Lectures on lexicology lecture 1

Introduction. The subject matter of lexicology

Plan

1. The subject matter of lexicology.

2. Lexicology in its relations to grammar, phonology and stylistics.

/. THE SUBJECT MATTER OF LEXICOLOGY

Lexicology (Gr. Lexis - "word" and logos - "learning") is a branch of linguistics that studies the vocabulary of a given language. Its subject matter is words and their meaning, their etymology and structural peculiarities, their stability and synonymic relations, their stylistic value.

Lexicology should be organically related to all branches of linguistics such as phonetics, stylistics, grammar and history of the language.

Changes of word meanings undergone by words in the course of language development are described by semasiology. The semantic structure of words is described in terms of lexico-semantic variation, distributional value and synonymic differentiation. This part of the science of language is the basis of lexicology. Lexicology should also include information on compiling dictionaries. This is called lexicography.

The general study of words and vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language, is known as general lexicology. The description of the characteristic peculiarities in the vocabulary of a given language is the subject matter of special lexicology. The latter is based on the fundamental principles of general lexicology, which forms a part of general science of language.

Language is highly organized and systematic. The central interest in vocabulary studies lies therefore in determining the properties of words and different sort of relationships existing between them in a language. The ways in which the development of meaning is influenced by extralinguistic reality deserve considerable attention as well. The notions rendered in word-meanings are, in fact, generalized reflections of things and phenomena of the outside world, the connection of words with the elements of objective reality and their relevance to the mental and cultural development of human society. Things that are connected in reality come to be naturally connected in language too. The study of language in our day has taken on new vitality and interest.

The subject matter of historical lexicology is the evolution of the vocabulary. Dealing with changes that occur in time this part of linguistics treats of origin of words and their development, investigates the linguistic and extralinguistic forces modifying the structure of words, their meaning and usage. Historical lexicology must survey the vocabulary as a system in its evolution, describing its change and development in the course of time.

The study of the vocabulary in its synchronic aspect, i.e. at a given stage of its development (in its modern state), is the subject matter of descriptive lexicology.

As any science, lexicology directs upon its subject matter a close scrutiny attempting to produce careful objective descriptions of linguistic facts and refine the results of its observations.

All the words in a language make up what is generally called the vocabulary of the language.

The volume and the character of the vocabulary are determined by the social-economic and cultural history of the people speaking the language. Social, political and cultural changes in human society cause changes in the vocabulary of the language. The vocabulary grows and changes together with the development of human society. Language as a whole in all its aspects, its words and idioms, its peculiarities of constitution, its pronunciation, and the very tones of voice, language in its completeness, is the most perfect mirror of the manners of the age. Words are the necessary tools with which we convey thoughts and feelings. When a new product, a new conception comes into the thought of a people, it inevitably finds a name in their language. A vocabulary is a kind of mirror, reflecting the character, the mentality and the activity of the people who use it; it is most sensible to changes and never remains stable. Like all other forms of life, living languages are in a constant state of evolution.

The rapid advances which are being made in scientific knowledge, the extension of sciences and arts to many new purposes and objects create a continual demand for the formation of new words to express new ideas, new agencies and new wants.

The history of a community must be reflected in changes of the vocabulary; as objects and ideas are forgotten, the corresponding words or phrases must be out of use, and as new knowledge is gained linguistic forms to match it appear.

A major interest is presented by linguistic relationships of lexical units within the vocabulary. Distinction must be made at this point between syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations; the former are based on the linear character of speech and are studied by means of contextual, transformational and other types of analysis, the latter reveal themselves in the morphemic structure of words and are described in terms of morphemes and their arrangement.

In paradigmatic relationships we naturally distinguish:

(a) the interdependence of elements within words,

(b) the interdependence of words within the vocabulary,

(c) the influence of other aspects of the same language.

2. LEXICOLOGY IN ITS RELATION TO GRAMMAR, PHONOLOGY AND STYLISTICS

As a branch of linguistics lexicology has its own aims and methods of scientific research; its main task is the study of the vocabulary of a given language. It must be borne in mind that the language system is so complex that when we come to consider the best way in which one should arrange linguistic facts we are always confronted with the problem of the proper distinction between all levels of linguistic organization.

