1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics. Lexical units

Sound interchange.Sound interchange may be defined as an opposition in which words or word forms are differentiated due to an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root. The change may affect the root vowel, as in food n : : feed v; or root consonant as in speak v : : speech n; or both, as for instance in life n : : live v. It may also be combined with affixation: strong a : : strength n; or with affixation and shift of stress as in 'democrat : : de'mocracy.

The type is not productive. No new words are formed in this way, yet sound interchange still stays in the language serving to distinguish one long-established word from another. Synchronically, it differentiated parts of speech, i.e. it may signal the non-identity of words belonging to different parts of speech: full a : : fill v; food n : : feed v; or to different lexico-grammatical sets within the same part of speech: fall intransitive v : : fell causative v; compare also lie : : lay, sit : : set, rise : : raise.
15. Abbreviation. Other ways of word creation.
Abbr. – words formed by initial letters.
3 types:
- acronyms – are words formed from the initial letters(or letter) of each of the successive parts or major parts of compound term.(read as a word)Ex. UNESCO.
- initial abbrev. are pronounced as series of letters(alphabetic reading)Ex. S.O.S., B.B.C.
- shortened forms of written words & phrases by omission of letters. Ex. abbr - abbreviation, bldg-building.
Minor ways of word formation:
∙ back formation is the process when a word structurally more complex served as the original element from which a simpler word was derived (editor –to edit, beggar – to beg).
∙ sound and stress interchange are means of distinguishing between dif. words, primarily between words of dif. parts of speech(to sing-song, ‘export-ex’port).
∙ sound imitation is the way of creating words out of the sounds we hear in nature and registering them(to buzz - жужжать).
∙ blending is the process of merging parts of words into one new word.(smog=smoke+fog).
∙ clipping is the process of reduction of a word to one or two syllables (prof.=professor, mid=middle).
∙ acronyms.
Major ways: affixation, conversion & compounding. (+12-23 questions).