1. Lexicography and other disciplines

Lexicography and Linguistics: as already noted, the basic concern of lexicography is 'word' which is studied in different branches of linguistics: phonetics, grammar, stylistics etc. Lexicography is not only related to linguistics but is an applied discipline within its boundaries. The practical problems of lexicography are solved by the practical application of the results of the linguistic research. The entire work of a lexicographer, from the selection of entries, fixation of head words, definition of words to the arrangement of meanings and entries, is based on the achievements of different branches of linguistics.

One of the most widely accepted criteria for selection of entries in many dictionaries is frequency count (the frequency of head words). The lexicographer usually chooses the canonical or the most frequently occurring form of a word. This is found out from the grammatical study of the language. For written languages and languages with established grammatical traditions the problem of the head word selection is not so difficult as in the case of unwritten languages. Here the lexicographer has to be his own linguist and to have recourse to the linguistic analysis of the language. For data collection he takes the help of field linguistics and for analysis, of descriptive linguistics. For giving definitions of flora and fauna and also of artifacts and other cultural items the lexicographer uses encyclopaedic information. To do this a lexicographer uses the principle of the hierarchical structure of the vocabulary in terms of folk taxonomy. Thus he enters the domain of ethnolinguistics.

For giving spelling and pronunciation of words in a dictionary the lexicographer uses the results of the phonetic study of the language. For grammatical information he has to depend on the morphological analysis of the language. In the determination of the main meaning of a polysemous word the lexicographer is helped by historical linguistics. Etymology gives him the clue to decide the basic meaning. In the fixation of a number of meanings and their interrelationship the lexicographer has to take recourse to the linguistic methods of set collocations, valency and selective restrictions etc.

Historical linguistics helps in tracing the origin and development of the form and meaning of the words in historical dictionaries. In descriptive dictionaries such labels as archaic, obsolete etc., denoting the temporal status of words, are decided with the help of historical linguistics. Historical linguistics, especially etymological study, helps in distinguishing between homonymy and polysemy. But where etymological consideration is not applicable for want of such studies it is the native speaker's intuition which is taken as the determining factor. In this the lexicographer is helped by psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics also helps in providing material for vocabulary development which might be used for the preparation of the graded dictionaries.

Dictionaries give status labels like slang, jargon, taboo, figurative, formal, graamya (vulgar) etc. These labels are decided with the help of sociolinguistic and stylistic studies.For dialect dictionaries dialectology is a necessary helpmate. A basic prerequisite of bilingual dictionaries is a contrastive analysis of the linguistic systems of the two languages. This is provided by contrastive linguistics.

All this shows that in his work the lexicographer always, to a large extent, depends on the findings of different branches of linguistics. But this is not always so in real life. Lexicographical works had preceded grammatical works in many languages. It is not only the findings of linguistics which help to solve the lexicographical problems, the lexicographical findings are equally utilized by the linguists for different purposes of authenticating their hypothesis, in helping standardization of the languages, especially in the field of technical terminology.

The problems of a lexicographer are practical and need based requiring at-the-moment solution. The lexicographer cannot wait for certain findings in the field of linguistics or other disciplines for the solution of his problems. It is here that linguistics might fail to meet the needs of a lexicographer. There are different schools of linguistics vying with each other in theoretical research. The findings of one school are contradicted by the other. There are different studies on the same aspect of a language. Nothing is final. The lexicographer might not afford to wait for the final word to come. Moreover, many languages still remain uninvestigated. So the lexicographer has to find his own way. In his entire work, the lexicographer is guided by the practical considerations of a dictionary user. The linguistic theories are quite important for the lexicographer but practical utility is more basic for him.

Lexicology and Lexicography

What is the subject matter oflexicography and lexicology? What do they have in common?

Both terms lexicology and lexicography are derived from the Greek work lexiko (λεξίκόs belonging to word) (adjective from lexis meaning 'speech', or 'way of speaking' or 'word'). The common concern of both of them is 'word' or the lexical unit of a language.

Lexicology is derived from lexico 'word' plus logos 'learning or science' (λόγοξ means learning, in English it means “learning of words”) i.e. the science of words.

Lexicography is lexico 'word' plus graph 'writing' (γραφω I write, in English it means “I write words”) i.e. the writing of words.

The etymological meaning of these words speaks for itself. Lexicology is the science dealing with the study of words whereas lexicography is the writing of words in some particular form i.e. in the form of dictionary. As we’ll see later, lexicology and lexicography are very closely related, rather the latter is directly dependent on the former and may be called applied lexicology.

The essential difference between them lies in the degree of systematization and completeness. Lexicography aims at systematization revealing characteristicfeatures of words. The field of lexicography is the semantic, formal, and functional description of all individual words. Dictionaries aim at a more or less complete description.

Lexicology shows that the vocabulary of every particular language is not a chaosof diversified phenomena but a homogeneous whole, a system constituted by independent elements related in certain specific ways. It goes without saying that neither of these branches of linguistics could develop successfully without the other.

