Semantic Change

"Usually we don't create words, we extend the meaning of the ones we have," Dr. Shukla, my historical linguistics professor tells us. He then gave us several examples of metaphors:

• "leaves" of a book
• the "flow" of time
• the "light" of reason
• a "cutting" remark

These words maintain a flavor of the literal with their metaphorical meaning. So, Dr. Shukla claims, at a deeper level, words are not tied to stable concepts so much as clusters of meaning; they are flexible, expandable.

Think of dull, shallow, deep, clear, heavy, light, etc., he says.

It is what makes language so beautiful and capable of expressing the great multitude of things that we feel and think as creative social beings. That words can bend and grow is what makes imagining possible.

I think this video sums it up, beautifully. (sent to me by a friend via Facebook).