(2014) Colour and Semantic Change: a Corpus-Based Comparison of English Green and Polish Zielony
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Warth-Szczyglowska, Magdalena Malgorzata (2014) Colour and semantic change: a corpus-based comparison of English green and Polish zielony. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5690 Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Colour and semantic change: a corpus-based comparison of English green and Polish zielony Magdalena Małgorzata Warth-Szczygłowska Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Language English Language School of Critical Studies College of Arts University of Glasgow March 2014 ©Magdalena Małgorzata Warth–Szczygłowska 2014 2 Abstract The purpose of my research is to investigate the processes and mechanisms of semantic change in two basic colour terms: green in English and zielony in Polish. My research methodology focuses on existing English and Polish corpora, namely the British National Corpus, the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the National Corpus of Polish. I analyze my data both synchronically and diachronically (comparing two periods of time: 1985-1994, 2001-2010). My study also evaluates the use of corpus evidence for the purpose of investigating the processes of semantic change. Various factors have caused the Basic Colour Terms (BCTs) green and zielony to form metaphorical and metonymical meanings that have been conventionalised in English and Polish respectively. These processes have long played an important role in our understanding of the surrounding world. Investigating semantic changes in these two colour terms and two periods of time is key to my cross-cultural research, and this entails answering the questions: Why do green and zielony develop different senses? What are the similarities and differences between these two colour terms? How have these two terms developed and might they develop new senses in future? Are metonymy and metaphor the only mechanisms of semantic change in green and zielony? The semantic change of each colour term is shown through a network of meanings, where all the different meanings of green and zielony are presented together with their stages of development in the form of codes. Additionally each stage is a separate prototype. The aim of the network is to show the etymological prototype and various senses (new prototypes) developing from this original sense. Moreover the number of occurrences of each prototype might indicate which meaning or meanings are most common or even central in a given language at a certain point in time. The network of meanings is a visual representation of semantic change and processes involved in it. A very detailed analysis of corpus examples provides an insight into the uses of green and zielony in English and Polish respectively. The data are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Such an approach offers a thorough analysis of the two terms in question. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Glossary and abbreviation list 9 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 10 CHAPTER 2 Literature review 11 2.1 Colour 11 2.1.1 Berlin and Kay (1969) 11 2.1.2 From Basic Color Terms (1969) to The World Color Survey (2009) 12 2.1.3 Universal or not? 16 2.1.4 Criteria for basicness: criticism and revisions 22 2.1.5 Gaining and losing basicness 27 2.2 Polysemy 30 2.3 Metaphor, metonymy and blending 38 2.4 Semantic change: why, how and when? 48 CHAPTER 3 Green in English and zielony in Polish 57 3.1 Prototypes and etymologies 57 3.2 Meanings of green and zielony 58 3.2.1 The meaning ‘environmentally friendly’ 59 3.2.2 Networks of senses 61 3.3 Research questions 75 CHAPTER 4 Methodology 77 4.1 Overview of the research 77 4.2 Corpora, data collection and analysis 77 4.2.1 Corpora 77 4.2.2 Data collection and methods of analysis 79 4.2.2.1 Limitations of corpora 79 4.2.2.2 Retrieval 80 4.2.2.3 Qualitative analysis and categorization 82 4.2.2.3.1 Networks of senses 83 4 4.2.2.4 Quantitative analysis 84 4.3 Protocols for presentation of examples 84 4.3.1 Dictionaries and websites consulted 86 CHAPTER 5 English green 87 5.1 Introduction 87 5.2 Data and analysis 87 5.3 Diagram 268 5.4 Conclusions 269 CHAPTER 6 Polish zielony 270 6.1 Introduction 270 6.2 Data and analysis 270 6.3 Diagram 414 6.4 Conclusions 415 CHAPTER 7 Discussion 416 7.1 What are the similarities and differences between green in English and zielony in Polish? 416 7.1.1 Cultural and religious factors 421 7.1.2 Geographical factors 426 7.1.3 Grammatical and linguistic factors 426 7.1.4 Physical factors 430 7.1.5 Political factors 430 7.2 What processes and mechanisms are involved in semantic change of green and zielony? 431 7.3 How useful are corpora in identifying meanings and how useful are they in identifying synchronic and diachronic change? 437 7.3.1 Some differences between British and American English and differences between Polish and English. 442 7.3.2 Linguistic features 446 7.3.2.1 Inverted commas 446 7.3.2.2 Tak zwany and so-called 450 7.3.2.3 Capital letters 452 5 7.3.3 Limitations of corpora 454 7.4 Summary 455 CHAPTER 8 Conclusions 459 BIBLIOGRAPHY 461 6 List of tables: Table 7-1 Frequencies of senses of green and zielony in all four datasets 456 List of figures: Figure 3-1 Niemeier’s network of green 64 Figure 3-2 Waszakowa’s main network of zielony 67 Figure 3-3 Waszakowa’s second network of zielony 69 Figure 3-4 Gieroń-Czepczor’s network of English green 73 Figure 3-5 Gieroń-Czepczor’s network of Polish zielony 74 List of diagrams: Diagram 5-1 The network of English green 268 Diagram 6-1 The network of Polish zielony 414 7 Acknowledgements Foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Carole Hough and Dr Wendy Anderson, for their guidance, help and constructive feedback at each stage of the development of this thesis. Their willingness to give their time so generously, to share their knowledge with me and their genuine interest in my research has been much appreciated. I have been incredibly privileged to have worked under their careful supervision. No words can express my gratitude for their patient revisions and improvements to the language of this thesis, especially as it was written by a non-native speaker of English. The lessons I have learnt as their student will never be forgotten. I would also like to thank my examiners, Dr Carole Biggam and Professor John Corbett, for their valuable feedback. I wish to thank the English Language subject area for giving me the opportunity to teach. Being a Graduate Teaching Assistant was an invaluable experience which has enabled me to develop on both professional and personal levels. My thanks also go to lecturers and others GTAs, who shared their knowledge and experience with me, and provided much needed support whenever necessary. Thank you to all my students, thanks to whom I gained teaching experience, and also learnt a lot about myself. I would like to thank all of the members of the Cognitive Linguistics Reading Group for all the interesting discussions about language, mind and oftentimes life in general. I would also like to thank current and former postgraduate students in English Language for sharing with me the ups and downs of the lonely process of writing a thesis. I would especially like to thank people in Room 2 for helping to make the process of lonely writing much easier. I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr Ewa Gieroń-Czepczor for providing me with her book which enabled me to steer my own work in the right direction. I would also like to thank Professor Ewa Komorowska for sharing her work with me and for her kind words of support at PICS 2012. 8 I wish to thank my family and friends, who were always willing to provide entertainment which allowed me to escape from my work and everyday life. I would especially like to thank Artur Śmigiel, Asia & Krzysiek Słomscy, Darek Makowski, Kasia & Michał Warth, Madzia Okońska, Marta & Marcin Radwanowscy, Tomek Kostek and Wojtek Janiszewski. I would also like to thank Wojtek Janiszewski for providing technical support and advice when I needed it. My special thanks go to people, without whom writing and finishing this thesis would have been much more difficult: Aga Sloss - for your support and for our endless discussions about different aspects of life. Aga Świstak - for always being there for me, in good and bad times. For being close, even though miles away. Ellen MacIntosh - for being a true friend, with whom I can always share the joys and sorrows of life. Juulia Ahvensalmi - for understanding and for always having time for tea and a chat. Rachael Hamilton - for your friendship, thoughtfulness and for listening to me whenever I need to be listened to. Sylwia Sawicka - for being a good friend and for caring about my mental and physical well-being.