What is a next word for develop

▲ To advance or to promote the growth of. elevate. improve. advance.

What is another word for step by step?

In this page you can discover 19 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for step-by-step, like: gradual, cautiously, by-degrees, stepwise, piecemeal, fast, tentatively, bit-by-bit, carefully, slowly and in small stages.

What is another word for developing?

What is another word for developing?

What is another word for personal development?

What is another word for personal development?

What is another word for personal?

What is another word for personal?

What’s a word for positive change?

What is another word for change for the better?

What is a word for life changing?

Life-changing Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for life-changing?

What is a fancy word for change?

SYNONYMS FOR change 1 transmute, transform; vary, mutate; amend, modify. 3 replace, swap.

What is another word for changed?

What is another word for changed?

What is the full form of change?

CHANGE. Community Helping Accomplish Necessary Growth and Empowerment.

What is another word for adapting to change?

Some common synonyms of adapt are accommodate, adjust, conform, and reconcile. While all these words mean “to bring one thing into correspondence with another,” adapt implies a modification according to changing circumstances.

What is a word for a sudden change?

other words for sudden change break with the past. conversion. marked transformation. metamorphosis. quantum leap.

What is a good synonym for suddenly?

other words for suddenly

• abruptly.
• quickly.
• swiftly.
• short.
• aback.
• forthwith.
• sudden.
• unaware.

What is the right word for a part of something?

1. Part, piece, portion, segment, section, fraction, fragment refer to something that is less than the whole.

What is unforeseen condition?

If something that has happened was unforeseen, it was not expected to happen or known about beforehand. Radiation may damage cells in a way that was previously unforeseen. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this year’s show has been cancelled.

Are any unforeseen happenings?

If something was foreseen, you saw it coming and it wasn’t a surprise. Something unforeseen is the opposite: no one saw it coming. Accidents are usually unforeseen events: no one expects to get in a car or bike accident on a given day. Winning the lottery, since it’s so unlikely, would be an unforeseen event.

What is an unforeseen circumstance?

1. used in official statements for explaining that something unexpected has happened that will prevent an event or situation from continuing normally. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to close the exhibition for the next two days. Synonyms and related words.

How do you say due to unforeseen circumstances?

due to unforeseen circumstances synonym, due to unforeseen circumstances definition | Thesaurus

1. abrupt, accidental, out of the blue, startling, sudden, surprise, surprising, unanticipated, unexpected, unlooked-for, unpredicted.
2. anticipated, envisaged, expected, foreseen, intended, predicted.

What is meant by unavoidable circumstances?

Unavoidable Circumstances means circumstances where a person cannot be present before the court to acquire a marriage certificate or a deed of divorce due to physical or mental illness. Sample 1.

How do you respond to unforeseen circumstances?

Fortunately, no matter the scale or nature of the beast, almost any unforeseen challenge can be handled with the following five-step process:

1. Do a damage report.
2. Control your emotional response.
3. Focus on the long-term goals.
4. Clearly communicate the challenge.
5. Collaborate or settle on a solution.

How do you overcome unexpected challenges explain?

Try These 5 Powerful Tips When You’re Facing A Challenge.

1. Focus your attention. The mind is a very powerful thing, and focusing on something is a good way to bring it into your life.
2. Achieve what you can, where you are.
3. Separate yourself from the challenge.
4. Don’t quit…even when you don’t succeed.

How do you use unforeseen circumstances in a sentence?

Example sentences unforeseen circumstances

1. The reception had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
2. But life is always full of unforeseen circumstances.
3. Most small businesses have cash savings to last only two weeks if unforeseen circumstances were to force them to cease trading temporarily.

How do you handle unexpected issues in the workplace?

1. “Expect the unexpected.” That’s what people always say whenever an unforeseen event happens. No matter how much you prepare, one way or another, something unexpected will happen.
2. Keep Calm. The first thing to do when something unexpected happens is to get away from it.
3. Don’t Aim for Perfection.
4. Keep Your Eyes on the Goal.

What is another word for developing?

What are antonyms for developed? Antonyms for (adj) developed

• Antonyms: undeveloped.
• Definition: not developed.
• Antonyms: immature.
• Definition: not yet mature.
• Antonyms: immature.
• Definition: characteristic of a lack of maturity.

Likewise What is similar to acquire or develop?

In this page you can discover 48 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for acquire, like: receive, take possession, earn, procure, attain, learn, have, collect, lose, fail and get.

What is the prefix of develop? Explanation: ‘ Develop ‘ is the root word and ‘ ment ‘ is suffix…the word makes development .

Has developed meaning?

to grow into a more mature or advanced state; advance; expand: She is developing into a good reporter. to come gradually into existence or operation; be evolved. to be disclosed; become evident or manifest: The plot of the novel developed slowly.

What is the antonym of the word acquisition? Antonyms. decline natural object rejection disapproval unpermissiveness noncommercial unprofitable.

What’s another word for business development?

What is another word for business development?

What are two synonyms acquire? accept

• acquire.
• gain.
• get.
• obtain.
• secure.
• take.
• welcome.

What is the suffix for development?

Suffixes are word parts that are located at the end of words. Suffixes can alter the meaning of medical terms.
…
4 Suffix.

What is the sentence of development? “The building has undergone rapid development.” “The city is going through commercial development.” “We have been observing his artistic development.” “He oversees product development.”

What is a good sentence for develop?

