More language change on the fly (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 8/30/07, Arnold M. Zwicky <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> i relent, i relent.
>
[snip]
>
> AHD4 is typical of the dictionaries i consulted in giving
> intransitive "relent" the meaning 'become more lenient,
> compassionate, or forgiving', though it's easy to find uses (like
> mine above) in which "relent" conveys meanings in the neighborhood of
> 'yield, surrender, submit, back down, give in, give up'.  (such
> meanings should be in dictionaries as in current use.)

Interestingly, OED2 has for "relent" the obsolete sense "to yield,
give way; to give up a previous determination or obstinacy" with cites
from the 16th-17th c. (e.g., Milton's "Paradise Lost": "To convince
the proud what Signs availe, Or Wonders move th' obdurate to
relent?"). So is this semantic shift a revival of sorts?

> the verb "relent" is probably an ideal candidate for developing new
> senses (and syntax): pretty much everyone will have experienced the
> verb, but at such low frequencies that they might be unsure of the
> details, consequently assimilating the verb to the patterns of other
> verbs in the semantic domain of "relent".

Indeed, much like "abscond" and "accost" in previous threads.


--Ben Zimmer

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