1. Lexicology and other branches of linguistics
The science which studies the vocabulary of the language as a complex of its constituent elements is called lexicology.
Lexicology studies the lexical level of the language. The term “lexicology” is composed of two Greek words: “lexis” (~ word, phrase) and “logos” (~ science, learning). Thus, the literal meaning of the term “lexicology” is “the science of the word”. The basic task of lexicology is the study and systematic description of the vocabulary of a particular language in respect to its origin, development and current usage.
The branches of lexicology are semasiology and onomasiology. Semasiology studies linguistic units and their meanings. Onomasiology studies the choice of linguistic units for naming the ideas or the objects of reality. An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which is the theory and practice of composing dictionaries.
Lexicology is closely connected with phonetics, stylistics, and grammar. Phonetics studies the phonetic structure of the language, grammar studies the morphological system and syntactical relations in the language, and stylistics studies the nature, functions and structure of stylistic devices. Lexicology studies words and relations between them, that is, the meaning of the word, and different types of word-groups in which the word occurs in speech.
AIMS AND PROBLEMS OF LEXICOLOGY.
Modern English lexicology aims at giving a systematic description of the word-stock of the language.
problems of:
theory of the word;
stylistic differentiation of the English vocabulary (stylistically-neutral and stylistically-marked words);
etymology of the English words (the sources and growth of the English vocabulary);
word structure (morphemes: bound and free; roots and affixes);
word formation (affixation, word composition, conversion, non-productive ways of word formation);
semantics (semasiology) (meaning and change of meanings of words);
semantic groupings of words (polysemantic and monosemantic words, homonyms, synonyms, antonyms);
phraseology (criteria and sources of phraseological units, their classification);
differences between the British English and the American English; There are two approaches to the subject of study in lexicology:
synchronic;
diachronic.
The first approach is connected with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given time (e.g. at the present time). The diachronic approach deals with the changes and the development of the vocabulary in the course of time at a certain historical period.
2.Stylistic differentiation of the english vocabulary.
1. Stylistically-neutral words
Stylistically-neutral words are also called the basic vocabulary of the language. They can be used in all kinds of situations, both formal, and informal, in speech and in writing. They denote objects and phenomena of everyday importance (e.g. house, bread, book, man, to go, to eat). Their meanings are broad, general, and bear no additional information.
Stylistically-neutral words are also called the basic vocabulary of the language. They can be used in all kinds of situations, both formal, and informal, in speech and in writing. They denote objects and phenomena of everyday importance (e.g. house, bread, book, man, to go, to eat). Their meanings are broad, general, and bear no additional information.