Introduction To Lexicology

Chapter 1: Fundamentals
1. What is lexicology? Vocabulary? Word?
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics that studies all of the other elements in the language system
to which words belong. Lexicology, in its turn, is closely connected with general linguistics, the
history of the language, phonetics, stylistics and, especially, grammar.
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.
Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication; it can be perceived as the total of the
sounds which comprise it; it structurally possesses several characteristics.
2. What are the structural aspects of the word?
The structural aspects of the word:
 The external structure (morphological structure)

 The internal structure of the word (meaning) often referred to as the word’s semantic
structure
3. What is the external structure of the word independently? What is the internal structure
of this word?
The external and internal structures of the word independently
 The external structure: the prefix in-, the root depend and the suffixes -ent, -ly
 The internal structure:
4. What is understood by formal unity of a word? Why is it not quite correct to say that a
word is indivisible?
Formal unity implies that no other elements can be inserted between the component morphemes
of the word which are permanently linked together (a blackbird vs a black bird – a black night
bird).
The word’s semantic unity consists in the fact that it conveys only one concept. For example, the
word “blackbird” conveys only one concept: the type of bird. The word-group “a black bird”
conveys two concepts: a colour and a type of animal.
It is not quite correct to say that a word is indivisible because a word can be analyzed as
consisting of one morpheme (sad) or two or more morphemes (unluckily; compare luck, lucky,
unlucky), each morpheme usually expressing a distinct meaning.
5. 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.
 The word blackboard can be considered a unity because:
Grammatically:
It possesses a single grammatical framing: 'blackboards'. The first constituent black is not
subject to any grammatical changes
Other words cannot be inserted between the components as the word is concerned as it
would violate its unity
Semantically:
The word blackboard conveys only one concept: the kind of board. This is one of the main
features of any word: it always conveys one concept, no matter how many component
morphemes it may have in its external structure.
 The combination of words a black board doesn't possess such a unity because:
Grammatically:
In the word-group a black board each constituent can acquire grammatical forms of its own:
the blackest boards I've ever seen.
Other words can be inserted between the components: a large black board.
Semantically:
In the word-group a black board each of the meaningful words conveys a separate concept:
board — a kind of object; black — a color
6. Give a brief account of the main characteristics of a word.

A brief account of the main characteristics of a word.
The distinguishing between external (morphological) and internal (the meaning - semantic)
structures of the word.
Unity. The word has external and internal unity. Formal unity is sometimes inaccurately
interpreted as indivisibility of the word. But we can divide it into morphemes but their
components are linked together. We can compare words to groups whose components have a
certain structural freedom. (E.g.: bluebell (type of flower) – blue bell (colour and object)) If it is
word we can change the whole of it, phrase – all components.
Susceptibility to grammatical employment. Words can be used in different grammatical forms

and thus they realize the interrelations.
7. What is understood by the semantic unity of a word? Which of the following possesses
semantic unity a bluebell (compound word) or a blue bell (word group)?
The semantic unity of a word can be understood as the word always conveys one concept, no
matter how many component morphemes it may have in its external structure.
A bluebell (compound word) rather than a blue bell (word group) possesses semantic unity. In
the word-group a blue bell each of the meaningful words conveys a separate concept: bell — a
kind of object; blue — a color. The word bluebell conveys only one concept: the type of flower.
8. What are the connections of lexicology with phonetics, grammar, and stylistics?
The connections of lexicology with phonetics, grammar, and stylistics
Phonetics. On acoustic level words consist of phonemes and these phonemes participate in the
significations. They have no meaning but their function is to build up morphemes, which served
to distinguish between meanings.
Stylistics studies many problems treated in lexicology: these are the problem of meaning,
synonyms, differentiation of vocabulary according to the sphere of communication.
Grammar. It attends to establish rules for the correct use of the language in society. Every word
alongside with the lex. meaning has some grammatical meaning.

Introduction To Lexicology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Lexicology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Lexicology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 1: Fundamentals

1. What is lexicology? Vocabulary? Word?

2. What are the structural aspects of the word?

The structural aspects of the word:

 The external structure (morphological structure)

The external and internal structures of the word independently

of words a black board doesn't possess such a unity.

 The word blackboard can be considered a unity because:

6. Give a brief account of the main characteristics of a word.

Susceptibility to grammatical employment. Words can be used in different grammatical forms

The connections of lexicology with phonetics, grammar, and stylistics

You might also like