English lexicology Lecture 1

FUNDAMENTALS OF LEXICOLOGY
Object of Lexicology
Links of Lexicology with Other Aspects of Linguistics
Types of Lexicology
Two Principle Approaches in Linguistics

Lexicology
“lexis” - word, phrase (Greek)
“logos” - science (Greek)
“The science of the word”

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

VOCABULARY
is the system of words and word-groups that
the language possesses
WORD
is the main lexical unit of a language
resulting from the association of a group of
sounds with a meaning
WORD-GROUP
is a group of words that exists in the
language as a ready-made unit with its
unities of meaning and syntactical function

Modern Lexicology
aims
at giving a systematic description of
the word-stock of Modern English

Modern English Lexicology
studies
the relations between various lexical layers of the English vocabulary
the specific laws and regulations that govern development of the vocabulary
the source and growth of the vocabulary and changes it has undergone

Modern English Lexicology
investigates
the problems of word-structure and word-formation in Modern English
the semantic structure of English words
principles of the classification of vocabulary units into various groupings
the laws governing the replenishment of the vocabulary with new vocabulary units

Connection of Lexicology and Other Linguistic Sciences
Phonetics (is also concerned with the study of the world)
Grammar (has the same objects of the study)
Stylistics (studies many problems treated in lexicology)

Connection of Lexicology and Other Linguistic Sciences
History of the language (investigates the changes and the development of the vocabulary of the language)
Sociolinguistics (investigates the causes of the changes in the vocabulary)

Types of Lexicology
General Lexicology
general study of words and vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language
part of general linguistics

Types of Lexicology
Special Lexicology
description of the characteristics peculiarities in the vocabulary of a particular language
can be historical or descriptive

Types of Special Lexicology
Historical Lexicology deals with
the origin of the words and their evolution
their change and development,
linguistic and extra-linguistic factors influencing the structure of words, their meaning and usage

Types of Special Lexicology
Descriptive Lexicology deals with
vocabulary of a given language at a definite stage of its development
functions of words, morphological and semantic structures of words

Types of Lexicology
Comparative and Contrastive Lexicology
gives
correlation between the languages ,
correspondences between the vocabulary units of different languages

Two approaches to language study
Synchronic linguistics (descriptive)
Diachronic linguistics (historical)
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)
Synchronic is concerned with systems
Diachronic is concerned with single units

Synchronic (Descriptive) Approach
syn – “together, with”
chronos - “time”
concerned with the vocabulary of the language as it exists at a given period of time

Diachronic (Historical) Approach
dia – “through”
chronos – “time”
deals with the development and changes of the language, evolution of vocabulary units as times goes by

Synchronic and Diachronic approaches
are interconnected and interdependent
Every linguistic structure and system exists in a
state of constant development so that the
synchronic (descriptive) state of a language
system is a result of a long process of linguistic
evolution, the result of the historical (diachronic)
development of the language

To beg - beggar
Synchronically
A simple word- to beg
A derived word- a beggar
*a derived word- a word formed or originated from
another or from a root in the same or another
language to beg + ar =beggar

To beg- beggar
Diachronically
“Beggar” was borrowed from Old French,
“To beg” appeared in English as a result of back
derivation, was derived from the word “beggar”
*back derivation-t he formation of the word from the stem of another word by means of cutting off suffixes (prefixes) from the source word

A WORD
denotes the main lexical unit of a language
resulting from association of a group of
sounds with a meaning
Is the smallest unit of a language which
can stand alone as a complete utterance

A word group
denotes a group words which exists in the language as a ready-made unit
has the unity of meaning
Has the unity of syntactical function
Ex: as loose as a goose=clumsy

What is a word?
the unit of speech which serves the purposes of human communication=the unit of communication
can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it
Possesses several characteristics, when it is viewed structurally

External structure of the word
Is a morphological structure
Post-impressionists
Post-, im- preffixes
Press the root
Ist- noun-forming suffix

Internal structure of the word
Is its meaning
The meaning of the words is studied by the
area of lexicology - semantics

The unity of the word
External unity
Semantic unity

External (formal) unity
A blackbird (a single grammatical framing)
A black bird
(each constituent is independent)
can acquire grammatical forms of its own.
Ex: The blackest birds
other words can be inserted between the components
Ex: A black night bird

Semantic unity
A black bird each word conveys a separate concept
Bird- a kind of a living creature
Black- a colour
A blackbird conveys only one concept
“a type of a bird”

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.

What Greek morphemes compose the word “lexicology”?
What does lexicology study?
What is the object of study of General lexicology?
What does Special lexicology study?
What is the object of Historical lexicology?
What does descriptive lexicology deal with?
What branches of linguistics does lexicology have close ties with?
Why are synchronic and diachronic approaches interconnected and interdependent?
What are the structural aspects of the word?
Explain which one can be considered a unity: a bluebell or a blue bell?