Page 10 - Demo

Semantic changes are shifts in the meanings of existing words. Basic types ofsemantic change include:pejoration, in which a term's connotation goes from positive to negativeamelioration, in which a term's connotations goes from negative to (more)positivebroadening, in which a term acquires additional potential usesnarrowing, in which a term's potential uses become more restrictiveAfter a word enters a language, its meaning can change as through a shift inthe valence of its connotations. As an example, when \meant 'peasant' or 'farmhand', but acquired the connotation 'low-born' or'scoundrel', and today only the negative use survives. Thus 'villain' hasundergone pejoration. Conversely, the word \amelioration in colloquial contexts, shifting from its original sense of 'evil', tothe much more positive one as of 2009 of 'brilliant'.semantic change