Ўзбекистон республикаси олий ва ўрта махсус таълим вазирлиги ўзбекистон давлат жаҳон тиллари университети инглиз тили назарий аспектлари №1

ЎҚУВ МАТЕРИАЛЛАРИ

COURSE MATERIALS

1. 
   МАЪРУЗА МАТНЛАРИ
   

LECTURES IN “MODERN ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY”


LECTURE 1. ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY AS A SUBJECT
Plan of the lecture:

1. 
   The subject of Lexicology and types of Lexicology
   
2. 
   Branches of English Lexicology
   
3. 
   Connections with other branches of Linguistics
   
4. 
   Word as the basic lexical unit
   
5. 
   Synchronic and diachronic approaches to the study of lexical units
   
6. 
   Significance of vocabulary studies in language learning
   

Lexicology (from Greek ‘lexis’ - word, phrase, and ‘logos’ - learning) is a branch of Linguistics which deals with the study of the vocabulary. The vocabulary consists of words, word groups and word-formational morphemes, which, taken together, constitute the word stock of the language. Hence, Lexicology is a branch of Linguistics which studies the word stock, or the lexicon of the language in respect to its composition, origin, development and current use.
According to the language material studied we distinguish:
a) General Lexicology - which studies the vocabulary of the language as a universal human phenomenon, is respective of the specific features of any particular language.
b) Special Lexicology - studies the vocabulary of a particular language (German, Uzbek, English, etc.).
According to the time axis, we can analyse the vocabulary and its units from the synchronic (gr. `syn`-`together with’, and `chronos`,-`time`) and the diachronic (`dia`-`through`) approaches.
The synchronic approach is specific for the Descriptive Lexicology and the diachronic approach is specific for the Historical Lexicology.
Closely connected with the Historical Lexicology are the Contrastive and the Comparative Lexicologies. Their aims are to study the correlation between the vocabularies of two or more languages and find out the correspondences between the types and peculiarities of vocabulary units of the languages under comparison. Let’s look at the semantic field of kinship terms in English and Uzbek:
English and Uzbek terms
father ота, ада, дада
mother она, опа, ойи, ая
grandfather бува, дода
grandmother буви, ойи
aunt амма, хола
uncle тога, амаки
sister опа, сингил
brother ака, ука
sister-in-law кайинсингил, кайнагач
brother-in-law кайин
son-in-law куев
daughter-in-law келин
son угил
daughter киз
cousin n/a
niece жиян
nephew жиян
The difference in number, structure and meaning of the kinship words in English and Uzbek may be due to different social, cultural and historical conditions of the language development and nationally specific family relations.
Lexicology analyses the vocabulary from different aspects. Each aspect of the lexical units which make up the vocabulary has its own methods and principles of analysis. There the following main branches of Lexicology which study separate aspects of lexical units:

1. 
   Lexicography;
   
2. 
   Word-Structure;
   

2. Word-Formation;
3. Semasiology and semantic classifications of words;
4. Etymology;
5. Phraseology (stable word-groups and proverbs and sayings);
6. Variants and dialects of Modern English;
7. Methodology of linguistic research.
Lexicology also studies all kinds of semantic groupings and semantic relations: synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, semantic fields, etc.
Meaning relations as a whole are dealt with in Semasiology — the study of meaning which is relevant both for Lexicology, Grammar, Stylistics, etc.
Morphology as a branch of Lexicology studying the structure of a word, types of morphemes and stems; Word formation as a branch of Lexicology studies all types of creating new words, some of which are productive (affixation, compounding, etc.), and others which either were productive diachronically (sound and stress interchange), or are frequently used in certain registers (abbreviation, blending, etc.). Phraseology as a branch of Lexicology is specializing in the phraseological subsystem of language and is concerned with all types of set expressions; Lexicography as the science of dictionary-compiling, deals with the problems of the printed presentation of the vocabulary units, their forms, meaning, usage, origin, etc.; Etymology is the science studying the origin of the words, native and borrowed lexical units, ways of the assimilation of borrowed words, external replenishment of the vocabulary, and Methodology of linguistic research, the branch specializing the description and ways of application of the methods of lexicological analysis of the texts. A special branch of Lexicology deals with the English language varieties, studying the variants and dialects of English.