She has been exercising regularly to develop her back muscles. The story was later developed into a novel.

What is the verb of developed? Definition of develop

transitive verb. 1a : to set forth or make clear by degrees or in detail : expound develop a thesis. b : to make visible or manifest developed the scene in her mind. c dyeing : to treat with an agent to cause the appearance of color.

Is it develop or developed?

develop Definitions and Synonyms ‌‌‌

What is the verb form of develop? Regular verb: develop – developed – developed.

What is the meaning of acquire or develop?

If you acquire something such as a skill or a habit, you learn it, or develop it through your daily life or experience.

How do you say the word acquire?

What is the verb of acquisition?

Acquisition most commonly means the process of obtaining something or the thing that is obtained. It is a noun form of the verb acquire, which most commonly means to get, buy, or learn. Acquire and acquisition have a lot of meanings that vary with context.

What is another name for business development manager? Some common alternative job titles include: Business Development Executive. Development Manager. Sales Manager.

What does growth mean for a business?

“The process of improving some measure of an enterprise’s success. Business growth can be achieved either by boosting the top line or revenue of the business with greater product sales or service income, or by increasing the bottom line or profitability of the operation by minimizing costs”

What skills are needed for business development? 7 Skills excellent Business Development Managers must have

• Communication & Interpersonal Skills. A good business developer must have strong communication skills. …
• Collaboration Skills. …
• Negotiation & Persuasion skills. …
• Project Management Skills. …
• Research & Strategy. …
• Computer Skills. …
• Business Intelligence.

What word means to build knowledge?

1 add to, amplify, augment, develop, enhance, expand, extend, fortify, heighten, improve, increase, intensify, reinforce, strengthen. 2 advertise, boost, plug (informal) promote, publicize, spotlight. epistemology n. the part of philosophy that deals with knowledge.

What does it mean to attain something? Definition of attain

transitive verb. 1 : to reach as an end : gain, achieve attain a goal. 2 : to come into possession of : obtain he attained preferment over his fellows. 3 : to come to as the end of a progression or course of movement They attained the top of the hill. attain a ripe old age.

adjustment, advance, development, difference, diversity, innovation, modification, reversal, revision, revolution, shift, switch, transformation, transition, variation, turnaround, adjust, alter, diminish, evolve.

For instance, What’s another word for develop? Develop Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus.

What is another word for develop?

How do you describe something that always changes? “Thus, the natural world, human subjectivity, consciousness, and, obviously, knowledge is always changing.”

What is another word for always changing?

Besides, What is a word for rapidly changing?

Fast-changing synonyms

In this page you can discover 5 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for fast-changing, like: fast-change, , hyper-competitive, globalised and globalising.

Beside above, What is another word for change over time?

In this page you can discover 17 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for changeover, like: shift, alteration, transition, mutation, conversion, switch, change-over, change, metamorphosis, transfiguration and transformation.

Is there another word for developed?

Developed Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus.

What is another word for developed?

What does it mean to develop something?

verb (used with object) to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of; bring to a more advanced or effective state: to develop natural resources; to develop one’s musical talent. to cause to grow or expand: to develop one’s muscles. to elaborate or expand in detail: to develop a theory.

How do you say sudden changes?

sudden change

1. break with the past.
2. conversion.
3. marked transformation.
4. metamorphosis.
5. quantum jump.
6. quantum leap.
7. radical change.
8. revolutionary change.

What changes over time means?

When populations change over time, we call this evolution. So, to repeat, populations evolve; individual organisms change and develop. Evolution involves changes in the genetic makeup of a population.

What is another word for highly developed?

What is another word for highly developed?

Whats another word for well developed?

What is another word for well-developed?

What is the verb form of development?

Explanation: Develop is the verb form of development.

What is a good sentence for develop?

She has been exercising regularly to develop her back muscles. The story was later developed into a novel.

What is a antonym for develop?

Antonyms. dedifferentiate differentiate go recede end stop go off.

What word describes something that has been changed or made different?

radical. adjective. a radical change or way of doing something is new and very different from the usual way.

What is the meaning of drastic change?

adjective. A drastic change is a very great change. drastically adverb [ADVERB with verb]

What are antonyms for develop?

antonyms for develop

• decline.
• decrease.
• halt.
• lessen.
• retreat.
• retrogress.
• stop.
• stunt.

What is the meaning of highly developed?

Definitions of highly-developed. adjective. (used of societies) having high industrial development. synonyms: developed industrial. having highly developed industries.

What is another word for experienced?

1 skilled, expert, practiced, veteran, accomplished, versed, adept, qualified.

Whats another word for well done?

What is another word for well-done?

What means newly developed?

1 recently; lately or just. a newly built shelf.

What does well advanced mean?

Thoroughly, highly, or far advanced.

What is the adverb for develop?

There are also adjectival and adverbial forms of develop. For example, we often describe middle- to low-income countries as developing nations. “Developing” in that usage is an adjective. The adverb for develop is made from the noun development.

How do you describe development?

Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components.

What is the adjective form of development?

adjective form of development is developing.

