Re: Origin of PC terms

[Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

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."  =*=

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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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