词义演变的原因与方式

Causes and Ways of Changes in Word Meaning
Abstract

Language is the system of symbols for human communication, changing with the development of society. Lexical changes are one of the important aspects of language change. And they reflect the development and changes of the society faithfully and timely due to their close connection with it. This paper mainly analyzes the reasons causing the changes in word meaning from the following aspects: social factors, historical factors, psychological factors and linguistic factors. And the major ways of those changes are also discussed here in terms of lexical meaning including the broadening of meaning, narrowing of meaning, elevation of meaning and degeneration of meaning. Through the analysis of the reasons and ways of semantic changes, we can have a better understanding of language nature and the history of lexical changes，and improve our abilities to use English.

Key Words: word meaning; lexical change; causes; ways

摘  要

语言是人类进行交际的符号系统，随着社会的发展而发生变化。词汇的演变是语言发展变化中的1个主要方面。词汇与社会的联系最为紧密，其对社会的发展变化反映也最灵敏。本文重点从社会因素，历史因素，心理学方面和语言学方面因素分析引起词义发生变化的主要原因。并从词义的扩大，词义的缩小，词义的升格和词义的降格4方面讨论词义演变的方式。通过对词义演变的原因和方式的分析，加深对词语本质及词义演变历史的理解，提高运用英语的能力。

关键词：词义、演变、原因、方式

..............