развиваться, развивать, разрабатывать, совершенствовать, совершенствоваться

глагол ↓

Словосочетания

well-developed breasts — хорошо развитая грудь  
to develop a market for the new mobile phone — создать рынок для нового мобильного телефона  
to develop a(n) (advertising) campaign — разрабатывать рекламную кампанию  
to develop cancer — заболевать раком  
to develop a character — развить чей-л. образ, разработать чей-л. образ  
to develop smb.’s capabilities — развивать чьи-л. способности  
to do exercises to develop muscles — делать упражнения для развития мышц  
to develop a habit — приобретать привычку  
to develop a taste for opera — полюбить оперу  
to develop a new product — разрабатывать новый продукт  
to develop a new drug against cancer — разрабатывать новое лекарство от рака  
to develop a design — разрабатывать проект  

Примеры с переводом

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

Возможные однокоренные слова

developer  — проявитель, застройщик
development  — развитие, разработка, создание, строительство, рост, совершенствование, событие
overdevelop  — чрезмерно развивать, передержать
developed  — развитой, развитый
developing  — развивающийся, освоение, разрабатывание
developable  — способный к развитию, развивающийся, развертывающаяся поверхность
redevelop  — перестраивать, преобразовывать, перестраиваться, фото вторично проявлять

Формы слова

verb
I/you/we/they: develop
he/she/it: develops
ing ф. (present participle): developing
2-я ф. (past tense): developed
3-я ф. (past participle): developed

Most of the keyboards in smartphones give next word prediction features; google also uses next word prediction based on our browsing history. So a preloaded data is also stored in the keyboard function of our smartphones to predict the next word correctly. In this article, I will train a Deep Learning model for next word prediction using Python. I will use the Tensorflow and Keras library in Python for next word prediction model.

For making a Next Word Prediction model, I will train a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). So let’s start with this task now without wasting any time.

Also, Read – 100+ Machine Learning Projects Solved and Explained.

To start with our next word prediction model, let’s import some all the libraries we need for this task:

import numpy as np
from nltk.tokenize import RegexpTokenizer
from keras.models import Sequential, load_model
from keras.layers import LSTM
from keras.layers.core import Dense, Activation
from keras.optimizers import RMSprop
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pickle
import heapq

As I told earlier, Google uses our browsing history to make next word predictions, smartphones, and all the keyboards that are trained to predict the next word are trained using some data. So I will also use a dataset. You can download the dataset from here.

Now let’s load the data and have a quick look at what we are going to work with:

path = '1661-0.txt'
text = open(path).read().lower()
print('corpus length:', len(text))

corpus length: 581887

Now I will split the dataset into each word in order but without the presence of some special characters.

tokenizer = RegexpTokenizer(r'w+')
words = tokenizer.tokenize(text)

['project', 'gutenberg', 's', 'the', 'adventures', 'of', 'sherlock', 'holmes', 'by', ............................... , 'our', 'email', 'newsletter', 'to', 'hear', 'about', 'new', 'ebooks']

Now the next process will be performing the feature engineering in our data. For this purpose, we will require a dictionary with each word in the data within the list of unique words as the key, and it’s significant portions as value.

unique_words = np.unique(words)
unique_word_index = dict((c, i) for i, c in enumerate(unique_words))

Feature Engineering

Feature Engineering means taking whatever information we have about our problem and turning it into numbers that we can use to build our feature matrix. If you want a detailed tutorial of feature engineering, you can learn it from here.

Here I will define a Word length which will represent the number of previous words that will determine our next word. I will define prev words to keep five previous words and their corresponding next words in the list of next words.

WORD_LENGTH = 5
prev_words = []
next_words = []
for i in range(len(words) - WORD_LENGTH):
    prev_words.append(words[i:i + WORD_LENGTH])
    next_words.append(words[i + WORD_LENGTH])
print(prev_words[0])
print(next_words[0])

['project', 'gutenberg', 's', 'the', 'adventures']

Now I will create two numpy arrays x for storing the features and y for storing its corresponding label. I will iterate x and y if the word is available so that the corresponding position becomes 1.

X = np.zeros((len(prev_words), WORD_LENGTH, len(unique_words)), dtype=bool)
Y = np.zeros((len(next_words), len(unique_words)), dtype=bool)
for i, each_words in enumerate(prev_words):
    for j, each_word in enumerate(each_words):
        X[i, j, unique_word_index[each_word]] = 1
    Y[i, unique_word_index[next_words[i]]] = 1

Now before moving forward, have a look at a single sequence of words:

[False False False … False False False]

Building the Recurrent Neural network

As I stated earlier, I will use the Recurrent Neural networks for next word prediction model. Here I will use the LSTM model, which is a very powerful RNN.

model = Sequential()
model.add(LSTM(128, input_shape=(WORD_LENGTH, len(unique_words))))
model.add(Dense(len(unique_words)))
model.add(Activation('softmax'))

Training the Next Word Prediction Model

I will be training the next word prediction model with 20 epochs:

optimizer = RMSprop(lr=0.01)
model.compile(loss='categorical_crossentropy', optimizer=optimizer, metrics=['accuracy'])
history = model.fit(X, Y, validation_split=0.05, batch_size=128, epochs=2, shuffle=True).history

Now we have successfully trained our model, before moving forward to evaluating our model, it will be better to save this model for our future use.

model.save('keras_next_word_model.h5')
pickle.dump(history, open("history.p", "wb"))
model = load_model('keras_next_word_model.h5')
history = pickle.load(open("history.p", "rb"))

Evaluating the Next Word Prediction Model

Now let’s have a quick look at how our model is going to behave based on its accuracy and loss changes while training:

plt.plot(history['acc'])
plt.plot(history['val_acc'])
plt.title('model accuracy')
plt.ylabel('accuracy')
plt.xlabel('epoch')
plt.legend(['train', 'test'], loc='upper left')

plt.plot(history['loss'])
plt.plot(history['val_loss'])
plt.title('model loss')
plt.ylabel('loss')
plt.xlabel('epoch')
plt.legend(['train', 'test'], loc='upper left')

Testing Next Word Prediction Model

Now let’s build a python program to predict the next word using our trained model. For this, I will define some essential functions that will be used in the process.

def prepare_input(text):
    x = np.zeros((1, SEQUENCE_LENGTH, len(chars)))
    for t, char in enumerate(text):
        x[0, t, char_indices[char]] = 1.
        
    return x

Now before moving forward, let’s test the function, make sure you use a lower() function while giving input :

prepare_input("This is an example of input for our LSTM".lower())

array([[[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
...,
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.]]])

