A DIACHRONISTIC APPROACH TO MEANING CHANGES

Abstract

Language, which is a living being, and words that form a language constantly change, evolve, and renew themselves in line with the needs of the communities. In this study, firstly the notion of language has been explained, then the synchronic and diachronic analyses of languages and sign, concept, meaning and semantics were mentioned. The fact that living languages can change is one of the most important characteristics of languages. Considering the fact that the language should be constantly interwoven with the society due to social, cultural events, transitions from other languages and developments in the field of technology, new meanings can be added to the existing ones and even the old words can be excluded. As long as societies use words in new contexts, the meanings of words change slowly. This new meaning can sometimes not be in the same meaning as its original meaning. In this case, the concepts reflected by the signs can only change over time, and the changes mentioned as a process, a passage of time, must be examined in a large scale and diachronic way. In addition, the study emphasized the types of meaning changes after mentioning the social, historical, linguistic, and spiritual reasons underlying the changes among words. As a result, in the study, these inevitable changes were divided into sub-headings such as meaning narrowing, meaning extension, semantic change (semantic shift), amelioration and pejoration, and examples from various languages including Turkish were given and compared To say that language is a means of communication means to ignore many important features and functions of it. Language is perhaps the most important factor determining the perception of the world, a mirror reflecting the culture of that society, the form of that culture, the precondition of societal relations. The world we live in is literally a language world. Therefore, for people to exist as human beings, to maintain their existence, to create civilizations and cultures, and to transfer their accumulations from generation to generation are only possible with the communicational opportunities that the language serves. Briefly speaking, language is at the same time a cultural product of a nation in every way and the most important sign and instrument of beings and civilizations. In this direction, in the study, the reasons and the kinds of the meaning changes in words will be examined. In the following sections, first of all, the concept of language has been explained and then the analysis of a language, the notions of signifier, signified, referent, meaning and semantics have been studied and finally after highlighting the reasons of language change and meaning change, several examples have been given from various languages including the Turkish language. When analyzing a language, generally two methods are followed; synchronic analysis and diachronic analysis. The terms diachronic and synchronic basically show an approach to the phenomenon of language, in particular natural languages, in general. The synchronic analysis of a language is first of all descriptive and analyze the structure or the evolution of a language within a limited period of time in history. While a diachronistic approach examines the kinds and reasons of meaning changes taking place throughout history, a synchronic approach analyses a language at a specific point in time. Concepts are the cornerstones of information we have. The concepts of mind-specific units are based on the experiences we have as a result of our relations with the world. Our knowledge of the world is stored in long-term memory, and this knowledge is both universal and individual. Meaning and concept are seen as two very close terms. If the concept is the designs and associations that occur in the minds of those who know the language, the meaning is the sum of these designs. In this sense, the meaning frame of the word can be divided into its denotative and connotative meaning. When a word is uttered, the design that comes to mind is called the denotative meaning. This concept can be referred to as literal meaning, first meaning, main meaning or dictionary meaning. Connotative meaning is intentionally created meanings except for the real meaning. Every word has different meanings according to time and place or context in which it is used. People, especially poets and writers, benefit from various literary arts in their speeches, poets, and writing to reinforce the narration. These uses gain popularity and become widespread in society. So, apart from the denotative meaning of the word, connotative meanings start to form. Language is one of the most important elements in human life. In many sources, the language that distinguishes humans from other living things is at the same time develops and changes as a living being. One of the most important features of living languages is the fact that languages can change. Whereas new meanings may be added to new words, new pronunciations, new grammatical structures and existing words old words could be excluded from the use. It is almost impossible for a living language to resist changes. The reasons behind these changes are numerous and varied; while new objects and new concepts may require new names, old objects and old words may fall out of use. One of the most inevitable areas of interest in working on language is the variability of a language. Language can change at any time as needed. So, the analysis of a language should not be just based on a synchronic approach. Language is not a constant entity because its being a social phenomenon. The vocabulary of societies changes within the learning process that takes place under different conditions. Some words fall out of use with the disappearance of the referent, some are added to the meaning or new pronunciations are added to the verbal existence. The main causes of meaning changes can be explained by factors such as population movements, migrations, events (

Özet

Canlı bir varlık olan dil ve dili oluşturan sözcükler toplumların ihtiyaçları doğrultusunda sürekli değişir, gelişir ve kendini yeniler. Bu çalışmada öncelikle dil olgusuna açıklık getirmeye çalışıldıktan sonra dillerin incelenmesinde kullanılan eşzamanlı ve artzamanlı yöntemlerden bahsedilmiş ve gösterge, kavram, anlam ve anlambilim konularına değinilmiştir. Yaşayan dillerin mutlaka değişebileceği gerçeği dillerin en önemli özelliklerinden birisidir. Dilin toplumla sürekli iç içe bulunması gerektiği gerçeği de göz önünde bulundurularak toplumsal, kültürel olaylar, başka dillerden geçişler ve teknoloji alanındaki gelişmeler sebebiyle dillere yeni sözcükler girerken mevcut olanlara yeni anlamlar eklenebilmekte ve hatta eski sözcükler kullanım dışında kalabilmektedir. Toplumlar sözcükleri yeni bağlamlarda kullandığı sürece, sözcüklerin anlamları da yavaş yavaş değişmektedir. Ortaya çıkan bu yeni anlam bazen öyle bir değişime uğrar ki sözcüğün ilk kullanımıyla uzaktan yakından ilgisi olmayabilir. Bu durumda, göstergelerin yansıttıkları kavramlar ancak zaman içinde değişebildiğinden ve topluma yayılmaları için bir süreç, bir zaman geçmesi gerektiğinden söz edilen değişimlerin büyük ölçüde artzamanlı yöntemle incelenmesi gerekmektedir. farklılaşmanın temelinde yatan toplumsal, tarihsel, dilbilimsel ve ruhsal nedenlerden de söz edildikten sonra anlam değişmelerinin türleri üzerinde durulmuştur. Sonuç olarak, kaçınılmaz olan bu değişimler, çalışmada anlam daralması, anlam genişlemesi, başka anlama geçiş (anlam kayması), anlam iyileşmesi ve anlam kötüleşmesi şeklinde alt başlıklara ayrılıp Türkçe de dâhil olmak üzere çeşitli dillerden örnekler verilip karşılaştırmalar yapılmıştır