The internal causes of the semantic broadening of "midiwfe"

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?

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?

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？

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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Self-Division, Self-Copying

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”

(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

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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