as-Head, semantic broadening, semantic combination, Return Effect, Superonym-as-Head

Conference paper announced on Nov. 24, 2007.

Originally uploaded (Nov. 30, 2007) to http://www.linguaroom.com/ , which will expire soon.

The article itself will be carried on Tamkang Studies of Foreign Languages and Literatures, 2008 (12).

Hypernym or Hyperonym?

2008-05-03T22:31:00.007+08:00

WU Xiaojing

The two linguistic terms hypernym and hyponym are somwhat confusing. Some scholars prefer hyperonym. I prefer supernym. Although super is not of Greek origin, yet hybrids are not impermissible in English and moreover, supernym sounds simpler and clearer. Compare the following pairs:

hypernym(y) vs hyponym(y)
hyperonym(y) vs hyponym(y)
superonym(y) vs hyponym(y)

Of the three options I think the third one is the best. Also compare the following pairs. The third pair should be the best.

hypernymic vs hyponymic
hyperonymic vs hyponymic
superonymic vs hyponymic

The compound word ewe-lamb (female lamb), how is it coined?

2008-05-03T11:10:00.011+08:00

Abstract: This article offers a semantic analysis of the process whereby ewe and lamb are selected as constituents for the compound word ewe lamb, semantic principles being set forth when necessary, such as the principles of Semantic Copying (SC) and Semantic Percolation (SP) , both of which play essential roles in the semantic combination of ewe and lamb. SC is employed to widen the scope of elemental distribution and raises the semantic criteria for a morpheme as candidate. That explains why ewe goes through the filter while female, bitch, hen, girl, etc. are blocked. SP ensures that the meaning of lamb is inhereited and protected in its compound hyponym, and that contradictions between ewe and lamb are resolved. That explains why ewe is still chosen even though the word contains the element [adult] which conflicts with [non-adult] in lamb. No arbitrary or illogical step has been found throughout the entire process of the semantic combination of ewe and lamb. So the conclusion follows that ewe lamb has no less logical motivation than female lamb, a modifier-head phrase.
Key Words: Semantic Copying, Semantic Percolation, semantic combination, transparency.

Wu, Xiaojing. 2006. How is the compound word ewe-lamb coined? Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 2006(1) : 31-36.

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The compound word niu-du (牛犊), how is it decoded？

2008-05-03T10:28:00.014+08:00

Abstract: This article is intended to offer a detailed, formal explanation of the processes whereby the compound word niu-du (牛犊) is decoded. The focus is confined to the following three formulae: 1) niu-du is decoded as adult cow and calf (as in Classic Chinese, here cow is used as a generic term); 2) niu-du is decoded as calf alone (as in Modern Chinese); 3) niu-du is decoded as cow and calf (here cow is also used as a generic term). A series of rules or principles are set forth for these formulae so that each can produce the desired output. The structure of niu-du (meaning calf) tends to form the misconception that the word is composed of niu as modifier (meaning bovine) and du as head (meaning certain young mammals). That will lead du to a cross-species broadening in terms of its scope of reference. In fact, the appearance of hu-du (TIGER-CALF, tiger cub) can serve as a piece of evidence. After the cross-species broadening is completed, a slight change will take place in the decoding process of niu-du (calf), because niu (i.e. cow, a generic term), once a redundant component, will become a real modifier when an immature cow/bull is referred to.
Keywords: niu-du (calf, etc); semantic copying; decoding principles; semantic combination; cross-species broadening

Wu, Xiaojing. [2006] 2007. How is the compound word niu-du (牛犊) decoded? LiYunXueKan 2006(2): 79-95. Sponsored by School of Chinese Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University. Beijing: Wenyuan Publishing House, 2007.
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Originally uploaded (at 16:46, Oct. 23, 2007) to http://www.linguaroom.com, which will expire soon.