The affinities between these levels will always remind us that one level of linguistic structure cannot well be treated in isolation from each other.

No part of a language can be adequately described without reference to all other parts.

Internal relations of elements within complex wholes are of the essence of language with its many interdependent structures and systems at all levels, the functions of every linguistic element and abstraction being dependent on its relative place therein. This is, in fact, one of the fundamental features of language and of the treatment of language in modern linguistics.

Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations are nearly as important in vocabulary studies as they are at the levels of grammar and phonology.

Different ways of word-making, for instance, give sufficient evidence to say that word-making can be assigned equally well to the provinces of lexis and grammar. The categories and types of word-formation, which characterize the present-day English linguistic system, are largely dependent upon its grammatical structure.

Take such examples as nouns used in the plural in a special sense:

ach'ice = counsel, advices = information

colour = tint, colours - 1) plural of tint, 2) flag

custom = habit, customs= 1) plural of habit, 2) duties

spectacle = sight, spectacles = 1) plural of sight, 2) eyeglasses

damage = injury, damages = compensation for injury

Sometimes, when two kinds of pluralization, have produced two plurals of a word, different uses and meanings have resulted, and as a consequence the older form has not been ousted by the -s form. This can be seen in such pairs as:

brother- brethren, brothers

cloth-cloths, clothes

cow-kine, cows

fish-fish, fishes

die- dice, dies

penny-pence, pennies

No right line of demarcation can be drawn between grammatical and lexical meanings.

Some concrete nouns may be used both as mass-nouns and as thing-nouns.

In the latter meaning they may form s-plural; fruit is used in the singular, the plural fruits is used only when meaning "different kinds of fruit", the plural form may also be used figuratively, as in fruits of labour; fish is generally used in the singular, the plural fishes means "different kinds of fish".

We should distinguish grammar and vocabulary in terms of different kind of generality.

Some linguistic facts on the lexical level are no less general than those in grammar, word-making, in particular. And with this comes the realization that there is a system in vocabulary, and lexicology must reasonably treat not only of specific but also of general facts.

The interrelation between vocabulary and grammar is not less characteristic in making new words through conversion, which has existed at all stages of the language and has flourished most in Modern English. A converted word

develops a meaning of its own and diverges so far from its original function that it is felt to be an independent word, a homonym.

The constant reciprocal action of vocabulary and grammar will be exemplified by different processes of compounding, most productive in various languages, English including.

Contextual restrictions of word-meanings deserve special attention.

A single unambiguous word meaning is not always automatically assured. Compare the following;

1. to smoke a cigarette;

2. to smoke fish, meat, etc (= to care meat, fish, etc.).

1. The table is round (table = an article of furniture);

2. The fruit was unfit for table (table = meal);

3. The table of contents (table + a condensed tabulated statement, a schedule). Examples like these may be given in numbers.

Mention must be made at this point about the language basis for ambiguities and their resolution. There are different types of ambiguity. The first and most familiar is a matter of vocabulary. Many words, including almost all the common ones, are known to have two or more distinct meanings. The combinations taking any of the available meanings for each word in a sentence may be extremely numerous.

In the resolution of vocabulary ambiguities one factor primary in importance is grammatical structure. And this must always be taken account of in the study of language or of any single system within language.

The meaning of the word is very often signalled by the "grammatical" context in which it occurs.

Compare the variant lexical meanings of the verb take in the following sentences:

She took a book from the table.

She took to thinking.

She took me to be asleep.

He took to the life of travelling.

You were late, 1 take it (/ take it = I suppose).

The verb to mean + infinitive means “to intend", to mean + gerund means "to signify", "to have as a consequence", "to result in something". Compare the following:

1. He had never really meant to write that letter - He had never intended to write that letter.

2. This means changing all my plans - This resulted in changing all my plans.

To remember+gerund refers to the past and means "not to need to be reminded", to remember + infinitive refers to the future and means "not to omit to do something".

