English language linguistics: introduction to lexicology

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Mingachevir State University

English language linguistics: introduction to lexicology

Shukufa Gojayeva,

PhD,

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages

Every person knows at least one language that is spoken or signed. Linguistics is the science of language, including sounds, words and grammar rules. Words in languages are finite, but sentences are not. It is this creative aspect of human language that distinguishes it from animal language, which are essentially responses to stimuli. The rules of a language, also called grammar, are learned as you acquire a language. These rules include phonology, sound system, morphology, the structure of words, syntax, putting words into sentences, semantics, lexicon or mental dictionary of words. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The structural analysis of human language can be expressed in terms of discrete units of various types and rules and principles that characterize how these discrete units can be combined, recombined, and ordered. In the different sections of lexicology we will discuss the significant discrete units that linguists have postulated in the study of these subareas of linguistics. Lexicology does not study each word in isolation, but in conjunction with other words. Lexicology is closely related to such branches of linguistics as lexicography, phraseology, semantics or semantics, etymology, stylistics, the study of word formation, etc. The word's status as a separate language unit is one of the major issues with lexicology. Lexicology also studies the relationships of words, such as synonymy, antonymy, free or interdependence of word meanings.

Lexicology is the scientific study of a language's lexicon, which may include its social structure, historical growth, quantitative makeup, or the way a particular subject area is stored. The creation ofdictionaries is the focus of lexicography, the first branch of linguistics. There are many different types of dictionaries, primarily based on the lexical units that are included and the attributes that are defined for each of them, including meaning, etymology, sound, spelling, and grammatical features. dictionarie lexicography lexical

Key words: lexicology, semantics, word-structure, word-formation, vocabulary, morpheme.

Шукуфа ГОДЖАЄВА,

кандидат філософії, старший викладач кафедри іноземних мов Мінгечевірського державного університету (Мінгечевір, Азербайджан)

ЛІНГВІСТИКА АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ: ВСТУП ДО ЛЕКСИКОЛОГІЇ

Кожна людина знає хоча б одну мову, якою розмовляють або жести. Лінгвістика - це наука про мову, включаючи звуки, слова та правила граматики. Слів у мовах обмежено, а речень - ні. Саме цей творчий аспект людської мови відрізняє її від мови тварин, яка, по суті, є реакцією на подразники. Правила мови, які також називають граматикою, вивчаються, коли ви вивчаєте мову. Ці правила включають фонологію, звукову систему, морфологію, структуру слів, синтаксис, поєднання слів у речення, семантику, лексикон чи розумовий словник слів. Лінгвістика - наукове вивчення мови. Структурний аналіз людської мови можна виразити в термінах дискретних одиниць різних типів і правил і принципів, які характеризують те, як ці дискретні одиниці можуть комбінуватися, рекомбінуватися та впорядковуватися. У різних розділах лексикології ми обговоримо важливі дискретні одиниці, які лінгвісти постулювали при вивченні цих підгалузей лінгвістики. Лексикологія вивчає кожне слово не окремо, а в поєднанні з іншими словами. Лексикологія тісно пов'язана з такими розділами мовознавства, як лексикографія, фразеологія, семантика або семантика, етимологія, стилістика, вчення про словотвір і т. д. Статус слова як окремої мовної одиниці є одним з головних питань лексикології. Лексикологія також вивчає такі зв'язки слів, як синонімія, антонімія, вільність або взаємозалежність значень слів.

Лексикологія - це наукове дослідження лексикону мови, яке може включати його соціальну структуру, історичний розвиток, кількісний склад або спосіб зберігання певної предметної області. Створення словників є центром лексикографії - першого розділу мовознавства. Існує багато різних типів словників, які в основному базуються на включених лексичних одиницях і атрибутах, визначених для кожної з них, включаючи значення, етимологію, звук, правопис і граматичні особливості.

Ключові слова: лексикологія, семантика, будова слова, словотвір, лексика, морфема.

