Lexicology
Questions
1 Lexicology as a science. Branches of lexicology.
2 Two approaches to language study, varieties of words.
3 Methods of investigation.
4 Contrastive analysis.
5 Statistical analysis.
6 Immediate constituents analysis.
7 Distributional analysis.
8 Transformational analysis.
9 Componental analysis.
10 Method of semantic differential.
11 Analytical (referential) definition of meaning.
12 Functional (contextual) definition of meaning.
13 Operational (information-oriented) definition of meaning.
14 Naming. The nominative approach to meaning.
15 The formation of concepts. Meaning and concept.
16 The ways of forming sound forms of words.
17 Aspects of lexical meaning.
18 Sources and types of meaning variability.
19 The semantic structure of a word.
20 Semantic relations of words.
21 Word-structure. Types of morphemes.
22 The method of immediate and ultimate constituents.
23 The derivational structure. Derivational bases. Types of
stems .
24 Derivational patterns.
25 Word-formation. Basic ways of coining words.
26 Minor types of coining words.
27 Affixes. Polysemy. Homonymy. Synonymy.
28 Conversion.
Lexicology as a science.
Its basic units and methods.
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics – the science of language. The
term “lexicology” is composed of two Greek morphemes “lexic” – word, phrase
& “logos” which denotes learning a department of knowledge. Thus the
literal meaning of the term “lexicology” is “the science of the word”.
Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own aims & methods of
scientific research. Its basic task – being a study & systematic
description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development & its
current use. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups,
phraseological units & morphemes which make up words.
Distinction is made between GENERAL LEXICOLOGY & SPECIAL LEXICOLOGY.
General lexicology is a part of General linguistics . It is concerned with
the study of vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any
particular language . Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular
language ( Russian , German , French , etc. ).
Lexicology is closely connected with other branches of linguistics :
phonetics , for example , investigates the phonetic structure of language &
is concerned with the study of the outer sound-form of the word . Grammar
is the study of the grammatical structure of language . It is concerned
with the various means of expressing grammatical relations between words as
well as with patterns after which words are combined into word-groups &
sentences . There is also a close relationship between lexicology &
stylistics which is concerned with a study of a nature , functions & styles
of languages .
Two approaches to language study.
Varieties of words.
There are two principle approaches in linguistic science to the study
of language material : synchronic & diachronic . With regard to Special
lexicology the synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a
language as it exists at a given time . It’s Special Descriptive lexicology
that deals with the vocabulary & vocabulary units of a particular language
at a certain time .
The diachronic approach in terms of Special lexicology deals with the
changes & the development of vocabulary in the coarse of time . It is
Special Historical lexicology that deals with the evaluation of the
vocabulary units of a language as the time goes by .
The two approaches shouldn’t be set one against the other . In fact ,
they are interconnected & interrelated because every linguistic structure &
system exists in a state of constant development so that the synchronic
state of a language system is a result of a long process of linguistic
evaluation , of its historical development . Closely connected with the
Historical lexicology is Contrastive & Comparative lexicology whose aims
are to study the correlation between the vocabularies of two or more
languages & find out the correspondences between the vocabulary units of
the languages under comparison .
Lexicology studies various lexical units . They are : morphemes , words
, variable word-groups & phraseological units . We proceed from the
assumption that the word is the basic unit of the language system , the
largest on morphological & the smallest on syntactic plane of linguistic
analyses . The word is a structural & semantic entity within the language
system . The word as well as any linguistic sign is a two-faced unit
possessing both form & content or , to be more exact , sound-form & meaning
.
e. g. boy – бой
When used in actual speech the word undergoes certain modification &
functions in one of its forms . The system showing a word in all its word-
forms is called a paradigm . The lexical meaning of a word is the same
throughout the paradigm . The grammatical meaning varies from one form to
another . Therefore when we speak on any word as used in actual speech we
use the term “word” conventionally because what is manifested in the
utterances is not a word as a whole but one of its forms which is
identified as belonging to the definite paradigm . Words as a whole are to
be found in the dictionary (showing the paradigm n – noun , v – verb ,
etc).
There are two approaches to the paradigm : as a system of forms of one
word revealing the differences & the relationships between them .
e. g. to see – saw - seen – seeing
( different forms have different relations )
In abstraction from concrete words the paradigm is treated as a pattern
on which every word of one part of speech models its forms , thus serving
to distinguish one part of speech from another .
-s -‘s -s’
-ed -ing
nouns, of-phrases
verbs
Besides the grammatical forms of words there are lexical varieties
which are called “variants” of words .Words seldom possess only one meaning
, but used in speech each word reveals only that meaning which is required
.
e. g. to learn at school to make a dress
to learn about smth. /smbd. to make smbd. do smth.
These are lexico-semantic variants .
There are also phonetic & morphological variants .
e. g. “often” can be pronounced in two ways, though the sound-form is
slightly changed , the meaning remains unchangeable . We can build the
forms of the word “to dream” in different ways :
to dream – dreamt – dreamt
dreamed–dreamed
These are morphological variants . The meaning
is the same but the model is different .
Like words-forms variants of words are identified in the process of
communication as making up one & the same word . Thus , within the language
system the word exists as a system & unity of all its forms & variants .
Methods of investigation .
The science is said to be formed when it has at its disposal certain
methods of investigation . The process of scientific investigation may be
subdivided into several stages :
* Observation is an early & basic phase of all modern scientific
investigations including linguistics & is the center of what is called “
the inductive method of inquiry “ . The cardinal role of all inductive
procedures is that the statements of fact must be based on observation
not on unsupported authority , logical conclusions or personal
preferences .
* Another stage of scientific investigation after observation is
classification of those facts which were obtained through observation .
e. g. It is observed that in English nouns the suffixal morpheme
“-er” is added to verbal stems ( to cook – cooker , to write
– writer ) & noun stems ( village – villager , London – Londoner ). The
same suffix also occurs in the words such as mother , father . The question
is whether the words “ mother , father “ have suffix . They haven’t , thus
we can come to the conclusion that “-er” can be found in derived & non-
derived words .
* The following stage is usually that of generalization , that is , the
collection of data & their classification must eventually lead to the
formulation of a hypotheses , rule , or law .
e. g. In the case with “-er” we can formulate the rule that
derived words in “-er” may have either verbal or noun stems .The suffix “-
er” in combination with adjectival or adverbial stems can’t produce nouns (
bigger , longer , shorter are not nouns ).
* Any linguistic generalization is to be followed by the very fine process
– the linguist is required to seek verification of the generalizations
that are the result of his inquires . For these aims different methods &
procedures are used . They are : contrastive analyses , statistical
methods of analyses , immediate constituents analyses , distributional
analyses , transformational analyses , componental analyses & method of
semantic differentiation .
Contrastive analysis .
Contrastive linguists attempt to find out similarities & differences in
both related & non-related languages . Contrastive analysis grew as the
