Lexicology as a science Kerimova Ilaha, 4 AOD

4 AOD

is the study of words.

Lexicology as a branch of

linguistics has its own aims and methods of scientific research. Its basic task – being a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and its current use. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units and morphemes which make up words.

We do not know much about the origin of language and, consequently, of the origin of words.

about the nature of the word:
1) the word is

a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposes of human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication.
2) the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it.
3) the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics.

approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the

external and the internal structures of the word.
By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure.
Ex.:in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be distinguished:
the prefixes :post-, im-,
the root : press,
the noun-forming suffixes : -ion, -ist,
the grammatical suffix of plurality :-s.
All these morphemes constitute the external structure of the word post-impressionists.
By internal structure of the word we mean the word’s semantic structure(meaning of the word).

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.
Ex.: 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 characterised 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 birds 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.

what we
mean by semantic unity.
Ex.: In the word-group a black

bird each of the meaningful
words conveys a separate concept: bird — a kind of living
creature; black — a colour.
The word blackbird conveys only one concept: the type of bird.

All that we have said about the word can be summed up as
follows. 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 characterised by formal and semantic unity.

prevailing
morphological word-structures and with processes of making new
words. Semantics is

the study of meaning. Modern approaches to this
problem are characterised by two different levels of study:
syntagmatic and paradigmatic.

On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is
analysed in its linear relationships 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.

relationships
with other words in the vocabulary system. So, a word

may be studied
in comparison with other words.
of similar meaning.
Ex.: work, n. — labour, n.; to refuse, v. — to reject v. — to decline, v.,
of opposite meaning
Ex.: busy, adj. — idle, adj.; to accept, v, — to reject, v.,
of different stylistic characteristics
Ex.: man, n. — chap, n. — bloke, n. — guy, n.

The main problems of paradigmatic studies are :
synonymy
antonymy
functional styles

are characterised by stability of structure and transferred meaning.
Ex.: to

take the bull by the horns, to see red, birds of a feather.
One further important objective of lexicological studies is the study of the vocabulary of a language as a system. The vocabulary can be studied 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.
The opposition of the two approaches accepted in modern linguistics is nevertheless disputable as the vocabulary, as well as the word which is its fundamental unit, is not only what it is now, at this particular stage of the language's development, but, also, what it was centuries ago and has been throughout its history.

of the word?
2.What is understood by formal unity of a

word?
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 understood by the semantic unity of a word? Which of
the following possesses semantic unity — a bluebell (R.
колокольчик) or a blue bell (R. синий бубенчик).
5.Give a brief account of the main characteristics of a word.
6.What are the main problems of lexicology?
7.What are the main differences between studying words
syntagmatically and paradigmatically?