Lexicology science

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1. What is Lexicology? What is the aim and principles of Lexicology?

lexicology semantic phraseological

Lexicology is that part of linguistics which studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements, relations between words (semantical relations), words groups and the whole lexicon. LG is a branch of linguistics and has its own aims and methods of scientific research. Its basic task is to study and descript systematically the vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use. Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Linguistics is narrowly defined as the scientific approach to the study of language, but language can be approached from a variety of directions, and a number of other intellectual disciplines are relevant to it and influence its study. The Contrastive and Comparative LG - their aims are to study the correlation between the vocabularies of 2 or more languages and find out the correspondences between the vocabulary units. The task of Contrastive lexicology is “to compare linguistic accounts stated, within the same lexicological framework, of the lexical competence necessarily possessed by speakers of the two languages concerned”. Aim: To conduct a comparative-synchronic comparison of lexical items and events, to highlight common features in the lexicon of two languages. Explore lexical linguistic phenomenon (trends words) and discover the peculiarities of the national outlook. Object: lexical units of the two languages. Subject: different aspects (origin of word morphemic structure, lexical change trend values), phenomena or processes (common features).

2. What disciplines Lexicology links with?

Lexicology is closely connected with other branches of linguistcs:

1. It is connected with Phonetics because the word`s sound form is a fixed sequence of phonemes united by a lexical stress.

2. Lexicology is connected with Morphology and Word-Formation as the word`s structure is a fixed sequence of morphemes.

3. It is connected with Morphology because the word`s content plane is a unity of lexical and grammatical meanings.

4. The word functions as part of the sentence and performs a certain syntactical function that is why it is also connected with Syntax.

5. The word functions in different situations and spheres of life therefore it is connected with Stylistics, Socio- and Psycholinguistics.

But there is also a great difference between lexicology and other linguistc disciplines. Grammatical and phonological systems are relatively stable. Therefore they are mostly studied within the framework of intralinguistics.

3. What are the linguistic functions of a word?

First, the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposes of human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication.

Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it.

Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics. The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and the internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure. For example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be distinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root press, the noun-forming suffixes - ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality -s. The external structure of the word, and also typical word-formation patterns, are studied in the framework of word-building. The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is nowadays commonly referred to as the word`s semantic structure. This is the word`s main aspect. The area of lexicology specialising in the semantic studies of the word is called semantics.

One of the main structural features of the word that it possesses both external (formal) unity and semantic unity. A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to grammatical employment. In speech most words can be used in different grammatical forms in which their interrelations are realized.

Thus, the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal and semantic unity.

4. What is semasiology? What is the difference between semasiology and semantics?

Semasiology (from Greek: узмбуЯб (semasia) "signification, meaning" узмбЯнщ (semaino) "indicate, signify") is a discipline within linguistics concerned with the question "what does the word X mean?". It studies the meaning of words regardless of their phonetic expression.[1] Semasiology departs from a word or lexical expression and asks for its meaning, its different senses, i.e. polysemy. The opposite approach is known as onomasiology.

The term was first used by Christian Karl Reisig in 1825 in his Vorlesungen ьber lateinische Sprachwissenschaft (E. Lectures on Latin Linguistics) and was in use in English by 1847. Semantics replaced it in its original meaning, beginning in 1893.

Currently, the discipline is most commonly understood as a branch of lexicology, the study of words, and as a branch of semantics, and more narrowly ascribed as a subfield of lexical semantics, though sometimes referred to as a synonym of semantics. The exact meaning of the term is somewhat obscure, because according to some authors semasiology merged with semantics in modern times,while at the same time the term is still in use when defining onomasiology.

Semasiology is a related term of semantics. In context terms the difference between semasiology and semantics is that semasiology is a discipline within linguistics concerned with the meaning of a word independent of its phonetic expression while semantics is a branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words.

5. What is meaning? What types of meaning do you know?

In linguistics, meaning is what the source or sender expresses, communicates, or conveys in their message to the observer or receiver, and what the receiver infers from the current context.

There are at least seven types of meaning (many linguists state their different categories of meaning) in semantic according Geoffrey Leech (1974), those are:

1. Conceptual meaning (logical, cognitive, or denotative content)

It refers to the dictionary meaning which indicates the concepts. In reading we can find many different words have the same conceptual meanings. Take the word walk as an example, the conceptual meaning or the primary dictionary meaning is to move forward by placing one foot in front of the other. There are also a few other words that, according to the dictionary, mean to move forward on foot, etc.

