Evolving Representations of Childhood: A Diachronic Analysis of the Lexeme Child in British Newspapers from the 18th To 21st Centuries

Authors

  • Iryna Matiiash-Hnediuk

    Department of English Philology, Vasyl Stefanyk National Precarpathian University, Ivano-Frankivsk 76018, Ukraine

  • Yuliia Chura

    Department of Linguistics, Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, Ivano-Frankivsk 76000, Ukraine

  • Inesa Melnyk

    Department of English Philology, Vasyl Stefanyk National Precarpathian University, Ivano-Frankivsk 76018, Ukraine

  • Yuliya Datsko

    Department of of English Philology, Ivan Franko National University, Lviv 79000, Ukraine

  • Antonina Devitska

    Department of Applied Linguistics, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod 88000, Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i4.6877
Received: 13 July 2024 | Revised: 28 July 2024 | Accepted: 31 July 2024 | Published Online: 23 September 2024

Abstract

This article investigates the semantic evolution of the lexeme CHILD in British newspaper discourse from the 18th to the 21st centuries, employing a diachronic approach and cognitive semantics framework. The study utilizes lexical analysis and frame modelling methodologies to trace changes in the lexical meaning of the lexeme CHILD during the mentioned period, drawing on dictionaries and newspaper archives. Findings reveal a dynamic semantic structure characterized by the emergence of new meanings and the persistence of core components like 'person' and 'juvenile'. The analysis identifies shifts influenced by societal, cultural, and ideological factors, reflecting changes in societal perceptions and linguistic representations over time. This research contributes to understanding how a language mirrors and shapes societal attitudes towards childhood across centuries, emphasizing the role of newspaper discourse in framing cultural norms and perceptions.

Keywords:

Lexical semantics; Lexeme; Sememe; Seme; Diachronic analysis; Frame modelling; Frame schema; Newspaper discourse; Semantic evolution; Dictionary analysis

References

A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 1893. Volume II: C. Edited by Murray, J.A.H., Bradley, H., Craigie, W.A., et al. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

Ambridge, B., Lieven, E., 2011. Child Language Acquisition: Contrasting Theoretical Approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 387-426.

Atkinson, P., Gregory, I.N., 2017. Child Welfare in Victorian Newspapers: Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 48(2), 159–186. Available online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48555706 (accessed on 1 May 2024).

Bilyk, O., Bylytsia, U., Doichyk, O., et al., 2022. COVID-19 metaphoric blends in media discourse. Studies about Languages/Kalbų studijos. 40, 17–33. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.1.40.30155

Borer, H., 2005. Name Only. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Briggs, J., 1997. Mazes of meaning: how a child and a culture create each other. In: Corsaro Miller, W.P.J. (ed.). Interpretive Approaches to Children’s Socialization. pp. 25–50. San Francisco: Josey-Bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219925804

British Newspaper Archive. Available online: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/?utm_campaign=wb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=bna&utm_content=160603 (accessed on 1 May 204).

Brown, S.W., 2008. Polysemy and the mental lexicon. Colorado Research in Linguistics. 21, 1–12.

Cook‐Gumperz, J., Kyratzis, A., 2008. Child Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470753460.ch31. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229800486_Mazes_of_meaning_How_a_child_and_a_culture_create_each_other (accessed on 5 April 2024).

Cree, G.S., McRae, K., McNorgan, C., 1999. An attractor model of lexical conceptual processing: simulating semantic priming. Cognitive Science. 23 (3), 371–414.

Cruse, A.D., 2011. Meaning in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cruse, D.A., 1986. Lexical semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Elvestad, E., 2019. News, Children, and Young People. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.851. Available online: https://oxfordre.com/communication/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-851 (accessed on 5 April 2024).

Fillmore, C., Atkins, B.T., 1992. Toward a Frame-based Lexicon: The semantics of RISK and its neighbours. In: Lehrer, A., Kittay, E. (Eds.). Frames, fields and contrasts: New essays in semantic and lexical organization. Hillsdale: Erlbaum. pp. 75–102.

Fillmore, C., Baker, C., 2010. A frame approach to semantic analysis. In: Heine, B., Narrog, H. (ed.). The Oxford handbook of linguistic analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 313–340.

Fillmore, C., 1977. Topics in Lexical Semantics. In: Cole, P. (Ed.). Current Issues in linguistic theory. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 76–136.

Fillmore, C., 1982. Frame Semantics. In: Linguistic Society of Korea (Ed). Linguistics in the Morning Calm. Seoul: Hanshin. pp. 111–138.

Fillmore, C., 2006. Frame semantics. In: Geeraerts, D. (Ed.). Cognitive Linguistics: basic readings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 373–400.

Fodor, J., Lepore, E., 1999. Impossible words? Linguistic Inquiry. 30, 445–453.

Hestres, L., Rochman, A., Busso, K., et al., 2021. How Are Children’s Issues Portrayed in the News? A Media Content Analysis. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute. Available online: https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/LeadingforKids-MCA.pdf (accessed on 10 April 2024).

