Final answer:
The meaning of a word is shaped by its linguistic origin and the historical context it has traversed. Linguistic divergence is influenced by migration, environmental interactions, and historical events, but not by the brain structure.
Step-by-step explanation:
Two influences on a word's meaning are its linguistic origin and the historical times it came through. The linguistic origin of a word refers to its etymological roots, which can impact its connotations and shades of meaning. For instance, words with Greek or Latin origins might have certain scholarly or medical connotations due to the presence of these languages in academic and scientific contexts. Furthermore, the historical periods through which a word has persisted can affect its meaning due to changes in culture, technology, and social norms. Take the word 'gay,' which historically meant joyous or bright, but over time came to be primarily associated with homosexuality. This evolution illustrates how the societal transformations influence the semantic shifts of words.
When considering reasons for linguistic divergence, migration and encountering different groups and environments, along with political and historical events, influence the evolution of languages. However, different brain structure among different groups of people is not a factor in linguistic divergence. The concept of linguistic relativity highlights that language varies across cultures reflecting environmental, historical, and sociocultural conditions, thus showing how language is interwoven with the human experience.
Understanding that words like 'centrifugal' and 'centripetal' originally came from terms meaning 'a goad,' 'to flee,' and 'to seek' as per Owen Barfield's analysis of metaphor in language development, exhibits the rich metaphorical origins of our vocabulary. Encapsulating both concrete objects and actions, these examples underscore that our language is a complex web of historical and symbolic significance.