Nuance of “Verschlechterung” not captured by any English equivalent?

Question

I know this will appear to be a repeat of a question I posted yesterday, but it is really a completely different question. I am wondering if there is a nuance to the word "Verschlechterung" which is not captured by any of the English translations given on Google translate:

deterioration
worsening
decline
debasement
depreciation
failure

In my earlier post, I referenced a quotation from Grimm in which he describes the migration in meaning of the word Jauche as a "verschlechterung": it originally meant broth, and now it means sewage. I love this description because to my non-native ear, it seems to perfectly capture a phenomenon which I cannot describe accurately with any of the English terms listed above: it is not a deterioration of the meaning, it is not a worsening, it is not a decline or a depreciation or a failure. It is perhaps almost a debasement of the meaning, but not quite; for that word carries an implied moral judgement. There is nothing wrong with the fact that a word which once meant "broth" is now used to mean "sewage"; it's just something that happened. A word that once meant something innocuous is now used to refer to something unpleasant; I feel "debasement" is a bit too judgemental for this transformation. The soup, after all, was not turned into sewage.

I am wondering if the German "verschlechterung" manages to avoid all these pitfalls. Is it the perfect word to describe the phenomenon? Or was Grimm merely doing what an English speaker would have done, and chosen the nearest approximation of a word to make his point?

A related question: is this phenomenon of "verschlechterung" a recognized phenomenon of philology or linguistic theory, which deserves a word of its own? And if so, is it something to which the German language is especially prone? Or is this business with the Jauche just a random bit of trivia that doesn't relate to a bigger concept? I would of course be interested in any other linguistic examples of what I understand to be the phenomenon of "verschlechterung". (I have a good Yiddish example in mind but it is from our Semitic component and I don't want to change the subject.)

Answer 1

Pejoration

The linguistic term for words changing their meaning over time with a loss of quality (Ullmann).

PEJORATION. A term in linguistics for the process of semantic change in which there is a depreciation or downward shift in the meaning of a word, phrase, or lexeme: for example, Old English cnafa (boy: compare German Knabe) became Modern English knave someone dishonest; Latin villanus (a farm servant) became Middle English vilain/vilein (a serf with some rights of independence), then Modern English villain (a scoundrel, criminal).^Encyclopedia

According to this deprecation or downward shift of meaning may be the most appropriate translation for "Verschlechterung" in this context.

Answer 2

A related (though distinct) phenomenon is what happened to "bitch," which I presume started as a name for an animal, and by being used as a metaphorical dysphemism, became an offensive word for a spiteful woman.

Another distinct, related phenomenon in English is how originally non-normative words for marginalized groups become offensive, sometimes to the point of becoming racial epithets. Chinaman, Negro, Colored, Jewess, Squaw, and (some would argue) Gypsy are all offensive now, but none were originally. It seems that racism against those groups was strong enough to embed itself into the words, changing their tone but not their literal meaning.

As far as what to call this phenomenon, I think it's hard to know know when something deserves its own word. Many philological jargon words seem unnecessary to me--sure, they might describe an interesting phenomenon, but that doesn't mean the jargon is helpful. I have never met anyone who could distinguish holonymy, hyponymy, meronymy, synecdoche, and metonymy who did not receive a foundation grant to do so.

At best, niche philological words make their meanings easier to Google for. At worst, they keep philological thought socially inaccessible to the uninitiated.

Answer 3

Takkat has provided an exceptional answer already, so let me just add that I - and probably most contemporaries - would probably not have used Verschlechterung as it has been used in the Grimm. Its use would at least have necessitated an explanation or "scare quotes" if it weren't a quote.

In ordinary contemporary contexts, deterioration or worsening are very good translations.