2. Connotative meaning (what is communicated by virtue of what language refers to)

It refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

3. Social meaning (what is communicated of the social circumstances of language use)

It refers to the usage of language in and by society which has big proportions in determining the meaning that certain speaker has to use and wants to convey, those factors include social class of the speaker and hearer and the degree of formality. Only part of the social meaning of a conversation is carried by words. Take saying hello or talking about the weather. Often such talk has little dictionary meaning. It is a way of being friendly or polite.

4. Affective meaning (what is communicated of the feeling and attitudes of the speaker/writer)

It refers to the speaker's feeling / attitude towards the content or the ongoing context.It is important to remember that each individual will have a different affective meaning for a word. As such, only the person using a word will be aware of the particular affective meaning that they hold with the word. For example, we can discuss the word winter further. The word winter denotatively refers to a time period during which either the northern or southern hemisphere is furthest away from the sun.Different use of stress and intonation also provides a striking contrast in the feelings and attitudes communicated through an utterance.

5. Reflected meaning (what is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression)

It refers to terms which have more than one meaning surfaces at the same time, so there is a kind of ambiguity. It is as if one or more unintended meanings were inevitably thrown back rather like light or sound reflected on a surface. For instance, if I use the medical expression chronic bronchitis, it is difficult for the more colloquial emotive meaning of chronic, 'bad,' not to intrude as well. . . . Sometimes, such coincidental, 'unwanted' meanings cause us to change a lexical item for another.

6. Collocative meaning (what is communicated through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word)

It refers to the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment.In other words, it is that part of the word-meaning suggested by the words that go before or come after a word in question, for instance, heavy news (a piece of sad news); heavy schedule (a very tight schedule); fast color (the color that does not fade); fast friend (a reliable friend); fast woman (a lady of easy virtue), etc.

7. Thematic meaning (what is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis).

It relates to or constitutes a topic of discourse, the meaning that the word conveys is that of something that is connected with the theme of something

Types 2-6 are also categorized as associative meaning.

6. What is the difference of free word-combinations and phraseological units?

A free word combination does not exist in language as a ready-made unit: it is created in the process of speech, a big house (adj. + noun), to read books (verb + noun), on the table (prep. + noun), etc.

Its meaning is derived from the meanings of words that make it up. In speech language-units are combined according to the structural patterns of the English language.

The freedom we speak of is the freedom or choice of the lexical units to fit into a given structural pattern. We can say big house or small house or big man or big bag etc. The freedom here is relative depending upon logical factors (to read apples is illogical, a laughing triangle does not make sense logically, etc.) and linguistic factors (traditionally we say to do one's job and not to make one's job; grammatically adverbs do not combine with nouns or numerals with prepositions; stylistscally some words are incompatible).

A phraseological unit is also reproduced in speech as a ready-made unit. There is no freedom in the choice of the component lexical units.

Phraseological units occupy an intermediate position between free word combinations and compound words. On the one hand, they are combinations of words and lack external inseparability. On the other hand, they are semantically integral and function as words.

Its meaning may be described as idiomatic because the meaning of the whole is not equal to the sum of the meanings of words which compose it.

A phraseological unit functions as a single syntactic unit irrespective of the number of words of which it consists (e.g. to take in, to make up, to go to bed, are verb-equivalents and have the syntactical functions of verbs; best man, first night, red tape, black ball are noun-equivalents and have the syntactical functions of nouns).

The difference between the phraseological unit and the free word combination is in the following: the meaning of the free word combination can be discovered from the meaning of each separate component. But the meaning of the phraseological unit cannot be discovered from the meaning of its components mostly, because the phraseological unit had come through the “semantical simplicity” process.

7. What are the important characteristic features of phraseological units?

A Phraseological unit (PU) can be defined as a non-motivated word-group that cannot be freely made up in speech, but is reproduced as a ready-made unit.

It is a group of words whose meaning cannot be deduced by examining the meaning of the constituent lexemes.

ready-made reproduction,

structural divisibility,

morphological stability,

permanence of lexical composition,

semantic unity,

syntactic fixity.

A dark horse is actually not a horse but a person about whom no one knows anything definite.

A bull in a china shop: the idiom describes a clumsy person.

A white elephant - it is a waste of money because it is completely useless.



8. What are the similarities and differences of English, Kazakh and Russian phraseological units?

A word is a smaller unit than a phrase. Phrases appear in languages describing the nation?s character, traditions and customs. As every nation has its own history, customs and traditions, the common history of humanity connects common things and phenomena such as: nature, war, animals, food, plants etc. It is difficult to understand the meaning of the idioms from the words it consists of. If someone does not know that or another idiom they will not understand the whole text or speech.

Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are formed, according to the degree of the motivation of their meaning, according to their structure, and according to their part-of-speech meaning. These criteria of classification are similar in different languages, as proverbs and sayings can be met in different languages of the world. There are four main ways to translate an image-bearing phraseological units:

1) the image may be preserved as it is;

2) it may be partially changed;

3) it may be replaced by an utterly different image,

4) a translated version may contain no image at all.

1. Some phraseological units may be based on some historical, mythological, biblical, etc. references: in seventh heaven - на седьмом небе (in Russian it means the same) - т?бе? к?кке жет? (in Kazakh it means one?s head is getting the sky). Such phraseological units of the source language and the target language are called „equivalents?; with equivalents there are no difficulties of a stylistic character. Some phraseological units may not have equivalents in the target language.

2. Some phraseological units of the source language and the target language may express the same idea and be based on similar though not identical images. In such cases it is possible to ignore slight differences between the meanings. And even if the meaning is partially changed in comparison with that of the source language, it can still be accepted: burnt child dreads of the fire - обжегшись на молоке, на воду дует (Russian) - аузы к?йген ?ріп ішеді (Kazakh). In this example the difference between the English, Russian and Kazakh variants seem to be rather serious: there is no lexical correspondence between the words, e.g. in the English variant, the words burn and fire are used, while in Russian it says someone who was burnt on milk will blow on water and the Kazakh variant is: someone who burnt his mouth will blow while drinking. But the image is nearly the same - he who once was burnt is afraid of everything which is hot.

3. Since the phraseological units of every language represent the history and culture of the people speaking the language, many ideas which are common to all peoples are expressed differently in different languages: For example, Welsh people say it rains old women and sticks whereas English people say it rains cats and dogs and both of them have the same meaning. The complete substitute of the image does not in any way change the general meaning of the proverb: for example, too many cooks spoil the broth - the meaning and stylistic reference of this proverb corresponds to ?ойшы к?п болса ?ой арам ?леді in Kazakh which means that if there are many shepherds a sheep can die starving.

4. In the source language there may exist some phraseological units that have neither equivalents nor analogues in the target language. If the image is not transparent then loan translation is impossible; such phraseological units can be translated descriptively, by free words which are not fixed or figurative. There are the main 4 ways of translating figurative phraseological units: 1) the image may be preserved as it is; 2) it may be partially changed; 3) it may be replaced by an utterly different image, and 4) a translated version may contain no image at all.

9. What are the important sources of the phraseologims? What circumstances cause and stimulate their development? How does it happen?

Tracing back the origin of many English idioms and other phraseological units to their etymological source is very important as it helps to understand the meaning of the inner form phraseologism and, consequently, its actual meaning. The linguists' opinion concerning the sources and origin of phraseological units vary greatly and that is naturally enough as the phraseology appears to be a very complex linguistic matter. The sources and origin of modern English phraseological units appear to be very diverse. Conventionally, all the phraseological units can be divided into the following groups: indigenously English and borrowed phraseological units.

The idiom a hue and cry having the meaning 'general outcry and alarm, often with shouting, searching, chasing' is originally connected with the fact that the hue and cry was a system for the pursuit and arrest of criminals in which all citizens were obliged to take part, e.g.: "The only thing now was to sit down and wait till the hue and cry had died down and the murderers thought the affair was forgotten." (W.S. Maugham, "Footprints in the Jungle”). In Russian it would be "лови!, держи!".

So, a phraseological unit is a word-group or a sentence with full or partial transformation meaning and with stability at phraseological meaning.

The sources and origin of phraseological units in modern English and Russian languages can be similar. The main sources of phraseological unit is the Bible. Bible is the main literal source of phraseological units. Over the centuries Bible was a widely read and quoted book in England. Number of scriptural constructions and expressions is so high that it is not an easy task to collect and to count them. The following biblical expressions are used in contemporary English: The apple of Sodom- красивый, но гнилой плод; обманчивый успех;

Phraseology (phrase-ology) is a scholarly approach to language which developed in the twentieth century.[1] It took its start when Charles Bally's[2] notion of locutions phraseologiques entered Russian lexicology and lexicography in the 1930s and 1940s and was subsequently developed in the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. From the late 1960s on it established itself in (East) German linguistics but was also sporadically approached in English linguistics. The earliest English adaptations of phraseology are by Weinreich (1969)[3] within the approach of transformational grammar, Arnold (1973),[4] and Lipka (1992 [1974]).[5] In Great Britain as well as other Western European countries, phraseology has steadily been developed over the last twenty years. The activities of the European Society of Phraseology (EUROPHRAS) and the European Association for Lexicography (EURALEX) with their regular conventions and publications attest to the prolific European interest in phraseology. Bibliographies of recent studies on English and general phraseology are included in Welte (1990)[6] and specially collected in Cowie & Howarth (1996)[7] whose bibliography is reproduced and continued on the internet and provides a rich source of the most recent publications in the field.

