The meaning of a word or concept may be determined by its place in a semantic network which links it to other concepts.* The concepts that are formed in the first place depend upon the environment and experiences that the agent has been exposed to. So detailed meanings depend upon the particular environment you grew up in. Words** will mean somewhat different things to different people (agents).
Conceptual change and change in meaning then involves adding or deleting concepts (nodes/vertices) and/or adjustment of the strengths of association (edges/links) between concepts. It has both a discrete and continuous part.
* A.s.a. H. generates semantic networks like those of M. Hyman in Ubersetzung und Transformation, Bohme et al eds, 2007, pg 355-367.
** Not all concepts need have a name/word associated with them, of course.
No comments:
Post a Comment