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This page is a work in progress. More sections will be added over time.
Quick Start Guide
DatSemShift is a database of attested semantic shifts — regular meaning changes documented across the world's languages. Each shift is an abstract pair of meanings, for example 'back' → 'upper surface'. A shift is supported by one or more realizations: concrete lexemes in specific languages that exhibit the change (e.g. Arabic ẓahr- meaning both 'back' and 'upper surface').
Browse all shifts on the Semantic Shifts page, or use one of the search modes below to find shifts and realizations matching your criteria.
Search
Quick search
On the Semantic Shifts page there is a text filter above the table. Type any word or phrase to instantly filter the visible rows by meaning — no page reload required. This is useful for a fast first look when you know approximately what you are looking for.
Extended search
The Extended search form lets you combine multiple criteria. Parameters are grouped in two levels:
- Shift-level: Source meaning, Target meaning, Status, Contributor, Taxon. Enable Chain search to find indirect paths A → B → C between two meanings.
- Realization-level: Language, Glottolog ID, Realization type, Lexeme, Macroarea, Language group, Realization contributor. When any realization field is used, results show one row per matching realization (with language, lexeme, and meanings).
Toggle Fuzzy meanings to also return shifts whose meanings are semantically close to your query even when the exact string doesn't match. Results can be downloaded as an Excel file using the button at the top of the results table.
Notation
Angle brackets denote a semantic variable — a placeholder standing for any specific member of a category:
| Notation | Stands for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
<animal> | any animal | donkey, cat, horse, ox … |
<body part> | any body part | back, hand, foot, eye … |
<liquid> | any liquid | water, wine, blood, juice … |
<kin term> | any kinship term | father, sister, uncle … |
The shift is recorded at the abstract level ('back' → 'upper surface'); individual realizations fill in the variable with a specific lexeme in a specific language.
Some meanings use a slash label X/Y to mark that a language
does not lexically distinguish between two concepts that are separate in other languages:
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
hand | The language distinguishes hand from arm — this word means hand only |
arm | The language distinguishes arm from hand — this word means arm only |
hand/arm | The language uses one word for both hand and arm |
to hear | The language distinguishes to hear from to listen |
to listen | The language distinguishes to listen from to hear |
to hear/to listen | The language uses one word for both to hear and to listen |
Direction symbols
Each shift and each realization carries a direction symbol. Their meaning differs depending on whether they apply to a shift or to a realization:
| Symbol | Applies to | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| → | Shift | At least one realization of this shift has a confirmed direction. |
| → | Realization | The change goes from meaning A to meaning B, in the same order as the shift header. |
| — | Shift or realization | There is not enough information to establish the direction. |
| ∼ | Shift or realization | Direction is in principle impossible to determine — for example in cases of syncretism, where a single word simply covers two meanings without one being derived from the other. |
| ↔ | Shift only | The shift has realizations going in both directions: at least one A → B and at least one B → A. |
| ← | Realization only |
Used inside a bidirectional (↔) shift. This specific realization goes in the
reverse direction — from B to A, opposite to the linear order A B stated in the
shift header. Example: shift #0004 to taste (tr.) ↔ to try, to attempt — Amharic mokkärä 'to eat, take a mouthful' ← 'to try, test, to attempt' (the meaning 'to try' is primary here, not 'to taste'). |
Realization Types
Each realization is assigned a type indicating the linguistic mechanism behind the semantic connection:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Polysemy | A single word has two related meanings simultaneously. | Maya xok: 'count' — 'respect' |