The construction verb + gerund can also be compared with one consisting of verb + adverbial infinitive, e.g.:

1. The horse stopped to drink;

2. The horse stopped drinking.

Further examples of the so-called "grammatical" context, which operates to convey the necessary meaning, will be found in cases when, for instance, the passive form of the verb gives a clue concerning its particular lexical meaning. For example, the verb to succeed, as registered in dictionaries, can mean:

1. слідувати за чимось, кимсь, бути наступником, змінювати;

2. мати успіх, досягати успіху, досягати мети, удаватись.

As is known, the passive form of this verb excludes the secondary range of its meaning.

That lexicology should be viewed in relation to other parts of linguistic learning, such as phonetics and style, is also quite obvious.

The phonetic interpretation of the linguistic material is of undoubted interest in modern language learning.

This dimension in phonetic analysis appears when sounds that have a recognized status when considered as individual segments are strung together in a sustained flow of talk. When a single phoneme, for instance, is examined in relation to a total constellation of sounds in which it may appear, the factors of pitch, loudness, rhythm, duration and juncture are at once observed. These five factors are also phonemes. In phonemic terms, they are called prosodic or suprasegmental (in contrast to segmental phonemes). All these are of primary importance in talk as it appears in action.

The meaning of a word may sometimes rely on the situation of the accent expressed mainly in terms of pitch (where there are no associated changes of quality), e.g.:

rebel [' rebl] (n) - [ri ' bel] (v)

Further examples are such words as: anyone, anything, anybody following a negative which may have a different meaning according to their pitch pattern, e.g.:

/ 'can t 'eat anything -1 can eat nothing.

I 'can't eat anything -1 can eat some things.

Even more subtle distinctions fairly common in English, can be observed in such cases, as for instance, green house and greenhouse, big black snake and big blacksnake, blue bottle and bluebottle. In each of these pairs there is a difference in meaning and it is indicated not by individual phonemes but by overall pattern they produce. The same phenomenon may be observed in other structures.

In cases when the lexical meaning of the words admits either interpretation without lexico-grammatical incongruity, ambiguity is presented in actual speech by contrast in intonation patterns. Thus, for instance, a dancing girl with rise in pitch and primary stress both on the head-word girl marks dancing as a present participle: a girl performing the act of dancing. But a dancing girl, with primary stress and rise in pitch both on the head-word and the modifier dancing, identifies dancing as a verbal noun and signals the meaning a dancer – танцівниця.

That there is a close relationship between lexicology and stylistics is also obvious.

Stylistics treats of selection among the linguistic forms described by grammar and lexicology. For its great part it treats of the artistic modification of speech for the sake of securing a particular effect of emotional colouring in pictorial language.

The study of the vocabulary leads us to the observation that many words suggest more that they literally mean, and sometimes words which have the same literal or actual meaning (denotation) differ widely in their suggested meaning (connotation). Some words are more general, colourless and neutral in tone. But other words have a distinctly literary or poetic flavour, or suggestion, which may be colloquial (informal), formal, humorous, vulgar, slangy, childish, stilted, learned, technical and so on through the various labels by which we may indicate the standing level of a word.

Multiformity of synonymic forms of expression, and transpositions on the lexical level, which we study in lexicology, are closely connected with the stylistic differentiation of a national language.

It is obvious from what has been said above that it is quite impossible to learn a foreign language on a lexical basis alone. Nevertheless the knowledge of lexicology provides us with a clear understanding of the laws of vocabulary development and helps to master the language.

REVISION MATERIAL

Suggested Assignments on Lecture 1

1. Be ready to discuss the subject matter of lexicology.

2. Discuss the statement that lexicology must be viewed in relation to other aspects of language learning.

3. Give illustrative examples to show that the lexical meaning of the word is very often signalled by the “grammatical” context in which it occurs.

4. Give examples to show that the phonetic interpretation of the linguistic units is of undoubted interest in vocabulary studies.

5. Be ready to discuss the relationship between lexicology and stylistics.

6. Give comment on the diachronic and synchronic approach in vocabulary studies.

7. Comment on the fundamental principles of structural linguistics.

8. Be ready to discuss the basic concepts of the descriptive theory.

9. Give a few examples of contrastive, non-contrastive and complementary distribution.

10. How can we illustrate the influence of linguistic context on word-meanings?

11.Comment on the difference between syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations between words.