10. What are the basic classification types of phraseological units?

Phraseological units can be classified according to the degree of motivation of their meaning. This classification was suggested by acad. V.V. Vinogradov for Russian phraseological units. He pointed out three types of phraseological units:

a) fusions where the degree of motivation is very low, we cannot guess the meaning of the whole from the meanings of its components, e.g. on Shank`s mare (on foot); in Russian: бить баклуши;

b) unities where the meaning of the whole can be guessed from the meanings of its components, but it is transferred (metaphorically or metonimically), e.g. to play the first fiddle (to be a leader in something), old salt (experienced sailor);

c) collocations where words are combined in their original meaning but their combinations are different in different languages, e.g. cash and carry - self-service shop, in a big way (in great degree).

11. What are idioms? Are they same with phraseological units or different?

An idiom (Latin: idioma, "special property", f. Greek: ?дЯщмб - idiфma, "special feature, special phrasing", f. Greek: ?дйпт - idios, "one's own") is a combination of words that has a figurative meaning owing to its common usage. An idiom's figurative meaning is separate from the literal meaning.[1] There are thousands of idioms and they occur frequently in all languages. There are estimated to be at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language.

The following sentences contain idioms. The fixed words constituting the idiom in each case are bolded:[3]

a. She is pulling my leg. - to pull someone's leg means to trick them by telling them something untrue.

b. When will you drop them a line? - to drop someone a line means to send a note to someone.

c. You should keep an eye out for that. - to keep an eye out for something means to maintain awareness of it.

The difference between an idiom and a phrase is that a phrase is a literal element of grammar while an idiom is a figurative element of culture. Both are elements of linguistics and superficially appear similar. This is because both are repeated fragments and strings of words found in whole or partial sentences.

An idiom and a phrase are both basic units of a sentence. The phrase is part of technical grammar and is one of the most basic parts of syntax. A phrase is considered to be one distinct syntax unit. Phrases are present in everyday speech in an ordinary and functional manner, while idioms are ornamentation to that language.

Phrases are functional and direct. They are composed of multiple words, but the most important word is called the head. The head is the stressed word in the sentence; however, a phrase does not have to comprise an entire sentence. Phrases can be a small fragment of a sentence.

A big difference between an idiom and a phrase is that a phrase is a formal part of technical grammar, while an idiom is more inventive. It is a figure of speech inherited and modified over time. The exact origins of many idioms are not known, but are thought to be rooted in creative storytelling or real events. This has led to idioms being called colloquial metaphors.

12. What are the functions of phraseological units and proverbs?

In general function is a role which an element plays in activity of that structure, part of which it makes. As to phraseological units they have the definite program of functioning which is predetermined by their essence itself as A.V. Kunin puts it. Some functions are constant, i.e. inherent in all phraseological units in any conditions of their realization, other functions are variable, peculiar only to some classes of phraseological units. Communicative, cognitive and nominative functions refer to the constant functions.

The communicative function of phraseological units is their ability to serve as communicative or message means. The nominative function of phraseological units is their relation to objects of the real world, including situations, and also replacement of these objects in speech activity by their phraseological denominations. The neutrally-nominal function is the basic one for phraseological units, for example, brown paper. At realization of such phrases in communication the fact of a designation of the object is important, and not the stylistic use of the phrase. Function which is closely connected with nominative function is the cognitive function, that is the socially-determined reflexion of objects of the real world mediated by consciousness, promoting their cognition. The semantic functions are voluntative (from Latin voluntas - will), deictic, resultative, etc. The voluntative function is the function of will expression. E.g.: Wish smb well - to wish good luck, success to smb, to treat smb benevolently: I wish Jane Fairfax very well;

Resultative function - a designation of the reason which has caused an action or a condition which is expressed by a phraseological unit. Gerald: I may as well tell you at once that Iґve had very bad luck. I wanted to make money and Iґve come an absolute cropper (W.S. Maugham). The major function of any unit of language including the phraseological unit is the pragmatic function, i.e. purposeful influence of a language sign on the addressee. The pragmatic orientation is peculiar to any text which influences phraseological units used in the text, and that is promoted by their considerable pragmatic potential. Phraseological units strengthen pragmatic orientation of the text or its part - a context. The stylistic function is a special, in comparison with neutral way of expression, purposefulness of language means for achievement... of stylistic effect with preservation of the general intellectual content of the statement.

