1. The object of Lexicology

Lexicology (from Gr lexis “word” and logos “learning”) is the part of linguistics dealing with the vocabulary of the language and the properties of words as the main units of language.

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 current use.

Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes which make up words.

Distinction is naturally made between General Lexicology and Special Lexicology

General Lexicology is concerned with the general study of words and vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any particular language.

Special Lexicology is concerned the study and description of vocabulary and vocabulary units of a given language.

2. Lexicology and other Branches of Linguistics

The treatment of words in lexicology cannot be divorced from the study of all the other elements in the language system to which words belong.

The word is closely connected with general linguistics, the history of the language, phonetics, stylistics, grammar and such new branches of the science as sociolinguistics, paralinguistics, pragmalinguistics and some others.

The importance of the connection between Lexicology and Phonetics is that a word is an association of a given group of sounds with a given meaning. Phonemes have no meaning of their own but their function is building up morphemes which are introduced into language.

Stylistics - problems of meaning, connotations, synonymy, functional differentiation of vocabulary according to the sphere of communication and some other issues.

Grammar - even isolated words bear a definite relation to the grammatical system of the language; it means that they belong to some part of speech and conform to some lexico-grammatical characteristics.

Historical lexicology - language is the reality of thought, and thought is the development of society, therefore language and its vocabulary must be studied in the light of social history.

Sociolinguistics - causal relations between the way the language works and develops, on the one hand, and the facts of social life, on the other.

3. The definition of the word

The word is the basic unit resulting from the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammatic employment. The smallest unit that can stand as a complete utterance.

4. Meaning

Word is made up of many components and they are usually described as types of meaning. Among the word’s various characteristics, meaning is certainly the most important.

Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion by means of a definite language system.

Grammatical meaning is an expression in speech of relationships between words based on contrasting features of arrangement in which they occur.

The conceptual content of a word is expressed in its denotative meaning. To denote is to serve as linguistic expression for a concept or as a name for an individual object. The denotative meaning may be significative, if the referent is a concept, or demonstrative, if it is an individual object.

Connotative meaning is the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the word.