Hyejoon Yoon . 2011. Historical Change in Body Part Terms in English and German . Language Information . Volume 14. 93-109.
The purpose of this study is to look into the historical changes in body part terms in English and German. The body part terms belong to a basic vocabulary which is well-known that it shows the highest level of lexical continuity through time. This study observes the change phenomena in the forms and meanings in each body part terms commonly found in the history of English and German, and analyzes the types and causes of such changes in comparison with other Germanic languages. The types and causes of the changes are described in two aspects, lexical change such as borrowing by language contact with other foreign languages and semantic change such as meaning exchange, meaning extension and reduction. The close inspection on the body part terms shows that the body part terms, as expected, are well preserved in two languages, although some borrowings are accepted. And generally, German preserves better the original germanic words than English. Sometimes, the differences of terms between English and German are made, when English and German chooses a different word among several synonyms. It is assumed that various cultural and social factor influenced on that. (Department of Linguistics, Korea University)
Key words:
basic vocabulary, body part term, semantic change, borrowing, metaphor, Germanic group, Gothic, Old English, Old High German