Lexicology

problems

of lexicology
3. The Main Lexicological Problems

Investigating:
the problems of word-structure and word-formation,
the semantic structure of

words,

various groupings,
the relations existing between various layers of the

English vocabulary,
the laws governing the replenishment (enrichment) of the vocabulary, the changes it has undergone in its history.

lexicology (or etymology)
descriptive lexicology

of the definition of the notion “word”.
The word has been

defined:
Syntactically (Henry Sweet; Leonard Bloomfield)
Phonologically (Alan Gardiner)
Semantically (Stephen Ullman)
By combining various approaches (V.V. Vinogradov, A.I. Smirnitsky, M.D. Stepanova)

a human communication, materially representing a group of sound possessing

a meaning susceptible to grammatical employment and characterised by formal and semantic unity.

of the word (morphological)
For example, post-impressionists: the prefixes post-, im-,

the root press, the noun-forming suffixes -ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality -s.

The internal structure of the word (semantic)
This is certainly the word's main aspect.

the semantic structure of the word is analysed in its

linear relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech.
Ex. In the phrase “a hat on her head” the noun “head” means “part of the body” whereas in the phrase “head of the department” the word “head” means “chief”.

with other words in the vocabulary system.
A word may

be studied in comparison with other words
of similar meaning (e. g. work, n. — labour, n.; 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. — chap, n. — bloke, n. — guy, n.).

system
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 acquired its modern form.

(varies from one form to another)

Ex. His brother is a

well-known singer.
I wonder who has taken my umbrella.