Self-Division, Self-Copying

2008-05-03T09:51:00.014+08:00

All things come from the same source, or from the self-division of the same source. The essence of the self-division of that source is self-copying. The reason that all things are similar and different at the same time is that copying maintains the sameness among them and simultaneously, gives them opportunites to vary for their survival in different environments.

Taken from Wu, Xiaojing. 2003. Copying: The Nature of Language. Journal of Sichuan International Studies University, 2003 (3): 87-91.
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Originally uploaded (at 13:53, June 8, 2007) to http://www.linguaroom.com, which will expire soon.

The internal causes of the semantic broadening of “midwife”

2008-05-02T23:06:00.011+08:00

(Revised Edition)

Abstract: The English word midwife has undergone a process of semantic broadening, i.e., a shift from midwife1 (a woman who helps women in childbirth) to midwife2 (a person who helps women in childbirth). This change has lasted more than at least four hundred years. That men began to “help women in childbirth” can be considered as the external cause. This paper shows that the important factors which constitute the internal cause include Antonymic Head Rule (a rule of compounding), Elemental Return (a type of reanalysis), etc. This paper also shows that the following factor should be another cause inside language for the change. That is, the processes of encoding and decoding man/male midwife are made simpler and easier by the shift from man/male midwife1 to man/male midwife2 .
Key Words: Antonymic Head Rule, semantic broadening, semantic combination, Elemental Return, Superonymic Head Rule

Wu, Xiaojing. 2007. The internal causes of the semantic broadening of widwife. conference paper.

Pleonastic/Redundant Compounds: More Examples in Chinese

2007-05-03T20:28:00.007+08:00

WU Xiaojing
Peking University

Chinese can be considered as a language that likes redundancy or pleonasm in making compound words. More examples of redundant or pleonastic compounds are given below.

weixiao (very small): wei very small, xiao small
juda (huge): ju huge, da big
pangda (collosal): pang collosal, da big
yanxia (blind): yan eye, xia blind
erlong (deaf): er ear, long deaf
tuique (lame): tui leg, que lame
huoshao (burn): huo fire, shao burn
shuiyan (drown): shui water, yan drown
jiaoshui (water tv.): jiao water vt., shui water n.
xiru (inhale): xi inhale, ru enter/into
huchu (exhale): hu exhale, chu come out/out of
routi (body): rou corporal, ti body
pashou (pickpocket): pa pick pocket vp., shou hand
xiaoyan (dimple): xiao smile, yan dimple
shangang (small hill): shan hill/mountain, gang small hill
paobu (run): pao run, bu step
huangyan (lie): huang lie, yan speech
lengdong (freeze): leng cold, dong freeze
shasheng (kill): sha kill, sheng life
meimao (eyebrow): mei eyebrow, mao hair

One thing that deserves mentioning is that sometimes different features of the same word are sent onto the surface level by semantic copying. Take shi for example, it serves as the duplicatum for three synonymous variants.

shi: dead body.　
shiti (dead body): shi (dead body) + ti (body).　
sishi (dead body): si (dead) + shi (dead body)　
shishou (dead body): shi (dead body) + shou (head)

The three compounds are synonymous because they all refer to the same thing as the duplicatum shi does. The mere difference between them is that their respective duplicants cause different features of the same duplicatum to be more salient.

II
There are thousands of four-zi-idioms [1] in Chinese. Some of them share the XY Structure and one of the major types contains a negative element bu ‘not' or wu‘without/not' (Wu 2002) [2] . Examples are given below.

