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Article published In: Asian Languages and Linguistics
Vol. 1:2 (2020) ► pp.251–277

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Mechanisms of semantic change

The case of Cantonese slang

 | The University of Hong Kong
Published online: 11 December 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/alal.20020.won
Abstract
This paper examines the mechanisms of semantic change in the creation of ten Cantonese slang words. It demonstrates with synchronic evidence that metaphorization, metonymization and (inter)subjectification are three principal driving forces behind the shift in meaning. It is argued that Traugott, Elizabeth Closs, & Dasher, Richard. (2002). Regularity in semantic change. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar Invited Inferencing Theory of Semantic Change (IITSC), initially proposed for and widely used in the context of grammaticalization, is equally useful for the study of neologisms – in this case, the relatively recent slang expressions in Cantonese. These monosyllabic lexemes are shown to have followed the same unidirectional pathway of semantic change – that is, the shift from non-subjective meaning to encoded (inter)subjective meaning – outlined in their model of semantic change.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphorization and metonymization
    • 2.1Metaphorization
    • 2.2Metonymization
  • 3.Subjectification and intersubjectification
    • 3.1Subjectification
    • 3.2Intersubjectification
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (93)
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