Nigar Gasimova

GENERALIZATION AND SPECIFICATION PROCESSES IN ENGLISH

Abstract. Language is a complex structure, subject to changes due to the influence of external factors, internal problems caused by the constant development of the language and its complication. The word can have several meanings, and over time, some meanings may be forgotten and no longer used. Polysemy is a natural phenomenon in every language and one of the reasons for semantic change. The meaning of the word can be described as a flexible, changing mechanism. The original meaning of the word can expand, become general over time, and vice versa, a narrowing of the meaning, its specialization can occur. In most cases, the expansion of the meaning of the word is accompanied by the abstraction of the original meaning of the word. In the language, most words appear as the name of specific concepts. And then the original meaning of the words expands and becomes general. The expansion of the meaning of the word is one of the most widespread features in the history of the development of the word. The opposite of the process of expansion of the meaning or generalization is the process of narrowing of the meaning or specialization. Narrowing of meaning is a gradual process, during which the word enters from the general sphere of communication into its special sphere.

Keywords: the initial meaning of the word, the new meaning of the word, the expansion of meaning, the process of generalization, the abstraction of meaning, the narrowing of meaning, specification process