Two principal approaches

CONTENTS

1. What is lexicology?..................................................................................................................5

1.1. Lexicology and its tasks....................................................................................................5

1.2. Two principal approaches..................................................................................................5

1.3. Branches of Lexicology.....................................................................................................5

A word as a fundamental unit of language...........................................................................6

2.1. Ambiguous nature of a word. Definitions of a word........................................................6

2.2. The nature of a word.........................................................................................................6

2.3. Four basic kinds of words.................................................................................................7

2.4. Inner structure of the word................................................................................................8

Word stock formation...........................................................................................................14

3.1. Morphological word formation.......................................................................................14

3.2. Semantic word formation................................................................................................17

3.3. Borrowing.......................................................................................................................18

Lexicography.........................................................................................................................20

4.1. Lexicography. History of British lexicography...............................................................20

4.2. History of American lexicography..................................................................................22

4.3. Major lexicography issues...............................................................................................23

4.4. Types of dictionaries.......................................................................................................25

Phraseology............................................................................................................................28

5.1. Phraseology. Free word-groups vs. set expressions........................................................28

5.2. Different approaches to the classification of phraseological units..................................30

5.3. Ways of forming phraseological units.............................................................................35

Etymological analysis of Modern English Vocabulary......................................................36

6.1. Etymological characteristics of the English vocabulary..................................................36

6.2. Words of native origin.....................................................................................................36

6.3. The foreign component in the English vocabulary..........................................................37

6.4. Assimilation of borrowings.............................................................................................39

6.5. Etymological doublets.....................................................................................................39

Semantics................................................................................................................................41

7.1. Meaning. Semantic triangle.............................................................................................41

7.2. Lexical meaning and concept..........................................................................................42

7.3. Types of lexical meaning.................................................................................................42

7.4. Semantic change..............................................................................................................43

Semasiology............................................................................................................................46

8.1. Semasiology: definition and its principal task................................................................46

8.2. Polysemy.........................................................................................................................46

8.3. Homonyms......................................................................................................................47

8.4. Paronyms.........................................................................................................................49

Onomasiology.........................................................................................................................50

9.1. Onomasiology: definition................................................................................................50

9.2. Synonyms........................................................................................................................50

9.3. Sources of synonymy......................................................................................................53

9.4. Antonyms........................................................................................................................54

9.5. Partonymy.......................................................................................................................54

9.6. Hyponymy.......................................................................................................................54

9.7. Lexical Semantic Fields...................................................................................................55

Word stock stratification....................................................................................................56

10.1. Chronological stratification...........................................................................................56

10.2. Stylistic stratification.....................................................................................................56

Seminars: Outlines and Assignments......................................................................................61

Literature.................................................................................................................................101

Useful E-Resources..................................................................................................................102

List of Abbreviations...............................................................................................................102

1. WHAT IS LEXICOLOGY?

Outline

Lexicology and its tasks

Two principal approaches

Branches of Lexicology

Lexicology and its tasks

Lexicology is the study of lexis i.e. its vocabulary or lexicon.

Greek lexis is ‘word’ and logos denotes ‘learning, a department of knowledge’. Vocabulary = lexis = lexicon is the total word stock of the language.

Lexiсolоgу is ‘the science of the words’. Lexicology studies not only the simple words in all their aspects, but it deals with complex and compound words, the meaningful units of the language, etymology, the study of the origin of words.

Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own aims and methods of scientific research. Its basic task is a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use. Lexicology is concerned withwords, variable word-groups, phraseological units, with morphemes which make up words.

Two principal approaches

In the framework of lexicology, both synchronic (Gr. syn “together”,“with” and chronos “time”) and diachronic or historical (Gr. dia “through”) suggested by the Swiss philologist Ferdinand de Saussure are applied.

The synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given time, for instance, at the present time. It is special Desсriptive Lexicology that deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time. A Course in Modern English Lexicology is a course in special Descriptive Lexicology, as its object of study is the English vocabulary as it exists at the present time.

The diachronic approach deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time. It is special Historical Lexicology that deals with the evolution of the vocabulary units of a language as time goes by. An English Historical Lexicology focuses on the origin of English vocabulary units, their change and development, the linguistic and extralinguistic factors modifying their structure, meaning and usage within the history of the English language.

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