Proverbs, especially short ones, even not of the reduced kind, carry out the function of speech laconisation, for example, prevention is better than cure - action taken to prevent an illness, dangerous event, etc., from taking place is wiser and more useful than any action that is taken to reduce its harmful effect (LD). It is evident, that the definition is almost five times longer than the proverb itself.

The semantic compression, characteristic for phraseological units, is one of the displays of language economy. All these functions, and also the function of hyperbolization and intensity are sub-kinds of the stylistic function. The cumulative function is peculiar, for example, to proverbs. They are generalization of life experience of the people. With the cumulative function «one more, the second function is closely connected - directly managing, directing, influencing, and in separate prospect bringing up, forming a person. We named it directive» Examples of proverbs with the directive function can be the following: as you brew, so must you drink; cut your coat according to your clot; look before you leap, etc. The summarizing function of a phraseological unit consists in the fact that it is the short resume of the previous statement, e.g., thatґs flat (coll.) - it is definitively solved, resolutely and irrevocably: Well, I will not marry her: thatґs flat (G.B. Shaw). Pragmatic character is also carried by the evaluative function. A kind of the pragmatic function is the contact-establishing function consisting in creation of easy dialogue between the author and the reader or the listener, and also among the characters themselves. Introducing a luxury car that will not take you for a ride. The given advertising heading concerns the car, and two meanings of the phraseological unit «take smb for a ride» are played up - 1) to kill, finish off smb; 2) to inflate, deceive smb.

Proverbs are often used in the function of confirmation of a thought. It is also one of the sub-kinds of the pragmatic function. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest - «only the bad bird defiles the nest»: Augustus: ...Do you mean to say, you scoundrel, that an Englishman is capable of selling his country to the enemy for gold?

13. What are the morphemes? What classification types of morphemes do you know?

In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest component of word, or other linguistic unit, that has semantic meaning. The term is used as part of the branch of linguistics known as morpheme-based morphology. A morpheme is composed by phoneme(s) (the smallest linguistically distinctive units of sound) in spoken language, and by grapheme(s) (the smallest units of written language) in written language.

Types of morphemes

Free morphemes, like town and dog, can appear with other lexemes (as in town hall or dog house) or they can stand alone, i.e., "free".

Bound morphemes like "un-" appear only together with other morphemes to form a lexeme. Bound morphemes in general tend to be prefixes and suffixes. Unproductive, non-affix morphemes that exist only in bound form are known as "cranberry" morphemes, from the "cran" in that very word.

Derivational morphemes can be added to a word to create (derive) another word: the addition of "-ness" to "happy," for example, to give "happiness." They carry semantic information.

Inflectional morphemes modify a word's tense, number, aspect, and so on, without deriving a new word or a word in a new grammatical category (as in the "dog" morpheme if written with the plural marker morpheme "-s" becomes "dogs"). They carry grammatical information.

Allomorphs are variants of a morpheme, e.g., the plural marker in English is sometimes realized as /-z/, /-s/ or /-?z/.

14. What is homonym? What are the important sources of the homonym and synonyms?

Homonyms are the words which is identical in sound and spelling or at least in one of these aspects, but different in their meanings. e.g. bank, n - a shore, bank, n - an institution English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. If synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasure of the language's expressive resources homonyms may lead to confusion or misunderstanding. But it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the most important sources of humor.

Homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling are termed homonyms proper. Homophones are homonyms which are the same in sound but different in spelling. e.g. bean - боб, been - 3 форма глагола to be Homographs are words which are the same in spelling, but different in sound. e.g. lead, v [li:d] - управлять, lead, n [led] - свинец Sources of homonyms are as follows:

1) Phonetic changes

2) Borrowings

3) Word-building

Classification of homonyms: According to Professor Smirnizkii they are subdivided into full homonyms and partial homonyms. Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same category of part of speech and have the same paradigm. e.g. match, n - матч, match, n - спичка

Partial homonyms are subdivided into 3 subgroups:

1) Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category of part of speech and have one identical form. e.g. lay, v - infinitive, lay, v - Past Indefinite of the verb to lie.

2) Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech which have one identical form. e.g. rose, n rose, v - Past Indefinite of the verb to rise

3) Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of part of speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms. e.g. to can, v - консервировать, can, v - modal verb.

Synonyms are words of the same category of part of speech conveying the same concept, but different either in shades of meaning or in stylistic characteristics. The only existing classification system for synonyms was established by Academician V.V. Vinogradov. In his classification there are 3 types of synonyms: 1. ideographic; 2. stylistic; 3. absolute.