Introduction. Lexicology is the part of linguistics dealing with the vocabulary of a language and the properties of words as the main units of language It studies words, their nature and meaning words' elements relations between words, word-groups and the whole lexicon. Lexicology is the scientific study of a language's lexicon, which may include its social structure, historical growth, quantitative makeup, or the way a particular subject area is stored. The creation of dictionaries is the focus of lexicography, the first branch of linguistics. There are many different types of dictionaries, primarily based on the lexical units that are included and the attributes that are defined for each of them, including meaning, etymology, sound, spelling, and grammatical features.

The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis meaning “word, phrase” and logos which denotes “learning, a department of knowledge”. Thus, the literal meaning of the term lexicilogy “the science of the word”. An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words in relation with dictionaries - it is actually concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective with the whole lexicon (Hajiyeva, 2011). However, since all of linguistic science's other branches also take into account words in some way or another, approaching them from different perspectives, the literal definition merely provides a general idea of the objectives and subject matter of this area. For instance, phonetics, which examines the phonetic structure of language - that is, its system of phonemes and intonation patterns-is interested in the study of the word's outer sound form. Grammar is the study of language's grammatical structure, which is intimately related to lexicology. It is focused on the different ways that words can represent their grammatical relationships as well as the patterns that word groupings and sentences are put together. The primary objective of lexicology, a subfield of linguistics, is to investigate and describe vocabulary in terms of its historical evolution and contemporary use. Lexicology has its own goals and techniques for doing scientific research. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes which make up words (Hajiyeva, 2011).

Discussion.

Different lexicological disciplines employ two distinct methods for examining words. One of them focuses on how a language evolves through time and how words change in both form and meaning. The historical approach, also referred to as the diachronic method, views language as a dynamic process. The other is concerned with a language's vocabulary as it is or was at a certain point in its history. The descriptive approach, also referred to as the synchronic approach, views language as a static system. The distinction between synchronic and diachronic approaches to language is credited to the Swiss philologist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913); however, recent research has revealed a closer relationship between historical and systematic studies of language than de Saussure thought possible.

General lexicology is the study of words and vocabulary in general that focuses on their most typical or universal features (so-called “language universals”) while ignoring the specific features of any individual language. Special lexicology, on the other hand, is concerned with specific features of the vocabulary of any given language (English, Russian, German, etc.). The current course is a course in special lexicology since we will be dealing with the vocabulary of contemporary English, studying it both synchronically and diachronically (Herbst, 2010). Semantics (semasiology), the study of word formation, etymology, and stylistics are closely linked with lexicology. The separability of a word as an independent element of a language's lexicon is one of the key issues in lexicology. Similar to grammar, contemporary lexicology is governed by the idea of correlating (interconnected) categories. These categories include monosemy and polysemy, synonymy and antonymy, as well as free and bound meanings of words. The lexicologist examines the relationship between word meanings and concepts, which are typically national in nature whereas vocabulary is studied as a system.

Since lexicology is a large subject, it has many branches. The present course concentrates on the following aspects of English lexicology:

Semasiology or semantics, including the semantic classification of English words;

The study of word-structure and word- formation;

The study of word-equivalents, or idioms and phraseological units;

A brief etymological survey of the English word-stock;

Fundamentals of English lexicography.

Let us now take each of these subjects in more detail (Yule, 2010).

Semasiology is the branch of lexicology that studies meaning. Its name comes from the Greek “semantics” which means “significant”. In Englishspeaking countries, this field of linguistic study is also known as semantics which is less precise, since the word “semantics” may also be used as a synonym for “meaning” - we can, for example, speak of the “semantics of a word”. Semasiology can study meaning using both synchronic and diachronic approaches. In the first case, it studies different types of meaning found in modern English, providing a classification of English words based on their meaning; in the second case, it deals with changes in word meanings as the language evolves (Yule, 2010).

