Lecture 1. The subject of lexicology and its aim

The term lexicology is of Greek origin (from lexis – word and logos -

science). Lexicology is the part of linguistics which deals with the vocabulary and characteristic features of words and word-groups.

The term word denotes the main lexical unit of a language resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning. This unit is used in grammatical functions characteristic of it. It is the smallest unit of a language which can stand alone as a complete utterance.

The term word-group denotes a group of words which exists in the language as a ready-made unit, has the unity of meaning, the unity of syntactical function, e.g. the word-group as loose as a goose means clumsy and is used in a sentence as

a predicative (He is as loose as a goose).

The subject matter of lexicology is separate words, their morphological and semantic structure, and the vocabulary of the language, which includes words, word combinations, their origin, development and current use.Lexicology can be general and special. General lexicology is the lexicology of any language, part of General Linguistics. It is aimed at establishing language universals – linguistic phenomena and propeties common to all languages.Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular language (English,German, Russian, etc.).

Lexicology can study the development of the vocabulary, the origin of

words and word-groups, their semantic relations and the development of their

sound form and meaning. In this case it is called historical lexicology. The aim of lexicology is to define the essence of words. The list of unknowns could be extended, but it is probably high time to look at the brighter side and register some of the things we do know about the nature of the word. First, we do know that the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposes of human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication. Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it. Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics.The modern approach to word studies is based on zdistinguishing between theexternal and the internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure. For example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can bedistinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root press, the noun-forming suffixes –ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality –s. All this morphemes constitute the external structure of the word post-impressionists. The external structure of the word, and also typical word-formation patterns,are studied in the framework of word-building. The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is nowadays commonlyreferred to as the word‘s semantic structure. This is the word's main aspect. Words can serve the purposes of human communication solely due to their meanings, and it is most unfortunate when this fact is ignored by some contemporary scholars who, in their obsession with the fetish of structure tend to condemn as irrelevant anything that eludes mathematical analysis. Modern approaches to this problem are characterized by two different levels of study: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is analyzed in its linear relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech. In other words the semantic characteristics of the word are observed, described and studied on the basis of its typical contexts. On the paradigmatic level, the word is studied in its relationships with other words in the vocabulary system. So, a word may be studied in comparison with other words of similar meaning. Lecture 2. The main problems of lexicology. There are 4 main problems of lexicology: 1) different types of word-formation;2)different types of dictionaries;3)original English words or word as a linguistic unite;4)semantics it is the meaning. Modern approaches to this problem are characterized by two different levels of study: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is analyzed in its linear relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech. In other words the semantic characteristics of the word are observed, described and studied on the basis of its typical contexts.On the paradigmatic level, the word is studied in its relationships with other words in the vocabulary system. So, a word may be studied in comparison with other words of similar meaning.

Phraseology is the branch of lexicology specializing in word-groups which are characterized by stability of structure and transferred meaning, e.g. to take the bull by the horns, to see red, birds of a feather, etc.

One further important objective of lexicological studies is the study of the vocabulary of a language as a system. The vocabulary can be studied synchronically, that is, at a given stage of its development, or diachronically, that is, in the context of the processes through which it grew, developed and aquired its modern form. The opposition of the two approaches accepted in modern linguistics is nevertheless disputable as the vocabulary, as well as the word which is its fundamental unit, is not only what it is now, at this particular stage of the language's development, but, also, what it was centuries ago and has been throughout its history.

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