1) y beginning with wu:
changtongwuzu (going smoothly—unimpeded)
chunjiewuxia (pure/clean—without flaw)
yingyongwuwei (brave—no timid)
jijingwusheng (quiet—no sound heard)
zhigaowushang (the highest—having none above)
anranwuyang (safe/healthy—without ailment)
pinganwushi (safe—without mishap)
pingdanwuqi (plain/dull—not interesting)
pifawuli (tired—without strength)
chenmowuyu (silent—speechless)

2) y beginning with bu:
zhiyanbuhui (speak straightforwardly—speak without reservation)
yumengbule (sad—not happy)
tantebuan (upset—uneasy)
chengmobuyu (being silent—not speaking)
wunibuxiao (disobedient to parents—not filial)
kankebuping (rough/bumpy—not smooth)
weimibuzheng (listless—not in a high spirit)
fenmenbuping (resentful—indignant)
guaobuqun (proud/aloof —not unproud)
manbujiangli (rude—unreasonable)[3]

One of the consequences of semantic copying is that a new sense may be derived from the duplicatum within the XY Structure. Take manbujiangli for example, reanalysis has turned man (rude) into an adverb meaning ‘very’ and the whole idiom has undergone a non-pleonastic shift——a shift from ‘rude—unreasonable’ to ‘very unreasonable’ (Wu, ibid.). Manhao (very good) [4] can serve as a piece of evidence that shows a new meaning has been derived from man (i.e. rude) within manbujiangli (cf. manzi ‘a rude/unresanbale person’).

Notes:
[1] zi, roughly equivalent to morpheme(s).
[2] a paper for the seminar on Dec. 18, 2002, Peking University.
[3] Here man (i.e. rude) is the duplicatum.
[4] hao means ‘good’.
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Originally uploaded (at 22:31, Mar. 31, 2007) to http://www.linguaroom.com, which will expire soon.

Tautological Compounds：Examples in Chinese

2007-05-03T20:23:00.005+08:00

WU Xiaojing
Peking University

Tautological compounds form a special type of the reduandant/ploenastic compounds. If they are rare in your language, you might be surprised to see a lot of them in Chinese. Examples given below are grouped into four subtypes.

Entity_Entity
goudu (ditch): gou ditch, du ditch
ziji (self): zi self, ji self
yiyi (meaning): yi sense, yi meaning
shengyin (sound): sheng sound, yin sound
chengshi (town/city): cheng town, shi city
tudi (earth/soil): tu earth/soil, di earth/soil

Quality_Quality
yonggan (brave): yong brave, gan bold
nuoruo (weak): nuo feeble, ruo weak
meili (beautiful): mei beautiful, li pretty-looking
qiguai (strange): qi strange, guai odd
fengfu (abundant): feng abundant, fu rich

Action_Action
tingzhi (stop): ting cease, zhi stop
jixu (continue): ji go on, xu continue
bangzhu (help): bang help, zhu assist
xuanze (choose): xuan choose, ze select
youyong (swim): you swim, yong swim
zhixiao (know): zhi know, xiao know

Mode_Mode
huxiang (each other): hu each other, xiang each other
yongjiu (forever): yong forever, jiu for a long time
bixu (must): bi must/necessarily, xu must/necessarily
gangcai (just now): gang just now, cai just now
jiaru (if): jia if, ru if
zicong (since): zi from/since, cong from/since

It is hard to decide which constituent is X and which is Y since both constituents are synonyms and the combined form remains synonymous to each of them. One of my assumptions about this type of compounds is that one of the two constituents, somewhere in the history, was chosen as the duplicatum of which the other constituent was the duplicant.

Historical motivations, however, have become vague. What can be made certain now is that 1) they are compound words; 2) each constituent can be considered as X or Y to the other, since they are synonyms; 3) the whole is less ambiguous than the parts when they stand alone.
There might have been, among other things, some social motivations urging people to expand a certain set of words into the XY Structure, i.e., to insert a friendly interface which could facilitate communication between regional dialects. Take zhixiao (know) for example, zhi and xiao, both meaning ‘know’, come from different regional dialects. When a native speaker of zhi spoke to a native speaker of xiao, he or she would presumably say zhi and immediately make it easier for the hearer by saying xiao. Native speakers of xiao might 1) in turn accommodate the native speaker of zhi by saying zhixiao, 2) treat zhi as a borrowed item and make it more transparent by saying zhixiao, or 3) take both 1) and 2) into consideration and accept zhixiao as a whole.

