<p>Based on current research in historical and cognitive linguistics this thesis examines the German semantic field <fromm> (<pious>), partly contrasting it with its Swedish correspondent <from>. Starting at the time of Old High German the analysis follows the historical development of word and concept, exploring how attitudes to the Christian religion are verbalised in different ages. One important assumption is that ideas and attitudes are accessible to us through the lexicalised items of a language.</p><p>The thesis is part of the interlingual research project “Ethical concepts and mental cultures”, which, by applying a pluralistic method, examines various ethical fields, and assumes as central the oppositions a/o (action directed to others vs. to oneself), right/wrong (virtues vs. vices) and too much/too little vs. the ideal mean.</p><p>This study shows that true piety, in order to be classified as a virtue, has to include both trust and critical thinking in equal proportions and that if either of the two outweighs the other the virtue will become a vice. Furthermore, it is shown that a shift in meaning has taken place from ‘profitable’ or ‘advantageous’ in Old High German, through ‘excellent’, ‘righteous’, ‘virtuous’ into ‘religious’, with Luther’s usage as the critical factor in giving the word its religious meaning. As a result of Secularisation and Individualisation negative connotations have developed in modern German usage which do not seem to exist to the same extent in modern Swedish. This is confirmed by two corpus studies, evaluating the usage of <i>fromm/from</i> in German and Swedish newspaper texts, according to which <i>fromm</i> tends to be transferred to profane contexts, meaning for example ‘hypocritical’, ‘uncritically credulous’ and ‘uncritically obedient’ more frequently than its Swedish equivalent.</p><p>Based on results from socio-psychological research the study also identifies some strategies that speakers employ in order to mark distance or adherence to a group of believers or non-believers, for example metaphors (i.a. GOOD IS UP ÷ BAD IS DOWN) or stereotypes, which are often used to ridicule, criticise or insult a member of another group in order to strengthen the speaker’s own social identity.</p>

Based on current research in historical and cognitive linguistics this thesis examines the German semantic field &lt;fromm&gt; (&lt;pious&gt;), partly contrasting it with its Swedish correspondent &lt;from&gt;. Starting at the time of Old High German the analysis follows the historical development of word and concept, exploring how attitudes to the Christian religion are verbalised in different ages. One important assumption is that ideas and attitudes are accessible to us through the lexicalised items of a language. The thesis is part of the interlingual research project “Ethical concepts and mental cultures”, which, by applying a pluralistic method, examines various ethical fields, and assumes as central the oppositions a/o (action directed to others vs. to oneself), right/wrong (virtues vs. vices) and too much/too little vs. the ideal mean. This study shows that true piety, in order to be classified as a virtue, has to include both trust and critical thinking in equal proportions and that if either of the two outweighs the other the virtue will become a vice. Furthermore, it is shown that a shift in meaning has taken place from ‘profitable’ or ‘advantageous’ in Old High German, through ‘excellent’, ‘righteous’, ‘virtuous’ into ‘religious’, with Luther’s usage as the critical factor in giving the word its religious meaning. As a result of Secularisation and Individualisation negative connotations have developed in modern German usage which do not seem to exist to the same extent in modern Swedish. This is confirmed by two corpus studies, evaluating the usage of fromm/from in German and Swedish newspaper texts, according to which fromm tends to be transferred to profane contexts, meaning for example ‘hypocritical’, ‘uncritically credulous’ and ‘uncritically obedient’ more frequently than its Swedish equivalent. Based on results from socio-psychological research the study also identifies some strategies that speakers employ in order to mark distance or adherence to a group of believers or non-believers, for example metaphors (i.a. GOOD IS UP ÷ BAD IS DOWN) or stereotypes, which are often used to ridicule, criticise or insult a member of another group in order to strengthen the speaker’s own social identity.