Fillol, J., Pereira, S., 2020. Children, young people and the news: a systematic literature review based on Communication Abstracts. Comunicação e sociedade. 37. Available online: http://journals.openedition.org/cs/2696 (accessed on 18 June 2024).

Johnson, S., 1768. A Dictionary of The English Language in which the Words are Deduced from their Originals, explained in their Different Meanings. Dublin: printed by W. G. Jones.

Johnson, S., 1792. A Dictionary of The English Language in which the Words are deduced from their Originals, explained in their Different Meanings. London.

Johnson, S., 1828. A Dictionary of The English Language. London.

Njuguna, J., 2020. Media and Its Role in Protecting the Rights of Children in Africa. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-0329-4.ch006

Katz, J., Fodor, J., 1963. The Structure of a Semantic Theory. Language. 39/2. 170–210.

Lehrer, A., 1974. Semantic fields and lexical structure. Amsterdam: North Holland.

Matiiash-Hnediuk, I., Soloviova, T., Bilianska, I., et al., 2024. Conceptualizing parenthood: American newspaper discourse analysis. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(1): 1987. https://doi.org/10.59400/fls.v6i1.1987. Available online: https://fls.acad-pub.com/index.php/FLS/article/view/1987/1096 (accessed on 2 April 2024).

Hickmann, M., 2003. Children’s discourse. Person, space and time across languages. Cambridge university press. Available online: https://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam041/2002073441.pdf

Minsky, M., 1975. A Framework for Representing Knowledge. In: Winston, P.H. (Ed.). The Psychology of Computer Vision. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 211–277.

Minsky, M., 1979. The Society Theory of Thinking. In: Winston, P., Brown, R. (Eds.). Artificial Intelligence, an MIT Perspective. Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 421–450.

Talaat, N., 2020. Won’t somebody please think of the children? Media@LSE, London School of Economics and Political Science (“LSE”), Houghton Street, London. Available online: https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/msc-dissertations/2019/Talaat.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2024).

Oxford English Dictionary Online. Available online: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/child (accessed on 3 March 2024).

Schulz, P.D., 2012. Opinion, Family, Courts and Media Discourses: The Contested Spaces of Time, and the Politics of the Protection of Children. Children Australia. 37(4), 142–150. https://doi.org/10.1017/cha.2012.35. Available online: file:///C:/Download/article_print_1846.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2024).

De Saussure, F., 1959/1986. Course in general linguistics. London: Peter Owen.

Koziel, S., Spånberger Weitz, Y., 2023. Discourses about children’s participation and child perspective: A comparative study of the policy documents that guide social work in Sweden and Germany. In Baltic Worlds. Volume XVI(1–2), pp. 90–105. Available online: https://balticworlds.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BW_2023_90-105_KOZIEL_SPA%E2%95%A0%C3%A8NBERGER.pdf (accessed on 2 April 2024).

Sinclair, A.R., Jarvella, J., Levelt, J.M., 1978. The Child's Conception of Language. Berlin/Heidelberg and New York: Springer-Verlag. Available online: https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_61336_9/component/file_468242/content (accessed on 28 May 2024).

Fowler, H.W., Fowler, F.G., 1974. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

The Telegraph Archive. Available online: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/ (accessed on 3 March 2024).

The Times Digital Archive. Available online: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/archive/ (accessed on 3 March 2024).

van Dijk, T., 2002. Discourse, ideology and context. Journal of Asian Economics. 35, 11–40. https://doi.org/10.1515/flin.2001.35.1-2.11

Velykoroda, Y., 2019. Conceptual metaphorization through precedent-related phenomena in media discourse. Studies about Languages/Kalbų studijos. 34, 132–145. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.34.0.22088

Weist, R.M., 2002. Temporal and spatial concepts in child language: conventional and configurational. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 31(3), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1015522711549

Tang, W., Guan, B., 2021. Discussion on the Reportage of Left-behind Children from the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis: A Case Study of China Daily. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. 575, 161–166. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354647266_Discussion_on_the_Reportage_of_Left-behind_Children_from_the_Perspective_of_Critical_Discourse_Analysis_A_Case_Study_of_China_Daily (accessed on 3 June 2024).

Wierzbicka, A., 1992. Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Human concepts in Culture-Specific Configurations. New York: Oxford University Press.

Humboldt, von W., 1848. Wilhelm von Humboldt's Gesammelte Werke. Brandes, Berlin: G. Reimer. Volume 06. Available online: https://archive.org/details/wilhelmvonhumbol06humb/page/n3/mode/2up (accessed on 18 March 2024).

Zhabotynska, S., 2010. Principles of building conceptual models for thesaurus dictionaries. Cognition, communication, discourse. International On-line journal. 1, 75–92. Available online: http://sites.google.com/site/cognitiondiscourse/vypusk-no1-2010 (accessed on 18 March 2024).

Downloads

How to Cite

Matiiash-Hnediuk, I., Chura, Y., Melnyk, I., Datsko, Y., & Devitska, A. (2024). Evolving Representations of Childhood: A Diachronic Analysis of the Lexeme Child in British Newspapers from the 18th To 21st Centuries. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(4), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i4.6877