Note that the sequences should be 40 characters (not words) long so that we could easily fit it in a tensor of the shape (1, 40, 57). Not before moving forward, let’s check if the created function is working correctly.

def prepare_input(text):
    x = np.zeros((1, WORD_LENGTH, len(unique_words)))
    for t, word in enumerate(text.split()):
        print(word)
        x[0, t, unique_word_index[word]] = 1
    return x
prepare_input("It is not a lack".lower())

array([[[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
...,
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 0., ..., 0., 0., 0.]]])

Now I will create a function to return samples:

def sample(preds, top_n=3):
    preds = np.asarray(preds).astype('float64')
    preds = np.log(preds)
    exp_preds = np.exp(preds)
    preds = exp_preds / np.sum(exp_preds)

    return heapq.nlargest(top_n, range(len(preds)), preds.take)

And now I will create a function for next word prediction:

def predict_completion(text):
    original_text = text
    generated = text
    completion = ''
    while True:
        x = prepare_input(text)
        preds = model.predict(x, verbose=0)[0]
        next_index = sample(preds, top_n=1)[0]
        next_char = indices_char[next_index]
        text = text[1:] + next_char
        completion += next_char
        
        if len(original_text + completion) + 2 > len(original_text) and next_char == ' ':
            return completion

This function is created to predict the next word until space is generated. It will do this by iterating the input, which will ask our RNN model and extract instances from it. Now I will modify the above function to predict multiple characters:

def predict_completions(text, n=3):
    x = prepare_input(text)
    preds = model.predict(x, verbose=0)[0]
    next_indices = sample(preds, n)
    return [indices_char[idx] + predict_completion(text[1:] + indices_char[idx]) for idx in next_indices]

Now I will use the sequence of 40 characters that we can use as a base for our predictions.

quotes = [
    "It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.",
    "That which does not kill us makes us stronger.",
    "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.",
    "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.",
    "It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!"
]

Now finally, we can use the model to predict the next word:

for q in quotes:
    seq = q[:40].lower()
    print(seq)
    print(predict_completions(seq, 5))
    print()

it is not a lack of love, but a lack of
['the ', 'an ', 'such ', 'man ', 'present, ']
that which does not kill us makes us str
['ength ', 'uggle ', 'ong ', 'ange ', 'ive ']
i'm not upset that you lied to me, i'm u
['nder ', 'pon ', 'ses ', 't ', 'uder ']
and those who were seen dancing were tho
['se ', 're ', 'ugh ', ' servated ', 't ']it is hard enough to remember my opinion
[' of ', 's ', ', ', 'nof ', 'ed ']

Also Read: Data Augmentation in Deep Learning.

I hope you liked this article of Next Word Prediction Model, feel free to ask your valuable questions in the comments section below.

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Chapter 8 how words develop new meanings

It has been mentioned that the systems of meanings of polysemantic words evolve gradually. The older a word is, the better developed is its semantic structure. The normal pattern of a word’s semantic development is from monosemy to a simple semantic structure encompassing only two or three meanings, with a further movement to an increasingly more complex semantic structure.

In this chapter we shall have a closer look at the complicated processes by which words acquire new meanings.

There are two aspects to this problem, which can be generally described in the following way: a) Why should new meanings appear at all? What circumstances cause and stimulate their development? b) How does it happen? What is the nature of the very process of development of new meanings?

Let us deal with each of these questions in turn.

Causes of Development of New Meanings

The first group of causes is traditionally termed historical or extra-linguistic.

Different kinds of changes in a nation’s social life, in its culture, knowledge, technology, arts lead to gaps appearing in the vocabulary which beg to be filled. Newly created objects, new concepts and phenomena must be named. We already know of two ways for providing new names for newly created concepts:

making new words (word-building) and borrowing foreign ones. One more way of filling such vocabulary gaps is by applying some old word to a new object or notion.

When the first textile factories appeared in England, the old word mill was applied to these early industrial enterprises. In this way, mill (a Latin borrowing of the first century В. С.) added a new meaning to its former meaning «a building in which corn is ground into flour». The new meaning was «textile factory».

A similar case is the word carriage which had (and still has) the meaning «a vehicle drawn by horses», but, with the first appearance of railways in England, it received a new meaning, that of «a railway car».

The history of English nouns describing different parts of a theatre may also serve as a good illustration of how well-established words can be used to denote newly-created objects and phenomena. The words stalls, box, pit, circle had existed for a long time before the first theatres appeared in England. With their appearance, the gaps in the vocabulary were easily filled by these widely used words which, as a result, developed new meanings.1

New meanings can also be developed due to linguistic factors (the second group of causes).