As already noted, both lexicology and lexicography have a common subject 'word'. The sum total of all the words of a language forms the vocabulary or lexical system of a language. The words of a language are like constellations of stars in the firmament. Every word although having its own independent entity is related to others both paradigmatically and syntagmatically. The paradigmatic relations are based on the interdependence of words within the lexical system. The syntagmatic relations show the relation of words in the patterns of arrangement. In other words the vocabulary of a language is not a chaos of diversified phenomena but consists of elements which, though independent, are related in some way. A word has a particular meaning, it has a particular group of sounds, and a particular grammatical function. As such it is a semantic, phonological and grammatical unit. Lexicology studies a word in all these aspects i.e. the patterns of semantic relationship of words as also their phonological, morphological and contextual behaviour. Words undergo constant change in their form and meaning and lexicology studies the vocabulary of a language in terms of its origin, development and current use. The study of the interrelationship of lexical units is done in terms of the contrasts and similarities existing between them.

As a word does not occur in isolation, lexicology studies it with its combinative possibilities. And thus the scope of lexicology includes the study of phraseological units, set combinations etc.

Like general linguistics, of which lexicology is a branch, lexicology can be both historical and descriptive, the former dealing with the origin and development of the form and meaning of the lexical units in a particular languages across time and the latter studying the vocabulary of a language as a system at a particular point of time. But there are many areas in lexicology, where one phenomenon cannot be studied in isolation, without regard to the other. They are, thus, interdependent.

The lexicological studies can be of two types, viz., general and special. General lexicology is concerned with the general features of words common to all languages. It deals with something like universals in language. Special lexicology on the other hand studies the words with reference to one particular language.

Lexicological studies can be, further, of comparative and contrastive type wherein the lexical systems of two languages are studied from a contrastive point of view.

Lexicology meets the needs of different branches of applied linguistics, viz., lexicography, stylistics, language teaching, etc.

The relation between phonetics and lexicology is very important. Words consist of phonemes, which, although not having meaning of their own, serve to form morphemes, the level where meaning is expressed. So they serve to distinguish between meanings. Historical phonetics helps in the study of polysemy, homonymy and synonymy.

The link between lexicology and grammar is also very close. Each word has its place in the grammatical system of a language and belongs to some parts of speech. Lexicology studies this relationship in terms of the grammatical meanings and also their relationship with the lexical meaning. In the field of word formation, lexicology is still more closely related to grammar. Both study the patterns of word formation.

Language is a social phenomenon. The study of language cannot be separated from the study of the social system and the development of society. The development and progress in the social, political and technological system manifests in the vocabulary of a language. New words are introduced and old words die out. New meanings are added to words and old meanings are dropped out. Lexicology studies the vocabulary of a language from the sociological points as well.

Lexicography also studies the lexicon as lexicology does but "whereas lexicology concentrates more on general properties and features that can be viewed as systematic, lexicography typically has the so to say individuality of each lexical unit in the focus of its interest".

In lexicology the word is studied as a part of the system. In lexicography it is studied as an individual unit in respect of its meaning and use from the practical point of its use by the reader of the dictionary for learning the language or comprehending texts in it or for any other purpose like checking correct spelling, pronunciation etc. A word may have different and varied characteristic, all of which may not be needed by a lexicographer. His work is guided more by the purpose of the dictionary and the type of the audience. He presents the words of the lexical system in a way so as to make it more practically useable in real life situation i.e. in actual speech. For example lexicology may give the theoretical basis for enumerating different meanings of a polysemous word, but how these meanings are worded and presented in the dictionary is governed by the practical problems of utility of the dictionary for different types of readers. The aim of lexicology is to study the vocabulary of a language as a system, so the treatment of individual units may not claim to be complete because the number of units is larger. Its goal is systematization in the study as a whole but not completeness as regards individual units. So it cannot claim to be a perfectly systematic treatment. Here, every entry is treated as an independent problem. Lexicologists present their material in sequence according to their view of the vocabulary study. The lexicographers are mostly guided by the principle of convenience in retrieval of the data and arrange words usually in the alphabetical order.

Lexicology provides the theoretical basis for lexicography. The lexicographer although knowing all the semantic details of a lexical unit might, at times, have to take such decisions and include such features in the definition which might be his own observations. In lexicology the study of words is objective, governed by the theories of semantics and word formation. There is no scope for individual aberrations. In lexicography, in spite of all the best attempts on the part of the lexicographer, many definitions become subjective, i.e. they are not free from the bias of a dictionary maker.

General lexicology deals with the universal features of the words. In this sense lexicology is not language specific, whereas lexicography is more or less language specific in spite of its universal theoretical background. Its theories have no other validation except for practical applicability in the compilation of a dictionary.

Whereas lexicology is more theory oriented, lexicography is more concerned with specific application (i.e. results) of these theories. So "in a certain sense lexicography may be considered a superior discipline to lexicology, for results are more important than intentions and the value of theoretical principles must be estimated according to results".

Lexicography is in essence an art and a craft. It is also a profession anda hobby, a scholarly and commercial enterprise, and an academic discipline.It is, further, a longstanding cultural practice and an integral part of theintellectual tradition in literate societies.

Кінець 2-ї лекції