Ideographic are words conveying the same concept, but different in the shades of meaning.

Stylistic are words different in stylistic characteristics. to begin (native) - to commence (borrowing). Here the French word is specialized.

Absolute once coincide in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics. to moan, to groan;

homeland, motherland. Sources of synonyms are as follows: 1) Phonetic changes 2) Borrowings 3) Word-building

In each group of synonyms there is a word with the most general meaning, which can substitute any word in the group. Such words are called synonymic dominants: piece is the synonymic dominant in the group slice, lump. morsel.

15. What is Antonyms

Antonyms are words belonging to the same part of speech, identical in style, expressing contrary or contradictory notions. V.N. Comissarov classified antonyms into two groups: absolute (root) antonyms (late - early) and derivational antonyms (to please - to displease, honest - dishonest). Absolute antonyms have different roots and derivational antonyms have the same roots but different affixes. In most cases negative prefixes form antonyms (un-, dis- non-). Sometimes they are formed by means of antonymous suffixes: -ful and -less (painful - painless).

The difference between derivational and root antonyms is also in their semantics. Derivational antonyms express contradictory notions, one of them excludes the other: active-inactive. Absolute antonyms express contrary notions. If some notions can be arranged in a group of more than two members, the most distant members of the group will be absolute antonyms: ugly, plain, good-looking, pretty, beautiful, the antonyms are ugly and beautiful.

Not every word in a language can have antonyms. This type of opposition can be met in qualitative adjectives and their derivatives: beautiful-ugly, to beautify-to uglify. It can be also met in words denoting feelings and states: to respect-to scorn, respectful-scornful and in words denoting direction in space and time: here-there, up-down, before-after. If a word is polysemantic, it can have several antonyms, e.g. the word bright has the antonyms dim, dull, sad.

16. Why should vocabulary be studied as a system?

Many individuals with learning differences, problems and disabilities have weak language skills which directly impact their vocabulary development. A limited vocabulary often equals a limited education and a limited career. Most of us take vocabulary for granted since we learn words and their meaning as we grow. By the time we are in our teens, we usually know enough words to function in school and society. Most individuals who can read and have at least a high school education would consider their vocabulary adequate. Adequate meaning that the person can understand oral communication, express one's thoughts in speech and is able to comprehend common reading material. But many individuals with learning differences have weak vocabularies.

Systematic Regular Study: A person's vocabulary can be increased by the systematic and regular study of words. The systematic study of words requires that a person has a system that works for that person. Regular means different things to different people; it might mean daily to one person, while to another it means weekly. It is obvious that the more frequent the regular study is, the more effective the vocabulary development will be. However, if a person tries to have the regular study of words five times a day but cannot maintain it, then it is less effective than once a day if that regularity can be maintained. Some individuals need help to engage in regular study. That assistance can come from a tutor, family member or a friend, but it should be noted that unsolicited assistance is often rejected.

Setting Up A System A system of vocabulary development should have at least the following components: a method for word collection, a place for the words that are collected and space for definitions. Additional components for a vocabulary study system would include: identification of parts of speech, space for writing a sentence for each of the definitions of the words, space for synonyms and antonyms, a space for spelling and pronunciation clues, space for mnemonics, illustrations or diagrams and a space for related words. Individuals can set up a system themselves or the person can use a system that has been set up by someone else. The Vocabulary Workbook which I have developed is an example of a complex system which is designed to include all of the items listed above.

Working The System Once the system is in place it has to be worked. On a regular basis, the person needs to collect words, review those words, and use the words in speech and writing. This is where the regular part of vocabulary development comes in. Each day the person should review the words and definitions. This is the only way that I know that will help to increase one's vocabulary. As a person, who has a weakness in language because of a learning difference, working on learning a third language, I can personally attest to the fact that only the systematic and regular study of words has enabled me to become bilingual and encouraged me to attempt a third language.



17. What is the importance of the stylistic structure of the word?

Stylistic function notion

Like other linguistic disciplines stylistics deals with the lexical, grammatical, phonetic and phraseological data of the language. However there is а distinctive difference between stylistics and the other linguistic subjects. Stylistics does not study or describe separate linguistic units like phonemes or words or clauses as such. It studies their stylistic function. Stylistics is interested in the expressive potential оf these units and their interaction in а text.

Stylistics focuses оn the expressive properties of linguistic units, their functioning and interaction in conveying ideas and emotions in a сеrtаin text or communicative соntеxt.

Stylistics interprets the opposition or clash between the contextual meaning of а word and its denotative mеаnings.

Accordingly stylistics is first and foremost engaged in the study of connotative meanings.

