Principles Conditioning Change in Lexical Meaning as Exemplified by the Romance Languages

The study lays bare the cross-language principles governing semantic innovation. The theoretical approach builds a) on a semantic/semiotic model integrating conceptual knowledge and language knowledge, and b) the associative principles similarity, contrast and contiguity. On this basis it is possible to chart and typologize the development potentials and the linguistic processes determining meaning change over time. In addition, an entirely new systematization of language-user motives for semantic innovation is advanced and polysemy is discussed as a synchronic representation of meaning change.