The friendly interface might be also needed between social dialects. For example, communication between the educated and the uneducated could create some expressions that were pleasant to both sides. One of the results was the appearance of some tautological compounds (most probably phrases from the very beginning) each of which consist of a more learned word and a less learned word. We can imagine that when an educated speaker talk to an uneducated hearer, the former would, in order to make himself well understood, use easier words to repeat the meaning of the more learned ones which served as markers of his own identity. In other words, tautological compounds form a friendly intermediate level between the more technical (and often more formal) level and the less technical (and often less formal) level. For example, goudu is less formal (and more transparent) than du and more formal (and less transparent) than gou (ditch).

As I know, there are not many tautological compounds in English (See Adams 1973, Bauer 1983. Also see Sauer 1985, Liberman 2006). It does not necessarily mean that English does not like the XY Structure. In fact, we often come across expressions like PIN number, rules and regulations. PIN Number belongs to the variant form xy. Rules and regulations belongs to the variant form x…y, even though it is not clear which one was originally treated as x/y, the duplicatum/duplicant.

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Originally uploaded (at 10:53 Feb. 16, 2007) to http://www.linguaroom.com, which will expire soon.

Semantic Copying: the Basic Model

2007-05-03T20:16:00.019+08:00

WU Xiaojing

Peking University

In order to reveal the mechanism whereby the pleonastic/redundant structure is formed, Wu (1998, 2002, 2006a) establishes the Basic Model of Semantic Copying, where the pleonastic/ redundant structure has a more technical name: the XY Structure.

Where X and Y stand for two respective forms that are meaningful; [M] stands for the meaning that X represents; [M] stands for a partial or full copy of [M]. Semantically, XY＝X.

Fig. 1 The Baisc Model of Semantic Copying

How is X expanded into XY, since the latter means the same as the former does? Fig.1 offers an answer. The process can be divided into the following stages:

The Initial State: [M] is encoded in the form of X. Stage 1 (Readout): [M] being analyzed, a partial or full copy [ M ] is derived from [M]. Stage 2 (Search): The domain, which consists of all the items that are available for selection, being searched for a form which is good enough to represent [ M ], Y is chosen through synonymy and some other constraints, like NOUN, STEM, NATIVE, etc. Stage 3 (Paste): Y is sent onto the surface level so that X is expanded into XY, where Y serves as a sign which represents (part of) the meaning which X represents. As an abstract entity in nature, the XY Structure has to be realized in variant forms such as xy, yx, x…y, etc. Fig.2. below is a concrete application of the Basic Model.

Where gao means‘lamb' in Chinese; yang means‘sheep'; [O, N, H] stands for the meaning of gao, i.e., [ovine, -adult, ±male]; [O] stands for [ovine], a partial copy of [O, N, H]. Semantically, gaoyang＝gao.

Fig. 2 Gao is expanded into gaoyang

As illustrated in Fig.2., gao (lamb), a mono-syllabic word, is expanded into gaoyang (LAMB-SHEEP, lamb), a bisyllabic compound meaning the same as gao. The whole process is as follows.

The Initial State: [O, N, H] is encoded in the form of gao (lamb) on the lexical level. In other words, there is an existing word gao (lamb) in the lexicon, the basic meaning of which is [ovine, -adult, ±male]. Stage 1 (Readout): the meaning of gao is analyzed and a partial copy [O] is derived. Stage 2 (Search): the lexicon, which consists of all the lexical items that are available for selection, being searched for a form which is good enough to represent [O], yang (sheep) is chosen through synonymy and some other constraints, like NOUN, SIMPLE, MONO-SYLLIBLE, etc. Stage 3 (Paste): yang is sent onto the surface level so that gao (lamb) is expanded into gaoyang (LAMB-SHEEP, lamb), also yanggao (SHEEP-LAMB, lamb). Both of them are well-formed compounds in Chinese. No matter whether yang is at the left or right side of gao, the former is used here to represent part of the meaning which the latter represents.

