Semantic Development of the English Word “town”

Abstract

The study aims to identify the regularities of the semantic field “town” in different periods of the English language development. The paper carries out a thorough analysis of the word “town”, which has significantly changed its meaning over the centuries and has acquired a wide range of meanings. This illustrates well the idea that words accumulate senses and associations in the process of historical development and that older lexemes, as a rule, possess more semantic connections than those that have appeared in the language only recently. Scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that it pays considerable attention to the reasoned explanation of semantic changes of the word “town”, as well as conducts a profound linguistic analysis of those changes of meaning and perception of the word “town” that have taken place over the centuries. As a result, the author concludes that it is the part of the language vocabulary which has existed for centuries and has grown roots in the minds of its speakers that gradually acquires new meanings and commonly has polysemy. The examples given in the paper illustrate the meanings and senses of words that can be found in Middle English.

References

1. Бруннер К. История английского языка / пер. с нем. М.: Иностранная литература, 1986.
2. Даль В. И. Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка: в 4-х т. М.: Изд-во иностранных и национальных словарей, 1956. Т. 4.
3. Иванова И. Р., Чахоян Л. Р. История английского языка. М.: МГУ, 1976.
4. Смирницкий А. И. Хрестоматия по истории английского языка. М., 2008.
5. A Bestiary // Sully M. de. An Old English Miscellany / ed. by R. Morris. Oxford, 1872.
6. Aitchison J. Language Change: Progress or Decay? 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
7. Blake N. F. The English Language in Medieval Literature. L.: Methuen, 1979.
8. Canticum de creatione / ed. by J. Hall. Oxford, 1901.
9. Chaucer G. The General Prologue // The Riverside Chaucer / ed. by F. N. Robinson. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987a.
10. Chaucer G. The Miller’s Tale // The Riverside Chaucer / ed. by F. N. Robinson. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987b.
11. Cursor Mundi / ed. by R. Morris. Cambridge, 1893.
12. Domesday Book. A Complete Translation / ed. by A. Williams, G. H. Martin. L.: Penguin Books, 1992.
13. Duden. Herkunftswörterbuch. 3rd ed. Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 2001.
14. Ekwall E. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. 4th ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960.
15. Fennell B. A. A History of English. A Sociolinguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001.
16. Havelok the Dane / ed. by W.W. Skeat, K. Sisam. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1950.
17. Hellquist E. Svensk etymologisk ordbok. 2nd ed. Lund: Gleerups, 1939.
18. Ipomadon / ed. by E. Ko ̈lbing. Breslau, 1889.
19. Jesperson O. Growth and Structure of the English Language. N. Y.: Free Press, 1968.
20. Layamon’s Brut / ed. by G. L. Brook, R. F. Leslie. Oxford, 1963.
21. Lyons J. Semantics: in 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Vol. 1.
22. Middle English Dictionary. 2022. URL: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/
23. Nevalainen T. An Introduction to Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.
24. Old Kentish Sermons // Sully M. de. An Old English Miscellany / ed. by R. Morris. Oxford, 1872.
25. Oxford English Dictionary / ed. by J. Simpson, E. Weiner. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989.
26. Pfeifer W. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen. 4th ed. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, 1999.
27. Poema Morale / ed. by J. Zupitza. Oxford, 1878.
28. Reynolds S. An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns. Oxford: Clarendon, 1977.
29. Robert of Brunne’s “Handlyng Synne” / ed. by F. J. Furnivall. L., 1901.
30. Roland and Vernagu / ed. by S. J. H. Herrtage // The English Charlemagne Romances: in 6 pts. L., 1882. Pt. 3, 4.
31. Room A. Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles. L.: Bloomsbury, 1988.
32. Sawles Warde // Old English Homilies and Homiletic Treatises / ed. by R. Morris. L., 1868.
33. Sir Orfeo / ed. by A. J. Bliss. Oxford, 1954.
34. Smith A. H. English Place-Name Society: English Place-Name Elements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956.
35. Stenton D. M. English Society in the Middle Ages. 4th ed. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1965.
36. Svensson A.-M. Middle English Words for ‘‘Town’’: A Study of Changes in a Semantic Field. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1997.
37. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (A Revised Translation) / ed. by D. Whitelock. L.: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961.
38. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language / ed. by D. Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
39. The Life of Saint Katherine / ed. by E. Einenkel. Missisippi, 1884.
40. The Middle English Lyrics of Ms. Harley / ed. by G. L. Brook. Manchester, 1948.
41. The Old English Version of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People / ed. by Th. Miller. L., 1890-1891.
42. The Owl and the Nightingale / ed. by E. G. Stanley. Manchester, 1972.
43. The Passion of Our Lord // Sully M. de. An Old English Miscellany / ed. by R. Morris. Oxford, 1872.
44. The Peterborough Chronicle / ed. by C. Clark. Oxford, 1958.
45. The Poems of John Audelay / ed. by E. K. Whiting. L., 1931.
46. The Proverbs of Alfred // Sully M. de. An Old English Miscellany / ed. by R. Morris. Oxford, 1872.
47. The Wars of Alexander / ed. by W. W. Skeat. Oxford, 1886.
48. Twelfth-Century Homilies in MS. Bodley 343 / ed. by A. O. Balfour. L., 1909.
49. Two Saxon Chronicles / ed. by Ch. Plummer. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892.
50. Vices and Virtues / ed. by F. Holthausen. L., 1888, 1921.
51. Vita S. Etheldredae Eliensis // Altenglische Legenden, neue Folge / ed. by C. Horstmann. Heilbronn, 1881.

Author information

About this article

Publication history

• Received: July 11, 2022.
• Published: August 31, 2022.

Keywords

• лексема “town”
• контекст
• среднеанглийский период
• полисемия
• заимствования
• lexeme “town”
• context
• Middle English period
• polysemy
• borrowings

Copyright

© 2022 The Author(s)
© 2022 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)