LEXICOLOGY

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. Lexicology, a branch of linguistics, is the study of the meaning and uses of words.

Linguistics is the study of language in general and of particular languages, their structure, grammar, history, etc.

The term vocabulary is used to denote the system of words and word-groups that the language possesses. By the vocabulary is understood the total sum of its words. Another term is the stock of words.

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.

The area of lexicology specializing in the semantic studies of the word is called semantics. Semantics is the study of the meaning of words and other parts of language.

Another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possesses both external (or formal) unity and semantic unity.

The formal unity of the word can best be illustrated by comparing a word and a word-group comprising identical constituents. The difference between a blackbird and a black bird is best explained by their relationship with the grammatical system of the language. The word blackbird, which is characterized by unity, possesses a single grammatical framing: blackbird/s. The first constituent black is not subject to any grammatical changes. In the word-group a black bird each constituent can acquire grammatical forms of its own: the blackest bird I’ve ever seen. Other words can be inserted between the components which is impossible so far as the word is concerned as it would violate its unity: a black night bird.

The same example may be used to illustrate what semantic unity means.

In the word-group a black bird each of the meaningful words conveys a separate concept: bird – a kind of living creature; black – colour.

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 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 serves the purposes of human communication. 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 possesses several characteristics.

The word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity.

The problem of word-building is associated with prevailing morphological word-structures and with processes of making new words. Semantics is the study of 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 analysed in its linear relationship 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 (e.g. work, n.-labour; to refuse, v.-to reject, v.-to decline, v.), of opposite meaning (e.g.busy, adj.-idle.adj.; to accept,v.-to reject.v.), of different stylistic characteristics (e.g.man.n.-guy,n.). Consequently, the main problems of paradigmatic studies are synonymy, antonymy functional styles.

Phraseology is the branch of lexicology specializing in word-groups which are characterized by stability of structure and transferred meaning, e.g. a dark horse is a person about whom no one knows anything.

One further important objective of lexicological studies is the study of the vocabulary of a language as a system.

Answer the following questions:

1. What means the term Lexicology?

2. What is understood by formal unity of a word? Why is not correct to say that a word is indivisible?

3. Explain why the word blackboard can be considered a unity and why the combination of words a black board doesn’t possess such a unity.

4. What is undrestood by the semantic unity of a word? Which of the following possesses semantic unity – a bluebell (дзвіночок) or a blue bell (синій бубонець)?

5. Give a brief account of the main characteristics of a word.

6. What are the main problems of Lexicology?

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