All branches of Lexicology are closely connected with other sciences of the language – its History, Phonetics, Grammar, Stylistics, etc. These branches provide data for the studies in Lexicology and vice versa. Each of the linguistic science in its turn has different aspects and subdivisions depending on the research approach and data collected and analysed.
The vocabulary of the language is comprised of lexical units - which are two-facet language units with a sound form and a meaning. In Lexicology we distinguish 3 types of lexicological elements - words, word-formational morphemes and word-groups (or phraseological units /set expressions).
E.g.
care, -less, man
careful, -ful, mankind
bodycare, -ment freshman
to take care of, mis- showman
to care for, un- man of the world
to care about post- man of god - priest
However it is supposed that the word is the basic unit of the language system, the largest in the morphological and the smallest in the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis. Speaking about linguistic meaning linguists most often imply the meaning of the word, as the word integrates most of the features of all language elements: it has a sound form, it has a meaning, it can function as a word, as a part of the word, as a part of the sentence and as a sentence. Although there are many definitions of the word (phonetic, grammatical, lexical, communicative, even typographical, etc.), still there is no one universal definition, due to its multifaceted nature. Compare the meanings of the lexeme WORD in LinguoUniversal dictionary:
“Word - 1) one of the units of speech or writing that native speakers of a language usually regard as the smallest isolable meaningful element of the language, although linguists would analyse these further into morphemes Related adj: lexical , verbal; 2) an instance of vocal intercourse; chat, talk, or discussion to have a word with someone; 3) an utterance or expression, esp a brief one a word of greeting; 4) news or information he sent word that he would be late; 5) a verbal signal for action; command when I give the word, fire!;
6) an undertaking or promise I give you my word, he kept his word; 7) an autocratic decree or utterance; order his word must be obeyed; 8) a watchword or slogan, as of a political party the word now is "freedom"; 9) computing a set of bits used to store, transmit, or operate upon an item of information in a computer, such as a program instruction; Phrases: 10) - as good as one's word; 11) - at a word; 12) - by word of mouth; 13) - in a word; 14) - my word! ;15) - of one's word; 16) - put in a good word for; 17) - take someone at his / her word; 18) - take someone's word for it; 19) - the last word ;20) - the word; 21) - upon my word!;22) - word for word; 23) - word of honour; 24) (modifier) of, relating to, or consisting of words a word list; 25) (verb) to state in words, usually specially selected ones; phrase; 26) (often foll by up) informal: to inform or advise (a person) • See also others…
Etymology: Old English word ; related to Old High German wort , Old Norse orth , Gothic waurd , Latin verbum , Sanskrit vratá - command.
The word is always in the focus of the lexicological analysis as the most comprehensive language unit. When we talk about meaning, we refer to its bearer, as meaning is an ideal, mental entity which we can not see or touch.
The term vocabulary is used to denote the total system of all the words and word equivalents that a language possesses. The term word denotes the basic unit of a given language resulting from the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammatical employment. A word therefore is simultaneously a semantic, grammatical and phonological unit.
The system showing a word in all its word-forms is called its paradigm. Thus, the paradigm of the verb `speak` is `speaks, speak, spoke, spoken, speaking`, of the noun `text` - `texts, text’s, texts`.
Lexical varieties of a word are termed lexico-semantic variants (LSVs) of the word and are used in contexts showing different meanings of polysemantic words: Example: Cat as a noun has 4 generally accepted lexico-semantic variants (LSVs), but might have also some technical options:

• 
  cat 1: a carnivorous furry mammal long domesticated and useful for keeping down mice;
  
• 
  cat 2: the fur or pelt of a domestic cat;
  
• 
  cat 3: any other member of the family, such as a lion, tiger, etc.;
  
• 
  cat 4: a malicious or spiteful woman.
  

However, in phraseological units the word ‘cat’ might acquire additional, connotational meanings, e.g. let the cat out of the bag, a game of cat and mouse, put the cat among the pigeons, etc.
Besides this, we must distinguish phonetic (often, again) and morphological variants (phonetic-phonetical). Within the language system the word exists as a system and unity of all its forms and variants, within its specific paradigm.
The major units of vocabulary are words, parts of words (morphemes) and set expressions. Any word has a sound form and a fixed morphological structure. A mere change in the order of morphemes is accompanied by a change in its meaning, e.g. ‘schoolboy‘ / ‘boy school‘. The most adequate working definition of the term `word` is as follows: “The word is the smallest unit of the language capable of functioning alone. It is characterised by the association of a given meaning with a given phonemic and a given morphological structure.” (Ginzburg R.S. et all). It has been rightly stressed that the word is the basic unit of both vocabulary and grammar and should be viewed in terms of the unity of the lexical and the grammatical aspects of the language.
The word may be motivated either 1) phonetically, 2) morphologically or 3) semantically: E.g.:
1) hiss, zipper, drip-drop – phonetic motivation;
2) re-write, self-sufficient, snow-white – morphological (structural) motivation;
3) hand > the hand of the clock > hands (workers) – semantic (metaphoric) motivation.
Motivation is the connection between the form of the word (its phonetic and morphemic composition and its structural pattern) and its meaning.
It is very important to know the different ways of the analysis of lexical units: in respect to their origin or structure, meaning or idiomatic usage, etc. But in all cases we must bear in mind the timing of those phenomena, that is, we should remember, that they may be analysed synchronically or diachronically.
These two approaches have different purposes of investigation, however their results do not contrast, but enrich our knowledge of a language phenomenon.
E.g. daisy < O.E. days’ eyes
lord < O.E. hlæf - (loaf) weard (guard)
lady < O.E. hlæf-dige (knead)
To sum up the above, the tasks of Lexicology as a science are:

• 
  To give systematic description of the English vocabulary according to lexical criteria;
  
• 
  To present its etymological peculiarities;
  
• 
  To classify the vocabulary units based on structural, derivational, semantic, combinatory and other criteria;
  
• 
  To study the rules of enriching the vocabulary;
  
• 
  To describe variants of English, etc.
  

The importance of Special lexicology in training a would-be teacher of languages is of special character and cannot be overestimated as it helps to stimulate a systematic approach to the facts of vocabulary and an organised comparison of the foreign and native language. It is particularly useful in building up the learner’s vocabulary by an effective selection, grouping and analysis of new words. New words are better remembered if they are given not at random but organised in thematic groups, word-families, synonymic series, etc.
Thus, a good knowledge of the system of word-formation furnishes a tool helping the student to guess and retain in his memory the meaning of new words on the basis of their motivation and by comparing and contrasting them with the previously learned elements and patterns.
A working knowledge and understanding of functional styles and stylistic synonyms is indispensable when literary texts are used as a basis for acquiring oral skills, for analytical reading, discussing fiction and translation. Lexicology not only gives a systematic description of the present make-up of the vocabulary, but also helps students to master their linguistic competence.
Lexicology plays a prominent part in the general linguistic training of every philologist by giving an insight into the knowledge acquired during all his previous years at the foreign language faculty. It also imparts the necessary skills of using different kinds of dictionaries and reference books, and prepares for future independent work on increasing and improving one’s vocabulary.