The concept of "family" has undergone major changes over the past 50 years. This thesis examines changes in attitudes and values that can be detected in German and Swedish during this time. In order to investigate these changes in the concept of "family" I have analyzed how the German focus word Familie and the Swedish focus word familj are used in newspaper articles from the 1960s, 1980s and early 2000s. The empirical data consists of German and Swedish newspaper corpora from the three different periods. The theoretical point of departure is a social constructionist perspective, where family is considered to be something constructed and negotiated in language use. The method is corpus linguistic discourse analysis: compound words, collocations and multi-word patterns that include the focus words are analyzed using large text corpora. The study is both about changes in HOW the words familj and Familie are used and WHAT is said about the family in public language use. The thesis shows changes in both Swedish and German language use. I conclude that two different sub-concepts are being constructed and negotiated: the family as a GROUP OF PERSONS and family as a WAY OF LIVING TOGETHER. As regards the family as a group of persons this sub-concept has undergone major changes during the period studied. Differences in Swedish and German language use indicate more and sometimes earlier changes in the Swedish concept of family. The sub-concept of family as a way of living together is more constant. The observed changes can also be seen against a background of Swedish and German conceptual norms of family that do not change to the same extent. New family structures such as nätverksfamiljer (reconstituted families) and regnbågsfamiljer (rainbow families) are partly constructed as deviations from these conceptual norms. The thesis also shows that the sub-concept of family as a group of persons has become even more complex, especially in Swedish language use and particularly in so-called bio boxes, where pets are mentioned as family members and couples without children label themselves as familj. / Begreppet ”familj” har genomgått stora förändringar de senaste 50 åren. I den här avhandlingen studeras vilka förändringar i synsätt och värderingar som kan upptäckas i det tyska och det svenska språkbruket under denna tid. För att undersöka dessa förändringar i begreppet ”familj” analyseras hur det tyska fokusordet Familie och det svenska fokusordet familj används i tidningstext från 1960-talet, 1980-talet och början av 2000-talet. Det empiriska materialet består av tyska och svenska tidningskorpusar från de tre olika perioderna. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten är ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv, där familj betraktas som någonting som konstrueras och förhandlas i språkanvändning. Metoden är korpuslingvistisk diskursanalys: med hjälp av stora textkorpusar analyseras sammansatta ord, kollokationer och flerordsmönster där fokusorden ingår. Det handlar här både om förändringar i HUR orden familj och Familie används och i VAD som sägs om familj i offentligt språkbruk. Avhandlingen visar på förändringar i både den svenska och den tyska språkanvändningen. Jag kommer fram till att två olika delbegrepp konstrueras och förhandlas: familj som PERSONGRUPP och familj som SAMLEVNADSFORM. När det gäller familj som persongrupp genomgår det delbegreppet stora förändringar under den studerade tidsperioden. Förändringarna visar sig vara större och ibland tidigare i det svenska materialet än i det tyska materialet. Delbegreppet familj som samlevnadsform är mer konstant. De förändringar som kan observeras sker också mot en bakgrund av svenska och tyska normbilder av familj, som inte förändras i samma grad. Nya familjebildningar som nätverksfamiljer och regnbågsfamiljer konstrueras delvis som avvikelser från dessa normbilder. Avhandlingen visar också att delbegreppet familj som persongrupp blir allt mer mångfacetterat, särskilt i svenskt språkbruk och i synnerhet i s.k. faktarutor, där även husdjur nämns som familjemedlemmar och par utan barn får etiketten familj.

La recherche a pour objet la structuration du champ lexical des mots « chance », « fortune », « hasard » et « risque » du XVIIIe au XXIe siècle. Témoin de mutations qu’a connues la civilisation occidentale durant cette période, ce champ, qui se rattache à la notion de fortune / hasard, présente une relative homogénéité sémantique.Les mots (et leurs dérivés) sont étudiés à travers le déploiement, la régulation et la répartition des normes d’usages, non seulement en français hexagonal, mais aussi en français québécois. L’étude se fonde sur l’exploitation de deux types de corpus. D’une part, un corpus d’articles extraits d’une cinquantaine de dictionnaires sert à mettre en évidence la productivité morphosémantique et sémantique de ces unités dans une perspective historique large. D’autre part, un grand ensemble d’énoncés diversifiés permet, par la mise au jour de types de contextes, d’effectuer un suivi diachronique des usages. L’approche continuiste des différences d’usages s’appuie sur une représentation fréquentielle des changements sémantiques.La thèse apporte une contribution à la question de la variation des usages et du changement sémantique, qui ouvre sur plusieurs perspectives. Elle se veut d’abord une réflexion sur la théorie et la méthodologie descriptives, appréhendées à la lumière de l’analyse de la nature et du rôle des corpus. Elle met ensuite en évidence l’importance de la dimension intersubjective dans l’activité de signification, en particulier le rôle déterminant des structures syntagmatiques dans l’établissement de nouveaux usages sémantiques. Enfin, elle permet de mettre en relation le changement sémantique avec les conditions sociohistoriques et les représentations collectives. / The present study deals with the way in which the lexical field regrouping the words “chance”, “fortune”, “hazard” and “risqué” has been structured in the French language from the eighteenth century till the present day. Revealing major changes in western societies during this period of time, the field, which corresponds to the linguistic representation of the notion of fortune / hasard, presents a certain coherence.We have examined these words and their derived forms through the display, regulation, and distribution of norms of use, not only in Hexagonal French, but also in Quebec French. Two types of corpora have been analysed. On the one hand, a corpus of articles from around 50 dictionaries has been used to emphasize the lexical and semantic productivity of the different units on a large historical scale. On the other hand, in revealing context types, a set of texts reflecting French language varieties has allowed for carrying out a diachronic analysis of lexical uses. The continuist approach to semantic differences rests upon a frequential representation of semantic changes.The thesis brings a significant contribution to the question of usage variations and semantic change, providing new perspectives. It first deals with theory and methodology of lexical description, considered through the analysis of the nature and the role of corpora. It then evidences the central role of syntagmatic structures in the setting of new semantic uses. The study has finally put into relation semantic changes with their historical background and the collective representations of the time.