Linguistically speaking, the development of new meanings, and also a complete change of meaning, may be caused through the influence of other words, mostly of synonyms.1

Let us consider the following examples.

The Old English verb steorfan meant «to perish». When the verb to die was borrowed from the Scandinavian, these two synonyms, which were very close in their meaning, collided, and, as a result, to starve gradually changed into its present meaning: «to die (or suffer) from hunger».

The history of the noun deer is essentially the same. In Old English (O. E. deor) it had a general meaning denoting any beast. In that meaning it collided with the borrowed word animal and changed its meaning to the modern one («a certain kind of beast», R. олень).

The noun knave (O. E. knafa) suffered an even more striking change of meaning as a result of collision with its synonym boy. Now it has a pronounced negative evaluative connotation and means «swindler, scoundrel».

The Process of Development and Change of Meaning

The second question we must answer in this chapter is how new meanings develop. To find the answer to this question we must investigate the inner mechanism of this process, or at least its essential features. Let us examine the examples given above from a new angle, from within, so to speak.

Why was it that the word mill — and not some other word — was selected to denote the first textile factories? There must have been some connection between the former sense of mill and the new phenomenon to which it was applied. And there was apparently such a connection. Mills which produced flour, were mainly driven by water. The textile factories also firstly used water power. So, in general terms, the meanings of mill, both the old and the new one, could be defined as «an establishment using water power to produce certain goods». Thus, the first textile factories were easily associated with mills producing flour, and the new meaning of mill appeared due to this association. In actual fact, all cases of development or change of meaning are based on some association. In the history of the word carriage, the new travelling conveyance was also naturally associated in people’s minds with the old one: horse-drawn vehicle > part of a railway train. Both these objects were related to the idea of travelling. The job of both, the horse-drawn carriage and the railway carriage, is the same: to carry passengers on a journey. So the association was logically well-founded.

Stalls and box formed their meanings in which they denoted parts of the theatre on the basis of a different type of association. The meaning of the word box «a small separate enclosure forming a part of the theatre» developed on the basis of its former meaning «a rectangular container used for packing or storing things». The two objects became associated in the speakers’ minds because boxes in the earliest English theatres really resembled packing cases. They were enclosed on all sides and heavily curtained even on the side facing the audience so as to conceal the privileged spectators occupying them from curious or insolent stares.

The association on which the theatrical meaning of stalls was based is even more curious. The original meaning was «compartments in stables or sheds for the accommodation of animals (e. g. cows, horses, etc.)», There does not seem to be much in common between the privileged and expensive part of a theatre and stables intended for cows and horses, unless we take into consideration the fact that theatres in olden times greatly differed from what they are now. What is now known as the stalls was, at that time, standing space divided by barriers into sections so as to prevent the enthusiastic crowd from knocking one other down and hurting themselves. So, there must have been a certain outward resemblance between theatre stalls and cattle stalls. It is also possible that the word was first used humorously or satirically in this new sense.

The process of development of a new meaning (or a change of meaning) is traditionally termed transference.

Some scholars mistakenly use the term «transference of meaning» which is a serious mistake. It is very important to note that in any case of semantic change it is not the meaning but the word that is being transferred from one referent onto another (e. g. from a horse-drawn vehicle onto a railway car). The result of such a transference is the appearance of a new meaning.

Two types of transference are distinguishable depending on the two types of logical associations underlying the semantic process.

Transference Based on Resemblance (Similarity)

This type of transference is also referred to as linguistic metaphor. A new meaning appears as a result of associating two objects (phenomena, qualities, etc.) due to their outward similarity. Box and stall, as should be clear from the explanations above, are examples of this type of transference.

Other examples can be given in which transference is also based on the association of two physical objects. The noun eye, for instance, has for one of its meanings «hole in the end of a needle» (cf. with the R. ушко иголки), which also developed through transference based on resemblance. A similar case is represented by the neck of a bottle.

The noun drop (mostly in the plural form) has, in addition to its main meaning «a small particle of water or other liquid», the meanings: «ear-rings shaped as drops of water» (e. g. diamond drops) and «candy of the same shape» (e. g. mint drops). It is quite obvious that both these meanings are also based on resemblance. In the compound word snowdrop the meaning of the second constituent underwent the same shift of meaning (also, in bluebell). In general, metaphorical change of meaning is often observed in idiomatic compounds.

The main meaning of the noun branch is «limb or subdivision of a tree or bush». On the basis of this meaning it developed several more. One of them is «a special field of science or art» (as in a branch of linguistics). This meaning brings us into the sphere of the abstract, and shows that in transference based on resemblance an association may be built not only between two physical objects, but also between a concrete object and an abstract concept.

The noun bar from the original meaning barrier developed a figurative meaning realized in such contexts as social bars, colour bar, racial bar. Here, again, as in the abstract meaning of branch, a concrete object is associated with an abstract concept.

The noun star on the basis of the meaning «heavenly body» developed the meaning «famous actor or actress». Nowadays the meaning has considerably widened its range, and the word is applied not only to screen idols (as it was at first), but, also, to popular sportsmen (e. g. football stars), pop-singers, etc. Of course, the first use of the word star to denote a popular actor must have been humorous or ironical: the mental picture created by the use of the word in this new meaning was a kind of semi-god surrounded by the bright rays of his glory. Yet, very soon the ironical colouring was lost, and, furthermore the association with the original meaning considerably weakened and is gradually erased.

