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Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage.
A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies due to one form being a proper noun or eponym. [1] It is a portmanteau of the word capital with the suffix -onym .
Malapropism: incorrect usage of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with different meaning; Neologism: creating new words Phono-semantic matching: camouflaged/pun borrowing in which a foreign word is matched with a phonetically and semantically similar pre-existent native word (related to folk etymology)
This, however, does not apply to all such words as some were used in a derogatory fashion from the very beginning. [1] In terms of linguistic theory, reappropriation can be seen as a specific case of a type of a semantic change, namely, of amelioration – a process through which a word's meaning becomes more positive over time. [4]
Neologisms are often formed by combining existing words (see compound noun and adjective) or by giving words new and unique suffixes or prefixes. [9] Neologisms can also be formed by blending words, for example, "brunch" is a blend of the words "breakfast" and "lunch", or through abbreviation or acronym, by intentionally rhyming with existing words or simply through playing with sounds.
After a word enters a language, its meaning can change as through a shift in the valence of its connotations. As an example, when "villain" entered English it meant 'peasant' or 'farmhand', but acquired the connotation 'low-born' or 'scoundrel', and today only the negative use survives. Thus 'villain' has undergone pejoration.
John Calvin pointed to the double derivation of the Hebrew and Greek words for "repentance": the Hebrew derives from conversion, or turning again, and the Greek means a change of mind and purpose. The meaning of the word, for Calvin, is appropriate to both derivations because repentance (a) involves "withdrawing from ourselves", (b) turning to ...
Semantic change may also occur. For example, the English word bead originally meant 'prayer', and acquired its modern meaning through the practice of counting the recitation of prayers by using small objects strung together (beads). One type of semantic change involves the quotidianisation of metaphor. [8]