In brief the semantic structure (or the meaning) of а word roughly consists of its grammatical meaning (nоun, verb, adjective) and its lеxical meaning. Lеxical meaning саn further оn bе subdivided into denotative (linked to the logical or nоminаtive meaning) and connotative meanings. Connotative meaning is only connected with extralinguistic circumstances such as the situation of communication and the participants of communication. Соnnоtаtive meaning consists of four components:

1. emotive;

2. evaluative;

3. expressive;

4. stylistic.



18. Slang and use of it

Slang is casual spoken language which differs from dialectical speech and jargon as well as formal speech. Some linguists think of it as the sprinkles of color in a language, since it is often unique, unusual, and sometimes startling. As a general rule, slang is not used in formal spoken language, or in writing, unless the speaker is attempting to achieve a deliberate effect. Some slang terms, however, make the jump to accepted common usage, as was the case with “OK.”

Often, slang begins as group-specific argot, which is related to jargon. Unlike jargon, however, argot is not a collection of technical terms that are used within a group with limited outside understanding. Instead, it is used to differentiate members of a group from others, and to foster a sense of collective belonging in the group. In addition, it can provide a way to talk about questionable or illegal activity without being obvious. When argot begins to spread from small subgroups to the rest of a group of language speakers, it becomes slang.

Typically, slang is humorous, ribald, or shocking. It is designed to make speech more casual and playful, and it may not always be suitable for polite company. Many terms are related to human sexuality, for example, and slang can get rather graphic. The terms are also usually short-lived, rarely existing even long enough to make it into the dictionary. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule; English speakers have been saying “beat it” for centuries, for example. Safe, sorted, sound, cool or wicked all mean 'That's good' or 'I understand'. Instead of using different tag questions like …isn't it?, can't you? or don't they?, people use innit (e.g., It's hot here, isn't it? = It's hot here, innit!, He can dance really well, can't he? = He can dance really well, innit! or They always say that, don't they? = They always say that, innit.). Instead of saying very, really or completely use well (e.g., I'm well tired or You got it well wrong!). Whatever means I don't care (e.g., A: But the teacher says we can't leave until we've finished. B: Whatever. I'm going). He's fine or He's fit both mean He's good-looking. Fine and fit can describe a boy or a girl. A hoodie is a young person who wears a jacket with a hood (a hood keeps your head dry in rainy Britain!). It is a negative word and suggests that the young person might be a troublemaker or even a criminal.

Not everybody uses slang and not everybody likes it. A school in Sheffield, in the north of England, recently instructed its pupils to stop using slang words such as hiya (hello), cheers and ta (both mean thank you). The head teacher says that if young people learn to speak `correctly' this will help them get a place at university and a good job. When British people use language like this, it's no surprise that some students say they can't understand native speakers. But perhaps learners don't need to worry about communicating with native speakers so much. Research shows that most of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “International English”, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker.

19. What features differentiates formal and informal speech? Types of dictionaries

Differences between formal and informal English:

Formal English:

1. Used in official, literary, academic, etc. content.

2. Typically used in careful, edited writing -- when the writer has a lot of time to polish his text. Formal English also occurs in speech, usually when the speaker is saying something that was prepared beforehand (for example, reading the news or delivering an official speech).

3. Sentences are longer and more complicated, for example: Toyota's US sales bounced back in March as substantial discounts helped to win back customers who had been shaken by the firm's mass safety recalls.

4. The standard of correctness is higher. Some phrases are considered correct (or at least acceptable) in informal English, but wrong in formal English. For example: I have made less mistakes. (formal: I have made fewer mistakes.) She's liking it. (formal: She likes it.) I feel real good. (formal: I feel really good.) Many (but not all) phrasal verbs are avoided.

Informal English:

1. Used in everyday, personal conversations.

2. Typically used in “improvised” speech -- when the speaker is speaking without preparation, as in a conversation (in real life or over the phone). Informal English also occurs in writing, usually whenever the writer is writing quickly and without editing (for example, in an Internet chatroom or in quick, personal e-mails).

3. Sentences are simpler and shorter, for example: Did you see Toyota's sales figures? Looks like the discounts have actually worked.

4. Because informal English is “improvised”, it is sloppy. Speakers (and sometimes writers) often do the following: Use “delaying expressions” to give themselves time: Well, I think they should have asked us first, you know?

5. Informal English contains useful “everyday phrases”, for example:

Here you are. There you go. (when giving something to someone).

6. A huge number of words and phrases are used mainly in informal English. For example: dude, freaking, uh-huh, nope (= no), to puke, trashy, grownup, awesome, to chill out, stuff, hard-up, to tick somebody off, to sell like crazy.