The meanings formed through this type of transference are frequently found in the informal strata of the vocabulary, especially in slang (see Ch. 1). A red-headed boy is almost certain to be nicknamed carrot or ginger by his schoolmates, and the one who is given to spying and sneaking gets the derogatory nickname of rat. Both these meanings are metaphorical, though, of course, the children using them are quite unconscious of this fact.

The slang meanings of words such as nut, onion (= head), saucers (= eyes), hoofs (= feet) and very many others were all formed by transference based on resemblance.

Transference Based on Contiguity

Another term for this type of transference is linguistic metonymy. The association is based upon subtle psychological links between different objects and phenomena, sometimes traced and identified with much difficulty. The two objects may be associated together because they often appear in common situations, and so the image of one is easily accompanied by the image of the other; or they may be associated on the principle of cause and effect, of common function, of some material and an object which is made of it, etc.

Let us consider some cases of transference based on contiguity. You will notice that they are of different kinds.

The Old English adjective glad meant «bright, shining» (it was applied to the sun, to gold and precious stones, to shining armour, etc.). The later (and more modern) meaning «joyful» developed on the basis of the usual association (which is reflected in most languages) of light with joy (cf. with the R. светлое настроение; светло на душе).

The meaning of the adjective sad in Old English was «satisfied with food» (cf. with the R. сыт(ый) which is a word of the same Indo-European root). Later this meaning developed a connotation of a greater intensity of quality and came to mean «oversatisfied with food; having eaten too much». Thus, the meaning of the adjective sad developed a negative evaluative connotation and now described not a happy state of satisfaction but, on the contrary, the physical unease and discomfort of a person who has had too much to eat. The next shift of meaning was to transform the description of physical discomfort into one of spiritual discontent because these two states often go together. It was from this prosaic source that the modern meaning of sad «melancholy», «sorrowful» developed, and the adjective describes now a purely emotional state. The two previous meanings («satisfied with food» and «having eaten too much») were ousted from the semantic structure of the word long ago.

The foot of a bed is the place where the feet rest when one lies in the bed, but the foot of a mountain got its name by another association: the foot of a mountain is its lowest part, so that the association here is founded on common position.

By the arms of an arm-chair we mean the place where the arms lie when one is sitting in the chair, so that the type of association here is the same as in the foot of a bed. The leg of a bed (table, chair, etc.), though, is the part which serves as a support, the original meaning being «the leg of a man or animal». The association that lies behind this development of meaning is the common function: a piece of furniture is supported by its legs just as living beings are supported by theirs.

The meaning of the noun hand realized in the context hand of a clock (watch) originates from the main meaning of this noun «part of human body». It also developed due to the association of the common function:

the hand of a clock points to the figures on the face of the clock, and one of the functions of human hand is also that of pointing to things.

Another meaning of hand realized in such contexts as factory hands, farm hands is based on another kind of association: strong, skilful hands are the most important feature that is required of a person engaged in physical labour (cf. with the R. рабочие руки).

The adjective dull (see the scheme of its semantic structure in Ch. 7) developed its meaning «not clear or bright» (as in a dull green colour; dull light; dull shapes) on the basis of the former meaning «deficient in eyesight», and its meaning «not loud or distinct» (as in dull sounds) on the basis of the older meaning «deficient in hearing». The association here was obviously that of cause and effect: to a person with weak eyesight all colours appear pale, and all shapes blurred; to a person with deficient hearing all sounds are indistinct.

The main (and oldest registered) meaning of the noun board was «a flat and thin piece of wood; a wooden plank». On the basis of this meaning developed the meaning «table» which is now archaic. The association which underlay this semantic shift was that of the material and the object made from it: a wooden plank (or several planks) is an essential part of any table. This type of association is often found with nouns denoting clothes: e. g. a taffeta («dress made of taffeta»); a mink («mink coat»), a jersy («knitted shirt or sweater»).

Meanings produced through transference based on contiguity sometimes originate from geographical or proper names. China in the sense of «dishes made of porcelain» originated from the name of the country which was believed to be the birthplace of porcelain.

Tweed («a coarse wool cloth») got its name from the river Tweed and cheviot (another kind of wool cloth) from the Cheviot hills in England.

The name of a painter is frequently transferred onto one of his pictures: a Matisse = a painting by Matisse.1

Broadening (or Generalization) of Meaning.

Narrowing (or Specialization) of Meaning

Sometimes, the process of transference may result in a considerable change in range of meaning. For instance, the verb to arrive (French borrowing) began its life in English in the narrow meaning «to come to shore, to land». In Modern English it has greatly widened its combinability and developed the general meaning «to come» (e. g. to arrive in a village, town, city, country, at a hotel, hostel, college, theatre, place, etc.). The meaning developed through transference based on contiguity (the concept of coming somewhere is the same for both meanings), but the range of the second meaning is much broader.

Another example of the broadening of meaning is pipe. Its earliest recorded meaning was «a musical wind instrument». Nowadays it can denote any hollow oblong cylindrical body (e. g. water pipes). This meaning developed through transference based on the similarity of shape (pipe as a musical instrument is also a hollow oblong cylindrical object) which finally led to a considerable broadening of the range of meaning.

The word bird changed its meaning from «the young of a bird» to its modern meaning through transference based on contiguity (the association is obvious). The second meaning is broader and more general.

It is interesting to trace the history of the word girl as an example of the changes in the range of meaning in the course of the semantic development of a word.

