1.The subject of Lexicology and the main lexicological problems. Lexicology is the brunch of linguistic dealing with the vocabulary of the language and the properties of words as the main unit of a language. Many scholars have attempted to define the word as a linguistic phenomenon. Yet non of definitions can be considered totally satisfactory in all aspects. The definition of word is one of the most difficult problems in linguistic because the simplest word has many different aspects:
we know that the word is a unit of speech which serves the properties of human communication;
the word can be perceived as the total of sounds which comprise it;
the word viewed structurally possesses several characteristics. It has a sound form, because it is a certain arrangement of phonemes. It has its morphological structure being also a certain arrangement of morphemes.
The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and internal structures of words. The word by external structure we mean its morphological structure, the internal structure of the word or its meaning is nowadays commonly referred the word semantic structure. The area of lexicology specializing in the semantic studies is called- semasiology.
Another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possesses both external and semantic unity. 1.External unity of the word is sometimes called indivisibility (it can't be cut into parts without a disturbing of meaning).The essence of the indivisibility will be clear from a comparison of the article “a” and prefix “a”: a lion, alive. A lion-is a word group. We can separate these elements. Alive is a word it is indivisible. It is not free. The external unity of the word can be illustrated by comparing a word and a word group comprising identical constituency. The difference between word combination a black bird and a blackbird is best explained by their relationship with the grammatical system of the language. The word blackbird which is characterized by unity possesses as single grammatical framing. The first constituent black is not a subject to any grammatical changes. In the word group a black bird which constituent can argue grammatical forms of its own. “The blackest bird which I've ever seen”. And other words can be inserted between the components which is impossible so far as the word is concerned as it would violate нарушать its unity. “A black night bird”.
2.The semantic unity. In the word group black bird each of the meaningful word canvases a separate concept word a kind of linguistic nature. Black-color and a word blackbird canvases only one concept, the type of bird. This is one of the main features of any word. It always conveys one concept.
Susceptibility – the third main characteristic. In speech most words can be used in different grammatical forms, in which their interrelations are realized. Its meaning is not identical but it may reflect human motions. In this sense as the form of the motions fixed as the meaning of the word are formed as generalized, correct reflections of reality, their form word reflect reality in their content. And as the definition of the use, representing a group sounds possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity. The acoustic aspect of the word is to name the objects of reality not to reflect them. In this aspect the word may be regarded as the sign, the sign motivated by the whole process of its development. When the word first comes into existence, it’s always built out of the elements already existing in the language and according to the existing patterns. Otherwise it can be misunderstood and will be useless in the process of communication. The problem of word building is associated with prevailing morphological word structure and be process of making.
Modern approaches to these problems are characterized by two aspects: sintagmentatic and paradigmatic. On the sintagmentatic level the semantic structure of the word is analyzed in the line relationships with neighbouring words in connected speech. In other words the semantic characteristic of the word are observed and studied on the basis of typical contexts. On the paradigmatic level the word is studied in the relationships with other words in the vocabulary system. A word may be studied in comparison with similar meaning, opposite meaning and different stylistic characteristics. The position of the two approaches accepted in modern linguistics as nevertheless disputable. As well as the word is not only word it is known at this particular stage of the languages development but also what it has been throughout the history.