| Semantic evolution | The meaning changed over time; the older meaning is no longer primary. | Ancient Greek/Modern Greek μετατρέπω: 'to turn back' → 'to transform' |
| Derivation | Two morphologically related forms in the same language (e.g. simple vs. prefixed verb) show the shift. | Croatian kušati / pokušati: 'to taste' ↔ 'to try, to attempt' |
| Motivation | One word is literally built from another, making the conceptual link transparent. | Serbian миш / слепи миш: 'mouse' → 'bat' (lit. "blind mouse") |
| Cognates | Words in two different languages share a common ancestor but have diverged in meaning. | German Knabe / English knave: 'boy' — 'swindler, rogue' |
| Internal cognates | Etymologically related words within the same language have diverged in form and meaning. | Slovak jutro / zajtra: 'morning' — 'tomorrow' |
| Syncretism | A single word covers meanings that are lexically distinct in other languages. | Thai dtɛɛng (แตง): 'melon' — 'pumpkin, squash' |
| Borrowing | A word borrowed from one language into another, shifting meaning in the process. | Old East Slavic челядь → Komi: 'valetry, servants' — 'children' |
| Microevolution | A subtle, gradual shift in meaning documented within historical records of a single language. | Russian ревность: 'to strive' (until 19th c.) → 'to be jealous' |
Related Shifts
Two shifts can be marked as related when they are conceptually connected. Related shifts are listed in the Related shifts modal on any shift page; click Open to navigate directly to the related shift. Each relation can be assigned one of the following types:
Proximity B1‑В2
Both shifts share the same source meaning A but lead to two close (not identical) target meanings B1 and B2. The targets are near-synonyms or overlap significantly.
- 'back' → 'surface' and 'back' → 'upper surface'
- 'head' → 'leader' and 'head' → 'chief'
Proximity А1‑А2
Both shifts lead to the same target meaning B but start from two close source meanings A1 and A2.
- 'mouth' → 'entrance' and 'lips' → 'entrance'
- 'day' → 'weather' and 'time' → 'weather'
Dual Proximity
The source meanings A1 ≈ A2 are close to each other and the target meanings B1 ≈ B2 are close to each other — a near-parallel pair of shifts.
- 'back' → 'behind' and 'rear' → 'back part'
- 'eye' → 'spring' and 'pupil' → 'source'
Opposition В1‑В2
Both shifts start from the same source A but lead to opposite (or strongly contrasting) target meanings B1 and B2.
- 'spirit' → 'breath' and 'spirit' → 'soul'
- 'right' → 'correct' and 'right' → 'privilege'
Opposition А1‑А2
Both shifts arrive at the same target B but from opposite (or strongly contrasting) source meanings A1 and A2.
- 'big' → 'important' and 'small' → 'important'
- 'old' → 'wise' and 'young' → 'wise'
Dual Opposition
A1 and A2 are opposite, and B1 and B2 are also opposite — the two shifts are mirror images of each other.
- 'give' → 'present' and 'receive' → 'gift'
- 'black' → 'mourning' and 'white' → 'celebration'
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Maps | Interactive map showing all languages where a shift is attested. Points are colour-coded by realization type: Polysemy, Semantic evolution, Borrowing, Cognates. Open via the Show map button on any shift page. |
| Compare Shifts | Select multiple shifts by ID and view them overlaid on a single map to compare their geographic distributions. |
| Similarity Search | Enter source and/or target meanings; returns realizations from external dictionaries ranked by semantic proximity using vector similarity. |
| Compare Taxons | Compare sets of shifts by semantic taxon. Find shifts shared between two taxons, or shifts where one taxon is the source and another is the target. |
| Taxon Heatmap | Heat-map matrix showing how frequently each pair of taxons appears as source/target across all shifts in the database. |
| Shift Chains | Enter a starting meaning; generates a directed graph of all shifts reachable from it up to a configurable depth (max 5 steps). |
| Compare Semantic Profiles | Compare how different languages distribute their shifts across semantic taxons (e.g. which domains are most active in a given language). |
| Word Histories | Browse reconstructed word-history entries linked to shifts — etymology and attested semantic evolution of individual lexemes. |
| Related Shifts | Browse all pairs of related shifts ordered by relation count. For logged-in users: assign or change the relation type (Proximity, Opposition, Dual variants) and delete relations. |