7. Phrasal verbs are used frequently. For example, in informal situations, people usually say found out instead of discovered, came across instead of encountered and got away instead of escaped. 8. Words and phrases are sometimes pronounced in a shortened and simplified way, e.g. Lemme go!, I'm doin' fine, Whassup?, Whatcha gonna do?

Types of dictionaries.

A dictionary is collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information;[1] or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon.[1] According to Nielsen (2008) a dictionary may be regarded as a lexicographical product that is characterised by three significant features: (1) it has been prepared for one or more functions; (2) it contains data that have been selected for the purpose of fulfilling those functions; and (3) its lexicographic structures link and establish relationships between the data so that they can meet the needs of users and fulfill the functions of the dictionary.

Kinds of dictionaries

Since a dictionary only represents an aspect of a lexicon for a certain purpose, dictionaries differ along a large number of parameters. Some of the more important ones are the following:

Scope of the speech community: general dictionary, dialect dictionary, sociolect dictionary (e.g. colloquial language, adolescent language ...), individual dictionary (e.g. dictionary of Cicero's or Chaucer's language), technical (terminological) dictionary (German Fachsprachenwцrterbuch).

Aspects of linguistic structure: Aspects of the linguistic sign, orthographic dictionary: (correct) spelling of words, pronunciation dictionary: (correct) pronunciation of words, frequency dictionary: textual frequencies of words etymological dictionary: origin of words, Syntagmatic complexity (“syntagmatic dictionary”), constructions phraseological dictionary: phrases, idioms, familiar sayings, proverb dictionary, dictionary of synonyms, picture dictionary, semasiological dictionary, dictionary of word families (German Wortkunde), retrograde dictionary, dictionary of neologisms, loan-word/foreign-word dictionary, dictionary of jargon/slang, name dictionary (onomastic dictionary): first names, last names, toponyms ...general dictionary, language learners dictionary, first language learners dictionary (children's dictionary), second language learners dictionary.



20. What are the basic problems of lexicography? What common problems does lexicographer face in complaining dictionaries?

The problems of lexicography are connected with the selection of headwords, the number, the structure and contents of the vocabulary entry (in different types of dictionaries).

The starting group of lexicographical problems deals with selection:

1) In the first place it is the problem of whether a general descriptive dictionary, whether unilingual or bilingual, should give the historical information about a word.

2) For the purpose of a dictionary, which must not be too massive, selection between scientific and technical terms is also a very important task.

The other problem which of the selected units have the right to a separate entry and which are to be included under one common head-word. These are, in other words, the issues of separateness and sameness of words. The first deals with syntagmalic boundaries of word-units and has to solve such questions as whether each other is a group of two separate words to be treated separately under the head-words each and other, or whether each other is a unit deserving a special entry (compare also: one another).

The second group of problems deals with the structure and content of a dictionary entry in different types of dictionaries.

A historical dictionary (the Oxford Dictionary, for instance) is primarily concerned with the development of the English vocabulary. It arranges various senses chronologically, first comes the etymology, then the earliest meanings marked by the label obs. - obsolete The etymologies are either comparative or confined to a single language. The development is illustrated by quotations, ranging from the oldest to recent usages of the word in question.

A descriptive dictionary dealing with current usage has to face its own specific problems. It has to give precedence to the most important meanings. So far each compiler was guided by his own personal opinion. An objective criterion would be statistical counts. But counting the frequency of different meanings of the same word is far more difficult than counting the frequency of its forms. It is therefore not by chance that up to now many counts have been undertaken only for word forms, irrespective of meaning. Also, the interdependence of meanings and their relative importance within the semantic structure of the word do not remain the same. They change almost incessantly, so that establishing their frequency would have to be repeated very often. The constant revisions necessary would make the publication of dictionaries very expensive. It may also be argued that an arrangement of meanings according to frequency would sometimes conceal the ties and relationship between various elements of the semantic structure.

A synchronic dictionary should also show the distribution of every word. It has been traditionally done by labelling words as belonging to a certain part of speech, and by noting some special cases of grammatically or lexically bound meanings.

The third subgroup contains synonymic dictionaries. Dictionaries recording the complete vocabulary of some author are called poncordances. they should be distinguished from those that deal only with difficult words, i.e. glossaries. To this group are also referred dialect dictionaries and dictionaries of Americanisms.

Dictionary-makers should attempt to improve and stabilise the English vocabulary according to the best classical samples and advise the readers on preferable usage. A distinctly modern criterion in selection of entries is the frequency of the words to be included. This is especially important for certain lines of practical work in preparing graded elementary textbooks.

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