Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Yamaguchi University

Faculty of Education, Yamaguchi University

PISSN : 24333670
NCID : AA12810513

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Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Yamaguchi University Volume 71
published_at 2022-01-31

Jane Austen’s use of words in social context in the time of late modern English

語の通時的変化と意味の重層性 : Jane Austenの小説にみるamiable、sad、condescension の評価的意味
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This paper examines Jane Austen’s use of the words, amiable , sad , and condescension , to see how she creates and develops the characters in the novel. This also contributes to the philological study of the English language, especially in considering Vocabulary of Late Modern English.
There is a way of thinking that once a text leaves the author’s hands, a reader can deconstruct a text and create his or her interpretation, in this paper, however, my interest lies in the language in Jane Austen’s day. I consider what the writer meant by the words in using them in the social context in the time of Late Modern English. The meaning and the significance of the word in the text largely depends on the context.
We do not find many examples of condescension in her novels, but fewer is not insignificant. The word has something to do with the difference in social status among characters and the superior’s dignity. At the time the word is in a state of change of its sematic prosody, from positive meaning to negative meaning.