AMONG my favorite websites is Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s Ask the Editor.
That’s where we learn new words, some of which our computers’ spell-check feature has not yet even caught up with.
For instance, there’s “adorkable,” to describe one who’s adorable in a dorky way.
Also, there’s “funner” and “funnest,” to mean more fun and most fun, respectively.
This website has editors who do not just give the meaning of the word, but even explain how it arose, or underwent a semantic change.
As we listen to the editors, we find ourselves agreeing to their explanations and eventually nodding in agreement.
For instance, pure grammarians are likely to scoff at “It’s me” (short for “It is me”) when responding to a telephone call. Since “is” is a linking verb, they say, then the correct pronoun should be “I”; thus, “It’s I.”
A story goes that one night, the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s wife didn’t immediately recognize his knocking on the door. She asked, “Who’s there?” A bit tipsy, he reportedly answered, “It’s me.”
That grammatical slip became an acceptable response from then on.
But Ask the Editor says those “It’s I” rules follow Latin grammar, not English grammar, which accepts “This is her” instead of “This is she.” But the worriers or initially resistant can just say, “Speaking.”
Language experts are the first to recognize that language is not a static thing.
Rather, it’s alive and dynamic so that as new things happen, language tries to catch up with these. Sometimes, this involves giving new meanings to old words.
When we remember that “awful” used to mean “full of awe,” we can understand why old manuscripts once referred to the “awful God.”
“Nice” used to mean silly, foolish, stupid. “Demagogue” originally meant popular leader. Now the word has a negative connotation, referring to politicians who pander to emotions and prejudice.
In the 13th century, “gay” meant lighthearted, joyous, happy. In 1637, it meant immoral. “Gay woman” meant prostitute, “gay man” was a womanizer, and “gay house” a brothel. By 1935, it meant a homosexual boy, and by 1951, it meant all homosexuals.
Four forces trigger semantic changes, according to linguists Gallimard Blank and Stephen Ullmann. Joachim Grzega expanded that list to 30, among them influence from other languages, and changes in technology, environment and world cause.
Also, because some people play games to steer other people’s thinking, or and because too many people follow bad examples.
Results can be a narrowing, widening or pejoration of meaning. For instance, “skyline” used to mean just any horizon. It has narrowed in the US as a horizon decorated by skyscrapers.
“Kleenex” once referred purely to the brand name for facial tissues. It has widened to mean the general product.
Answering reporters about the corruption charges against him, Vice President Jejomar Binay said “I’m an innovator, but not corrupt” and his “innovative” projects were burial assistance and free caskets to Makati City residents.
And that’s an example of pejoration of meaning.
(lelani.echaves@gmail.com)