Semantic Copying makes, as in most cases, the original form X more transparent. That is because Y repeats (part of) the meaning of X often in a more transparent way. It is due to this merit of the XY Structure that many monosyllabic words in Chinese have undergone a bisyllabic shift. Examples are given in Pleonastic/Redundant Compounds: Examples in Chinese uploaded earlier to this website. Semantic Copying can also be called Semantic Replication/Duplication. They are synonyms.

Wu, Xioajing. 2006a. Semantic copying: a process of compounding. Linguistic Research. Vol.4 (Jan. 2006), 43-50. Qian Jun et al. (ed.), sponsored by Peking University. Beijing, High Education Press.
——2006b. How is the compound word ewe-lamb coined？Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Vol.38, No.1 (Mar., 2006):31-36. Sponsored by the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education. Beijing, Beijing Foreign Studies University.Wu Xiaojing. forthcoming. Further elaboration on the formation of the Compound Word ewe lamb.
——[2006c] 2007. How is the compound word niu-du (牛犊) decoded? LiYunXueKan 2006(2): 79-95. Sponsored by School of Chinese Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University. Beijing: Wenyuan Publishing House, 2007.
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Pleonastic/Redundant Compounds: Examples in Chinese

2007-05-03T10:08:00.005+08:00

WU Xiaojing
Peking University

When talking about pleonastic compounds, Anatoly Liberman (2006) says “It is to be regretted that no one thought of compiling a dictionary of these compounds in the languages of the world. Such a dictionary would tell us many interesting things about linguistic tastes, the power of bilingualism, and of the relation of thought to language.” I am sure that such a dictionary will facilitate broadening our vision and inspire more people to think how pleonastic compounds work and why some languages love them while others hate them.

There are many pleonastic/redundant compounds in the Chinese language. The native speakers feel nothing odd about them. I have been studying them for almost twenty years (See Wu 2006). Examples are given below. The compounds and their classification remain the same as in Wu (ibid.). The Chinese characters, however, are turned into the alphabetic forms for the reader's convenience.

1) Entity_Type
xy:
liyu（carp）：li carp, yu fish
gaoyang（lamb）：gao lamb, yang sheep
xueye（blood）：xue blood, ye liquid
yeti（liquid）：ye liquid, ti material
zangqi（viscera）：zang viscera, qi organ
biyu（green jade）：bi green jade, yu jade
yushi（jade）：yu jade, shi stone
zeiren（thief）：zei thief, ren person
xy:
niudu（calf）：niu bovine, du calf
yanggao（lamb）：yang sheep, gao lamb
maju（foal）：ma horse, ju foal

2) Action_Type
xy:
zhaundong（rotate）：zhuan rotate, dong move
huidong（waive）：hui waive, dong move
qiequ（steal）：qie steal, qu fetch
duoqu（seize）：duo seize, qu fetch
quanshuo（persuade）：quan persuade, shuo speak
sushuo（tell）：su tell, shuo speak
suoshi（instigate）：suo instigate, shi cause to do
poshi（force to do）：po force to do, shi cause to do

3) Entity_Quality
xy:
yueliang（the moon）：yue the moon, liang bright
guangming（bright）：guang light, ming bright
yanshi（inkstone）：yan inkstone, shi stone
muji（wooden rain-slippers）：mu wood(en),
ji wooden rain-slippers
guanmu（coffin）：guan coffin, mu wood
ganshui（hogwash）：gan hogwash, shui water
yx:
xiaohai（child）：xiao immature, hai child
laoweng（old man）：lao old, weng old man
bai-e（chalk）：bai white, e chalk
rouyan（eye）：rou corporal, yan eye
shenyuan（deep pool）：shen deep, yuan deep pool