In Middle English it had the meaning of «a small child of either sex». Then the word underwent the process of transference based on contiguity and developed the meaning of «a small child of the female sex», so that the range of meaning was somewhat narrowed. In its further semantic development the word gradually broadened its range of meaning. At first it came to denote not only a female child but, also, a young unmarried woman, later, any young woman, and in modern colloquial English it is practically synonymous to the noun woman (e. g. The old girl must be at least seventy), so that its range of meaning is quite broad.

The history of the noun lady somewhat resembles that of girl. In Old English the word (hlxfdiZq)denoted the mistress of the house, i. e. any married woman. Later, a new meaning developed which was much narrower in range: «the wife or daughter of a baronet» (aristocratic title). In Modern English the word lady can be applied to any woman, so that its range of meaning is even broader than that of the O. E. hlxfdiZq. In Modern English the difference between girl and lady in the meaning of woman is that the first is used in colloquial style and sounds familiar whereas the second is more formal and polite. Here are some more examples of narrowing of meaning:

Deer: | any beast | > | a certain kind of beast |

Meat: | any food | > | a certain food product) |

Boy: | any young person of the male sex | > | servant of the male sex |

It should be pointed out once more that in all these words the second meaning developed through transference based on contiguity, and that when we speak of them as examples of narrowing of meaning we simply imply that the range of the second meaning is more narrow than that of the original meaning.

The So-called «Degeneration» («Degradation») and «Elevation» of Meaning

These terms are open to question because they seem to imply that meanings can become «better» or «worse» which is neither logical nor plausible. But, as a matter-of-fact, scholars using these terms do not actually mean the degeneration or elevation of meaning itself, but of the referent onto which a word is transferred, so that the term is inaccurate.

But let us try and see what really stands behind the examples of change of meaning which are traditionally given to illustrate degeneration and elevation of meaning.

I. «Degeneration» of meaning.

These examples show that the second meaning, in contrast with the one from which it developed, denotes a person of bad repute or character. Semantically speaking, the second meaning developed a negative evaluative connotation which was absent in the first meaning.

Such a readjustment in the connotative structure accompanying the process of transference can be sometimes observed in other parts of speech, and not only in nouns.

E. g. Silly: | happy | > | foolish |

II. «Elevation» of meaning.

Fond: | foolish] > | loving, affectionate |

Nice: | foolish] > | fine, good |

In these two cases the situation is reversed: the first meaning has a negative evaluative connotation, and the second meaning has not. It is difficult to see what is actually «elevated» here. Certainly, not the meaning of the word. Here are two more examples.

Tory: | brigand, highwayman | > | member of the Tories |

Knight: | manservant | > |»noble, courageous man]

In the case of Tory, the first meaning has a pronounced negative connotation which is absent in the second meaning. But why call it «elevation»? Semantically speaking, the first meaning is just as good as the second, and the difference lies only in the connotative structure.

The case of knight, if treated linguistically, is quite opposite to that of Tory: the second meaning acquired a positive evaluative connotation that was absent in the first meaning. So, here, once more, we are faced with a mere readjustment of the connotative components of the word.

There are also some traditional examples of «elevation» in which even this readjustment cannot be traced.

In these three words the second meaning developed due to the process of transference based on contiguity. Lord and lady are also examples of narrowing of meaning if we compare the range of the original and of the resultant meanings. No connotations of evaluation can be observed in either of the meanings. The fact that in all these three cases the original meaning denoted a humble ordinary person and the second denotes a person of high rank is absolutely extralinguistic.

All that has been said and the examples that have been given show that the terms «degradation» and «elevation» of meaning are imprecise and do not seem to be an objective reflection of the semantic phenomena they describe.

It would be more credible to state that some cases of transference based on contiguity may result in development or loss of evaluative connotations.

Exercises

I. Consider your answers to the following.

1. What causes the development of new meanings? Give examples.

2. What is the basis of development or change of meaning? Explain what we mean by the term transference.

3. What types of transference can you name?

4. What is meant by the widening and the narrowing of meaning?

5. Give examples of the so-called «degradation» and «elevation» of meaning. Why are these terms imprecise?

II. Read the following extracts and explain the semantic processes by which the italicized words acquired their meanings

1. ‘Bureau’, a desk, was borrowed from French in the 17thc. In Modern French (and English) it means not only the desk but also the office itself and the authority exercised by the office. Hence the familiar bureaucracy is likely to become increasingly familiar. The desk was called so because covered with bureau, a thick coarse cloth of a brown russet.

(From The Romance of Words by E. Weekley)

2. An Earl of Spencer made a short overcoat fashionable for some time. An Earl of Sandwich invented a form of light refreshment which enabled him to take a meal without leaving the card-table. Hence we have such words as spencer and sandwich in English.

(From The Romance of Words by E. Weekley)

3. A common name for overalls or trousers is jeans. In the singular jean is also a term for a durable twilled cotton and is short for the phrase jean fustian which first appeared in texts from the sixteenth century. Fustian (a Latin borrowing) is a cotton or cotton and linen fabric, and jean is the modern spelling of Middle English Jene or Gene, from Genes, the Middle French j name of the Italian city Genoa, where it was made and shipped abroad.

