Specialist Vocabulary
253leading source words to the lexical (semantic) field of COMPUTER
HARDWARE/SOFTWARE in English are mainly metaphorical in character.
Moreover, they mostly conform to the COMPUTER (HARDWARE/SOFTWARE)
IS AN ANIMATE BEING metaphorical formula.
Whether based on metaphor or metonymy (which both may be
interpreted as the major mechanisms involved in the development of
lexical meaning – Nerlich and Clarke 2001: 6), semantic innovation is
primarily dependent on the conceptualizers’ perception of the
extralinguistic reality they are immersed in. Assuming an onomasiological
perspective, looking for the sources of a given development (i.e. putting
oneself “in the innovating speaker’s place” – Koch 2008: 110), a
semanticist will inevitably arrive at certain “cognitively salient” (Geeraerts
2010) elements of the extralinguistic world (which, hence, are conducive
to figurative sense conceptualization).
In the case of English terms denoting computer hardware and software,
such cognitively salient areas predominantly correspond to the conceptual
category HUMAN BEING, which results in a more specific instantiation of
the animative metaphor referred to above: COMPUTER (HARDWARE/
SOFTWARE) IS A HUMAN BEING. Apart from such cases as this multimedia
projector will not cooperate with the laptop, his printer is temperamental,
or the above-explained handshaking, this anthropomorphic metaphor
(founded on the similarity of BEHAVIOUR, OPERATION or FUNCTION, rather
than APPEARANCE) underlies many names of computer hardware/software.
Moreover, within the conceptual category HUMAN BEING, an even more
specific subset – reflected in its counterpart lexical (semantic) field – may
be identified as a source of the onomasiological semantic innovations in
question, namely PROFESSIONS/OCCUPATIONS. In other words, in historical
terms, numerous vocabulary items most essential to the specialist language
of computer technology in English, that is the actual names of computer
hardware and software (such as the very term computer, as well as driver,
editor, processor, etc.), originally used to (or still do)^59 refer to the people
performing a certain cognitively salient job, profession or occupation.
The PROFESSION/OCCUPATION Æ COMPUTER HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
onomasiological path – as well as the more general WORKER Æ MACHINE/
IMPLEMENT pattern of semantic change observed in English by Cymbalista
(to appear), which the former instantiates – constitutes a sub-type of the
COMPUTER (HARDWARE/SOFTWARE) IS A HUMAN BEING metaphor. Given
that, the COMPUTER HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IS A WORKER metaphor is
(^59) In line with Sweetser’s (1990) observations on indispensability of synchronic
polysemy to diachronic semantic change.