4) Action_Mode (Here mode includes space, time, manner, etc.)
xy:
qiushui（swim）：qiu swim, shui water
zoulu（walk）：zou walk, lu road
yx:
jingqing（invite）：jing respectfully, qing invite
yuantiao（look into a far distance）：
yuan far, tiao look into a far distance
huiyi（recall）：hui return, yi recall
yubu（predict）：yu before, bu predict
houtui（back v.）：hou back adv., tui back v.
zhongchuo（stop in the middle）：
zhong middle, chou stop in the middle
shangshen（rise）：shang up, shen rise

5) Entity_Action
xy:
chuanqi（gasp）：chuan gasp, qi breath
titui（kick）：ti kick, tui foot
dengyan（glower）：deng glower, yan eye
zhaoshou（waive）：zhao waive, shou hand
xiezi（write）：xie write, zi word
huahua（paint）：hua paint, hua picture
yx:
ziyi（hang oneself）：zi oneself, yi hang oneself
shenyun（pregnant）：shen body, yun pregnant
guangzhao（shine）：guang light, zhao shine
huoshao（burn）：huo fire, shao burn

6) Action_Result
xy:
suoxiao（shrink）：suo shrink, xiao small
kuoda（expand）：kuo expand, da large
shasi（kill）：sha kill, si dead
linshi（drench）：lin drench, shi wet
leijin（tighten）：lei tighten, jin tight
zhaoliang（light up）：zhao light up, liang bright
zhanggao（grow）：zhang grow, gao tall

7) Whole_Part
xy:
yanjing（eye）：yan eye, jing pupil
shenqu（body）：shen body, qu torso
toulu（head）：tou head, lu skull
zhouji（boat）：zhou boat, ji oar
yx:
shanlu（the foot of a mountain/hill）：
shan mountain/hill, lu the foot of a mountain/hill
daoren（knife blade）：dao knife, ren knife blade
yanjian（eyelid）：yan eye, jian eyelid
guhou（epiphysis）：gu bone, hou epiphysis
chuanjiang（oar）：chuan boat, jiang oar
huarui（stamen or pistil）：hua flower, rui stamen or pistil
guarang（pulp）：gua melon, rang pulp

These compound words fall into a more general category that is technically termed “the XY Structure” in Wu (1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). I think “the Pleonastic/Redundant Structure” might be better when transparency is taken into consideration. According to Wu (ibid.), Semantic Copying is the process whereby the XY Structure is formed. As an abstract entity in nature, the XY Structure has to be realized in variant forms such as xy, yx, x…y.

The examples given above belong either to xy or to yx. The variant form x…y is also common in language. The Chinese idiom kaixuanergui (return in triumph) can serve as a good example. Kaixuan means ‘return in triumph’, gui means ‘return’, and er is a conjunction standing between x and y.

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Wu, Xiaojing. 2006. Yuyifuzhi: Fuhegouci De Yizhong Shouduan. Yuyanxue Yanjiu. Vol.4. pp43-50. Beijingdaxue Waiyu Xueyuan Zhuban. Qian Jun et al. Zhubian. Beijing: Gaodeng Jiaoyu Chubanshe. (Wu, Xiaojing. (2006) Semantic copying: a process of compounding. Linguistic Research. Vol.4. pp43-50. Qian Jun et al. (ed.), sponored by School of Foreign Languages, Peking University. Beijing: High Education Press. )

Scholars who are interested in pleonastic compounds in some European languages could refer to
Hans Sauer. 1985. La3amon's compounds and their morphology. In Historical Semantics Historical word-formation. Jacek Fisiak (ed.). Berlin, New York, Armsterdam, Mouton Publishers.
Anatoly Liberman. 2006. Between beriberi and very, very: In Praise of Useful Waste, Or, Tautological. Compounds. http://blog.oup.com/oupblog/oxford_etymologist/index.html ,
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