- •1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics, its aims and significance. Links with other branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study.
- •2. Words of native origin and their distinctive features.
- •3. The borrowed element in the English vocabulary. The distinction between the terms origin of borrowing and source of borrowing. Translation loans. Semantic loans.
- •4. Types of borrowed elements in the English vocabulary. Etymological doublets, hybrids, international words, and folk etymology.
- •5. Assimilation of borrowings. Types and degrees of assimilation.
- •6. Latin borrowings. Features of Latin borrowings. Periods of borrowings from Latin.
- •7. Celtic elements (5-6 c. Ad) in the English vocabulary.
- •8. Scandinavian loan-words(8-11 c.Ad) in Modern English.
- •9. French elements in the English vocabulary. Features of French borrowings. Periods of borrowings from French.
- •10. Greek borrowings. Features of Greek borrowings.
- •11. The morphemic structure of English words. Typology of morphemes. Structural and semantic classifications of morphemes.
- •Inflections
- •12. The derivative structure of English words. The distinction between morphological stem and derivational base. Morphemic analysis vs derivational analysis.
- •23. The nature and causes of semantic change. Types of semantic change.
- •24. Transference of meaning.
- •25. Traditional lexicological groupings of words: thematic and ideographic groups, lexicosemantic groups, semantic fields.
- •26. Dynamics of the English vocabulary. Neologisms: their sources and formation.
- •Idiomatic Neologisms
- •27. Polysemy. Semantic structure of English words. Diachronic and synchronic approaches to polysemy. Types of polysemy.
- •28. Homonyms. Classifications and sources of homonyms.
- •29. Syntagmatic vs paradigmatic relations among English words.
- •In psycholinguistics these terms are used in a different sense.
- •30. Synonyms. The notion of a synonymic dominant. Types of synonyms. Sources of synonymy.
- •31. Antonyms. Definition. Morphological and semantic classifications of antonyms.
- •32. Grammatical and lexical valency. Grammatical and lexical context.
- •33. Lexical syntagmatics. Free word-groups vs phraseological units.
- •34. Free word-groups. Definition. Classifications.
- •35. Phraseological units: a variety of terms and the problem of definition. Characteristic features of phraseological units.
- •36. Approaches to the classifications of phraseological units in modern linguistics.
- •37. Polysemy, synonymy and stylistic features of phraseological units.
- •38. Origins and sources of phraseological units.
- •39. Dialectology as a branch of linguistics, its aim and basic notions. A dialect vs a variant.
- •40. Standard English: characteristic features and the problem of definition.
- •41. Local dialects in the British Isles. Scottish English. Irish English.
- •Variants
- •42. Characteristic features of the American English lexicon.
- •43. Lexicography as a branch of linguistics, its aim, basic notions and main problems.
- •44. Typology of dictionaries.
- •45. Important milestones in the history of British and American lexicography.
1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics, its aims and significance. Links with other branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study.
Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’
Lexicon (syn. vocabulary, word-stock, lexis; Ukr.словниковий склад мови) is the total number of words that make up a language.
Studies of Lexicon
lexicon formation
lexicon stratification
lexicon organisation (studied by Lexicography)
Studies of Word-Groups
proper names (studied by Onomastics)
terms (studied by Terminology)
phraseological units (studied by Phraseology)
Studies relevant to words, word-groups, and lexicon
-functions of lexical units in speech (studied by Functional Lexicology)
-the meaning of lexical units (studied by Lexical Semantics)
Theoretical and Practical Value
-a systematic description of Modern English lexicon;
-a thorough study of the relations existing between various lexical layers of the English vocabulary;
-an in depth analysis of the specific laws and regulations that govern word-stock development at the present time;
-a comprehensive survey of the sources of the lexicon growth and the changes it has undergone;
-an introduction to the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries.
Approaches to the Study of Language
synchronic (Gr. syn — ‘together, with’, chronos — ‘time’) or descriptive
diachronic (Gr. dia — ‘through’, chronos — ‘time) or historical
to beg – a beggar
a beggar > to beg
2. Words of native origin and their distinctive features.
the native stock of words (25-30%) – words known from the earliest available manuscripts of the Old English period; they were brought to the British Isles from the continent in the 5th century AD by the Germanic tribes of the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes.
high frequency value – 80% of the 500 most frequent words;
monosyllabic structure: eye, red, head, sun, door, help etc;
a wide range of lexical and grammatical valency: to raise / bend / bow / shake / bury one’s head; clear / cool / level head; above one’s head; in one’s head etc.
developed polysemy: head, n. 1) the part of the body; 2) the mind or brain; 3) ability; 4) a leader; 5) side of the coin etc.
great word-building power: headed, heading, headache, header, headline, to behead etc;
enter a number of set expressions: heads or tails; head over heels, to keep one’s head above water, from head to toe etc.
Words of Indo-European stock have cognates in the vocabularies of different Indo-European languages:
-terms of kinship: mother, father, son, brother, daughter etc.;
-parts of the human body: foot, nose, eye, heart etc.;
-names of animals and birds: bull, swine, goose, fish, wolf, cat etc;
-names of plants: tree, birch, corn etc.;
-names of celestial bodies: sun, star, moon etc.;
-calendar terms: day, year, month etc.;
-names of domestic objects: home, house, door, stool, floor etc.;
-common verbs: be, go, do, have, see, sit, think, help, love, kiss, drink, bear, eat, ask etc.;
-common adjectives: hard, slow, wide, long, dark, red, white etc.;
-numerals: 1 .. 100;
-pronouns: I, my, that etc.
The evolution of I
O.E. ic (1st p. Sg. Nom.) < Pr.G. *ekan (cf. O.Fris. ik, O.N. ek, Norw. eg, Dan. jeg, O.H.G. ih, Ger. ich, Goth. ik) < PIE *ego(m) (cf. Skt. aham, Hitt. uk, L. ego, Gk. ego, Rus. ja);
the dot on the ‘small’ letter -i- began to appear in the 11th c. Latin manuscripts, to distinguish the letter from the stroke of another letter (such as -m- or -n-);
ic was reduced to i by 1137;
I became capitalised since 1250.
Words of Common Germanic stock have cognates only in other Germanic languages, e.g. Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic, etc. Their areal distribution reflects the contacts between the Germanic tribes at the beginning of their migration:
-common nouns: hand, sand, earth, sheep, fox, bath, child, winter, rain, ice, house, life, bridge, rest etc.;
-common verbs: make, starve, sing, come, send, learn, can, buy, drive, burn, bake, keep, meet etc.;
-common adjectives: green, brown, cold, dead, deaf, deep, damp, thick, high, old, small etc.;
-adverbs: behind, much, still, well, yet etc.;
-Words of proper English stock do not occur in other Germanic or non-Germanic languages:
-words whose roots have not been found outside English, e.g. bird;
-compounds and derived words formed from the Germanic roots in England, e.g.
woman (O.E. wifman) < wife + man;
lord (O.E. hlāford) < loaf + weard (‘keeper’);
lady (O.E. hlāfdiʒe) < loaf + knead (‘bread-kneading’);
sheriff (O.E. scirʒerefa ‘chief of the shire’).
pronouns: we, he, you, it, self etc.