Lexicology as a branch of linguistics. Lexical units.
Lex-gy is a part of linguistics that studies voc-ry of a lg. The term “lex-gy” came from Greek “lexicos” – related to words & “logos” – learning. The general study of words & voc-ry, irrespective of the specific features of any particular lg, is known as general lex-gy. Linguistic phenomena and properties common to all lges are generally referred to as lg universals.
Special lex-gy devotes its attention to the description of the characteristic peculiarities in the voc-ry of a given lg. A relatively new branch of study is called contrastive lex-gy. It provides a theoretical basis on which the voc-ries of different lges can be compared and described.
To study the lexicon of English is to study all aspects of the voc-ry of the lg: how words are formed, how they are developed, used, related in meaning to each other, how words are handed in dict-ries.
The importance of English lex-gy is based on the fact that at present it is the world’s most widely used lg. It is spoken as a native lg by nearly three hundred million people in Britain, the US, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa & other countries.
Subbranches of lex-gy: 1) semasiology – meaning types of change of semantic structure of words; 2) etymology – the evolution of the word (origin change & development); 3) word-formation (morphology) – word structure; 4) phraseology – phraseological units / idioms; 5) lexicography – dictionary compiling. Lexical units: 1) morpheme – is the smallest indivisible, meaningful lang. unit reproduced in word patterns. 2) word – a nominative unit, names things & notions. 3) idioms – units of meaning larger than a single word.
Lex-gy is one of the main constituent parts of linguistics. Like any brunch in linguistics lex-gy has the object of its research which is lexicon or sometimes lexis, voc-ry, or word stock, the aims of research & research methods. The term “lexicon” is known in E-sh from the early 17 cent., it refers to a book containing a selection of words arranged in order. It is still used today in this meaning. Gradually the term “lex-gy” has developed into a more abstract sense. Today it refers to a total stock of meaningful units in a l-ge (words, set phrases, affixes). Lex-gy as the branch of linguistics is concerned with the nature meaning history & use of words & also with the description of lexical items in dictionaries. One of the major tasks of lexicology is to reveal how lexicon is structured, organized & how it’s used for the purposes of communication. Today lexicologists are committed to the theoretical study of lexicon within a broad linguistic, cognitive & cultural context. Directions: synchronic, contrastive, cognitive. The present course of modern E-sh lexicology contains elements of contrastive lexicology: E-sh & Russian. Most statements about l-ge in general may be called contrastive, as we deal with similarities & differences. To study the lexicon of E-sh is to study all aspects, all the vocabulary. We discuss how the words were formed, their meaning, the changes in their meaning: semantic, non-sem. aspects of words, variability of E-sh words. Branches of E-sh: phonetics, History of E-sh, stylistics, Lexicography.
General characteristics of the E. lexicon
Lexicon – the total stock of meaningful units in a l-ge: words, idioms. 1) polysemantic words; 2) homonyms, homographs, homophones; 3) borrowings; 4) phrasal verbs, stone wall constructions & idioms; 5) various local dialects & modification; 6) neologisms (800 per year). A neologism – a “new word” in a l-ge. Neologisms can develop in 3 main ways: 1) neologisms proper – a new lexeme is introduced to denote a new object / phenomenon (speaker-phone – домофон, machine translation); 2) semantic neologisms – a lexicon existing in a l-ge change its meaning to denote a new object / phenomenon (umbrella / under the NATO umbrella); 3) transnomination – a new lexicon develops to denote some “old” object / phenomenon (slum – ghetto – трущобы).
