Lexicology as a branch of linguistics.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 688.

Lexicology is derived from two Greek roots: lexis –word and logos – learning. Thus the literal meaning of the term lexicology is the science of word. In modern science lexicology is a part of linguistics dealing with different properties of word and the vocabulary of a given language. On the one hand we study general properties of the word as the main unit of language; on the other hand, we deal with separate words and relations existing between them. i.e. with the vocabulary of a language.

The term word denotes the basic unit of a language resulting from the association of a particular meaning with the particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammar employment. The word is the structural and semantic entity within the language system.

The term vocabulary is used to to denote the system formed by the total sum of all the words that the language possesses.

The general study of words & vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language is known as general.

Special lexicology is the lex-gy of a particular language i.e. study & description of its words & voc-ry. It can be historical & descriptive.

Historical (diachronic) (etymological) lexicology discusses the development of the vocabulary in the course of time. It investigates the origin of separate words, their change and development and also the linguistic and extra linguistic factors influencing their structure, meaning and usage.

Descriptive (synchronic) lexicology presents the vocabulary of a given language at the present state of its development. It studies the functions of words and their specific structure in the system of a given language.

l-cy has close ties with other branches of ling-cs. as they also take into account words in one way or another approaching them from different angles. there is a rel-ship between lexicology & phonetics since phonetics is concerned with the sound-form of the word. a close conn-tion between lexicology and grammar: isolated w-s as presented in the dictionary bear a definite relation to the grammatical system of the language because they belong to some part of speech and conform to some lexico-grammatical characteristics of the word class to which they belong. Lexicology is linked with the history of a language since the latter (последние) investigates the changes and the development of the vocabulary of a language. There is also a close relationship between lexicology & stylistics. S. studies many problems treated in lexicology. These are the problems of meaning, synonymy, differettiation of vocabulary acc. to the sphere of communication and some other issues. Lexicology is bound up with sociolinguistics. SL investigates the extra-linguistic or social causes of the changes in the vocabulary of a language. The word-stock of a language directly and immediately reacts to changes in social life. The intense development of science and technology which is a social i.e. an extra-linguistic factor has lately given birth to great number of new words:CD ROM(compact disc read only memory),e-mail,sms,pager.