Lexicology Lecture 1 Qorchiyeva Mohinur 312 group

PLAN I. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics a) Its object and aims b) Branches of lexicology, 2 approaches to language study. II. The word as the basic unit of language III. The semantic structure of word meaning

1) Approaches to meaning 2) Types of meaning a) lexical and grammatical meaning b) denotative and connotative meaning 3. Motivation (The connection between meaning and form). 4. The structure of meaning

Definition Lexicology – lexi(ko)s - a word; logos - a science/learning; literally: the science of the word. Lexicology is ?

Definition Lexicology is the part of linguistics dealing with the vocabulary of the language and the properties of words as the main units of language.

What does it aim at?

The main problems investigated in lexicology 1) systematic description of the word-stock in respect to its origin, development and current use; E.g., A girl, cowboy, nice

The main problems investigated in lexicology 2. the problems of word structure and word formation; E.g., writer, boater Dis-appointment or disappoint-ment? In-correctly or. incorrect-ly?

The main problems investigated in lexicology 3. semantics of English words; semantic structure of the meaning; semantic structure of the vocabulary;

The main problems investigated in lexicology 4 )relationships of lexical units in speech; E.g. a blind man, a blind date 5) regional variants & dialects of English E.g. Chemists - ?Queue- ?Trousers - ?

Branches of lexicology 1.General & Special Lexicology; Contrastive Lexicology 2. Historical / diachronic/ & Synchronic lexicology Historical lexicology: Etymology

Branches of lexicology Synchronic lexicology: Word building or Word formation Semantics or Semasiology Phraseology Applied Lexicology (Lexicography, Linguodidactics, Pragmatics of speech)

A Word A word is the basic/ smallest significant unit of a given language capable of functioning alone and characterised by the following: positional mobility within a sentence morphological uniterruptability semantic integrity

Approaches to meaning A word is a linguistic sign (F.de Saussure) Interpretations of the structure of the sign Referential approach Functional or contextual approach Operational or information-oriented approach Semantic triangle

Referential approach The 3 components are closely connected with meaning: the sound-form of the linguistic sign (S) the concept underlying the sound-form (C) the referent (R) The referential model of meaning is the so-called basic triangle. R (referent ) ( sound) S C (concept )

Functional approach The meaning of a linguistic unit can be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units, i.e. in a context Context is the minimum stretch of speech necessary and sufficient to determine which of the possible meanings of a polysemantic word is used.

The operational or information-oriented approach The operational or information-oriented definitions of meaning are centered on defining meaning through its role in the process of communication. Meaning is information conveyed from the speaker to the listener in the process of communication. Speaker meaning Listener

Meaning Meaning is a linguistic component reflecting concept or naming emotions by means of a definite language system Meaning is a concept bound by sign Meaning is a message that a sign conveys

Types of meaning Grammatical Lexical Lexico-grammatical meaning

Types of meaning Grammatical meaning is an expression of relationships between words Milk shake – shake milk Move a chair – chair a meeting

Types of meaning Lexical meaning is a realisation of a concept or emotion by means of language

Types of meaning Lexico-grammatical meaning = Part-of-speech meaning

Aspects of lexical meaning Denotative (denotational) Connotative (connotational) Pragmatic

Aspects of lexical meaning The denotative meaning reflects the concept or the object referred to by the word significative demonstrative

Aspects of lexical meaning The connotative meaning is supplementary meaning which is added to the words main meaning & which serves to express emotional, expressive, etc. overtones

Types of connotations Stylistic Emotional Evaluative Imagery Intensifying (expressive, emphatic) Pragmatic

Motivation Motivation is a direct connection between the phonemic, morphemic composition, the structural pattern of the word and its meaning.

Types of motivation Phonetic Morphological Semantic Faded Folk etymology Non-motivated words

Types of motivation Phonetic motivation is the connection between the phonetic composition of the word and its meaning buzz roar hiss moo

Types of motivation Morphological motivation is the connection between the morphemes and the meaning of the word germanize perhapser

Types of motivation Semantic motivation is based on the co- existence of direct and indirect meaning of the same word on the synchronical level foot of the mountain A bottleneck

The structure of meaning A meaning is a combination of minimal sense units – semes or semantic components The seme which determines the part of speech of the word is called class seme ( классема ).

The structure of meaning The seme reflecting the common characteristics of a lexical group is called archiseme ( архисема ). The seme which is common for several words in a group is called marker ( интегральный признак ). A distinguisher ( дифференциальный признак ) is a component which differentiates a word from all other words