SEMANTIC DRIFT AND CULTURAL MEMORY: A DIACHRONIC ANALYSIS OF KEY TERMS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN TEXTS

Abstract

Semantic change is a central concern in philology, offering insights into the shifting cultural, intellectual, and social landscapes in which texts were produced and transmitted. This study investigates the semantic drift of three culturally significant terms—virtus, honor, and fama—across selected medieval European Latin and vernacular texts from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Through a diachronic analytical framework that combines lexical-semantic theory, historical linguistics, and cultural memory studies, the research traces how these terms acquire expanding, contracting, or fundamentally altered meanings over time. The corpus includes theological writings, chivalric romances, legal documents, and historiographic chronicles, allowing examination of semantic variation across genres and socio-cultural contexts.

The analysis demonstrates that virtus, originally denoting masculine bravery and martial prowess, underwent moralization during the High Middle Ages as ecclesiastical discourse shifted its semantic core toward spiritual fortitude and ethical conduct. Honor, initially a status marker tied to social hierarchy, became increasingly individualized and internalized, reflecting broader transformations in medieval social structures and personal identity. Fama, once associated with literal reputation and public renown, gradually expanded to encompass notions of narrative authority and textual credibility, especially in historiographic writings.

By revealing the interplay between linguistic change and cultural memory, the study illustrates how evolving communal values, religious ideology, and literary practices shaped the meanings of foundational terms. These shifts were neither uniform nor linear; instead, they arose from complex interactions among authors, audiences, and institutions. The findings underscore the importance of contextualized philological inquiry for understanding medieval intellectual history and demonstrate that semantic drift serves as both a linguistic and cultural phenomenon. Ultimately, this research advances broader discussions about how language records, preserves, and transforms the collective memory of past societies.