Re: Origin of PC terms

Subject: Re: Origin of PC terms
From: Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 11:41:58 MST

I've never had a linguistics course, but based on a programming
background, the first word that popped into my head was
"inheritance," as in the new word inherits the attributes
associated with the old word.

=*= Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
=*= I am not representing my employer in any way." =*=

===================
Bill Burns <WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM> wrote-->
> Glenda Jeffrey writes:
>>> I remember reading once that there is an evolutionary process for such
> names [moving from a positive to a negative connotation].

> I can't remember a specific name for the general process of shifting
> connotations or definitions, but in my linguistics courses, we referred to
> the process of a word shifting from positive to negative connotation as
> pejoration. The inverse process (moving from negative to positive
connotation)
> we referred to as amelioration. We also used terms for terms that over time
> took a broader or narrower definition although I can't remember these terms
> at the moment. An example of this would the words "bread" and "loaf." Bread
> originally referred to a piece of what we call bread. Loaf comes from
> Old English "hlaf" which survives today as "loaf."

> Anyone else remember a term for the general process of connotation or
> definition shifting?
====================


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