Semantic change as a process of conceptual blending

The purpose of the paper is to present a new approach to semantic change where meaning alteration is perceived as a by-product of conceptual blending processes and diachronic structures are argued to possess the same characteristics as their synchronic counterparts. Thus, traditionally considered a subject of historical linguistics studiesparexcellence – semantic change – can be understood as conventionalisation of context-dependent modification of usage. The paper examines selected cases of changes in meaning pertaining to the semantic domain BOY and seeks the basis for their explanation in the blending operations of meaning construction. From this perspective, semantic change appears as a natural consequence of language usage directly related to cognitive processing.