LINGUIST List 10.1695

Sun Nov 7 1999

Qs: Semantic Richness, e-mail Register

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomilinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. LeslieSYK, Semantic richness of "apple"
2. Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva, e-mail register/register shifting

Dear Linguists, I'm researching the semantic richness of the word "apple" 
from 885 to the present. So far, I've found that the word itself has had 15 
different meanings and has occurred in 51 phrases, excluding all food and 
beverages made from apples. I have arbitrarily and somewhat clumsily grouped 
this data into the following categories: 1. body parts, 2. figurative 
phrases for people, 3. round objects, 4. verbal phrases, 5. noun phrases, 6. 
metaphorical sayings, and 7. objects not round like the fruit.

I have 3 questions to put to you.
* Is it common for words to have such richness in meaning?
* Is it particularly significant that the word has such flexibility and range 
of meaning?
* Has anyone made a study such as this on a particular word or class of 
words? If so, are these findings similar to yours?
 
Thanks, Lisa King
LeslieSYKaol.com

Hi everybody,

I am working on a paper concerning e-mail register and shifting between 
registers in informal e-mails written by Bulgarians.

Does anybody know of publications on e-mail register that might be useful in 
my work? I will post a summary with your responses.

Please write directly to my e-mail:

tassevakstudents.cla.sc.edu

Thanks,

Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva
Research Assistant
Linguistics Program
University of South Carolina
tassevakstudents.cla.sc.edu