(From The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories)

4. Formally barn meant «a storehouse for barley»; today it has widened to mean «any kind of storehouse» for animals or equipment as well as any kind of grain. | The word picture used to refer only to a representation ;:: made with paint; today it can be a photograph or a representation made with charcoal, pencil or any other ; means. A pen used to mean «feather» but now has become generalized to include several kinds of writing implements — fountain, ballpoint, etc. The meaning of sail as limited to moving on water in a ship with sails has now generalized to mean «moving on water in any ship».

(From Teaching English Linguistically by J. Malmstrom, J. Lee)

III. Read the following extract and criticize the author’s treatment of the examples. Provide your own explanations.

Words degenerate in meaning also. In the past villain meant «farm labourer»; counterfeiter meant «imitator» without criminal connotations, and sly meant «skilful». A knave meant a «boy» and immoral meant «not customary», and hussy was a «housewife».

Other words improve in meanings. Governor meant «pilot» and constable meant «stable attendant». Other elevations are enthusiasm which formally meant «fanaticism», knight which used to mean «youth», angel which simply meant «messenger» and pretty which meant «sly». No one can predict the direction of change of meaning, but changes occur constantly.

(From Teaching English Linguistically by J. Malmstrom, J. Lee)

IV. Explain the logical associations in the following groups of meaning for the same words. Define the type of transference which has taken place.

1. The wing of a bird — the wing of a building; the eye of a man — the eye of a needle; the hand of a child — the hand of a clock; the heart of a man — the heart of the matter; the bridge across-the-river — the bridge of the nose; the tongue of a person — the tongue of a bell; the tooth of a boy — the tooth of a comb; the coat of a girl — the coat of a dog.

2. Green grass — green years; black shoes — black despair; nickel (metal) — a nickel (coin); glass — a glass; copper (metal) — a copper (coin); Ford (proper name) — a Ford (car); Damascus (town in Syria) — damask; Kashmir (town in North India) — cashmere.

V. Analyse the process of development of new meanings in the italicized words in the examples given below.

1.I put the letter well into the mouth of the box and let it go and it fell turning over and over like an autumn leaf. 2. Those v/ho had been the head of the line paused momentarily on entry and looked around curiously. 3. A cheerful-looking girl in blue jeans came up to the stairs whistling. 4. Seated behind a desk, he wore a light patterned suit, switch from his usual tweeds. 5. Oh, Steven, I read a Dickens the other day. It was awfully funny. 6. They sat on the rug before the fireplace, savouring its warmth, watching the rising tongues of flame. 7. He inspired universal confidence and had an iron nerve. 8. A very small boy in a green jersey with light red hair cut square across his forehead was peering at Steven between the electric fire and the side of the fireplace. 9. While the others were settling down, Lucy saw Pearson take another bite from his sandwich. 10. As I walked nonchalantly past Hugo’s house on the other side they were already carrying out the Renoirs.

VI. Explain the basis for the following jokes. Trace the logical associations between the different meanings of the same word.

1. Father was explaining to his little son the fundamentals of astronomy.

«That’s a comet.»

«A what?»

«A comet. You know what a comet is?» «No.»

«Don’t you know what they call a star with a tail?»

«Sure — Mickey Mouse.»

2. «Pa, what branches did you take when you went to school?»

«I never went to high school, son, but when I attended the little log school-house they used mostly hickory and beech and willow.»

3. What has eyes yet never sees? (Potato)

4. H e (in telephone booth)’. I want a box for two.

Voice (at the other end): Sorry, but we don’t have boxes for two.

He: But aren’t you the box office of the theatre? Voice: No, we are the undertakers.

VII. In the examples given below identify the eases of widening and narrowing of meaning.

1. While the others waited the elderly executive filled his pipe and lit it. 2. Finn was watching the birds. 3. The two girls took hold of one another, one acting gentleman, the other lady; three or four more pairs of girls immediately joined them and began a waltz. 4. He was informed that the president had not arrived at the bank, but was on his way. 5. Smokey had followed a dictum all his life: If you want a woman to stick beside you, pick an ugly one. Ugly ones stay to slice the meat and stir the gravy.

VIII. Have the italicized words evaluative connotations in their meanings? Motivate your answer and comment on the history of the words.

1. The directors now assembling were admirals and field marshals of commerce. 2. For a businessman to be invited to serve on a top-flight bank board is roughly equivalent to being knighted by the British Queen. 3.1 had a nice newsy gossip with Mrs. Needham before you turned up last night. 4. The little half-starved guy looked more a victim than a. villain. 5. Meanwhile I nodded my head vigorously and directed a happy smile in the direction of the two ladies. 6.1 shook hands with Tom; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child.

IX. Read the following. Find examples of «degeneration» and «elevation» of meaning. Comment on the history of the words.

1. King Arthur invented Conferences because he was secretly a Weak King and liked to know what his memorable thousand and one knights wanted to do next. As they were all jealous knights he had to have the memorable Round Table made to have the Conferences at, so that it was impossible to say which was top knight.

(From 1066 and All That by C. W. Sellar, R. J. Yeatman)

2. Alf: Where are you going, Ted?

Ted: Fishing at the old mill.

Alf: But what about school?

Ted: Don’t be silly. There aren’t any fish there!

X. Try your hand at the following scientific research. Write a short essay on the development of the meanings of three of the following words. Try to explain each shift of meaning. Use «The Shorter Oxford Dictionary» or «The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories».

Fee, cattle, school, pupil, nice, pen, gossip, coquette, biscuit, apron, merry, silly, doom, duke, pretty, yankee.