Word-structure and word-formation in English are studied by word-building, a branch of lexicology that studies both the formation of new words and the structure of existing ones. Word building studies how new words are formed, how they are related to existing ones, and what material they are made of (including typical word-production patterns and components, as well as productivity). Linguists disagree on whether word-building should be classified as lexicology or grammar (as morphology), because in many cases, the syntactic properties of the words, not their structure, determine how they function in the language. Because Chinese is an analytical language, distinguishing a word from a morpheme is extremely difficult. In English, which has analytic tendencies as well, a word can begin functioning as a different part of speech without any visible changes in its morphological structure simply by changing its syntactical distribution. This is known as conversion, and it will be covered in greater detail later.

Word-equivalents in English, i.e. units of language that seem to consist of several words but function as an inseparable unity, are studied by a branch of lexicology called phraseology. Idioms, set expressions, phraseological unities, and other traditional vocabulary units fall into this category. The meaning of such a unit is not usually the sum of its parts; thus, a white elephant need not be either white or an elephant, but can be anything difficult to keep and even more difficult to get rid of. Phraseology is the study of phraseological units, their structure, origin, and application in language.

The origin and history of words in English is studied by a branch of lexicology called etymology (from the Greek “etymon”, meaning “the truth”). Its initial goal was to determine the “true” or “original” meanings of words that had not been tainted by later use. It currently focuses on word motivations, tracing their use back to the earliest known forma and meanings. Thus, etymology can be compared to archaeology: both attempt to reconstruct the past from surviving fragments. Aside from that, etymology studies word borrowing (source language, method of borrowing, relationship to native words, and so on). Its approach is, by definition, diachronic (Yule, 2010).

Lexicography (from the Greek “lexicon”, which means “dictionary” and “grapho” which means “to write”) is the most important branch of applied lexicology, dealing with the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. It investigates, among other things, dictionary classification, structure, and general principles of dictionary creation.

The connections between lexicology and grammar are especially strong in the area of word formation, which, as morphology, is frequently considered to be part of grammar. As an analytical language, English is known for its remarkable vocabulary flexibility and the ease with which new words or new meanings of existing words - both lexical and grammatical - are formed. Because of this flexibility, the distinction between words (as treated in lexicology) and morphemes (as treated in morphology) is almost invisible and easily penetrated.

As we mentioned above, lexicology is the “science of words”. On the basis of its application, vocabulary is divided into two types: Active Vocabulary and Passive Vocabulary. Active vocabulary consists of those words over which one can use in his speech and writing. He is fully aware of what those words mean. The term “active vocabulary” describes the useful aspect of language. It consists of the terms one speaks with assurance because he is aware of their usage and definitions. Speaking vocabulary and writing vocabulary are considered active vocabulary. The students' active vocabulary must be continually expanded in order to provide proficiency in both spoken and written language. An active language's vocabulary requires:

The use of right word in right place.

The ability to recollect words on demand.

Grammatical accuracy i.e., use of correct tenses, inflections and word order.

Fluency and the capacity to mimic the right phonics, pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, etc.

The words that we cannot employ in our own speech or writing because we are not fully conversant with them make up the passive vocabulary. We can understand their meaning when they appear in the speech or writing of others (Lavrova, 2018). In passive vocabulary, the person does not know the precise meaning of a particular word and he does not make use of those words in communication. Sometimes he can understand the meaning of that word only to a certain extent depending on the contest. Passive vocabulary refers to the receptive side of language. Reading vocabulary and guess vocabulary are considered passive vocabulary. Passive vocabulary calls for:

The ability to recognize words in text or speech.

An acquaintance with maj or grammatical items or forms.

The capability of quickly awakening complex word groups.

An undergraduate student typically has between

and 5,000 active words, compared to between and 10,000 passive words. An effective communicator seeks to make passive vocabulary dynamic. It is clear that after a while, passive vocabulary terms become active vocabulary words. There is no hard and fast rule of acquiring active vocabulary. The one and only requirement is the student's enthusiasm and effort with some proper directions.

At any level of school, vocabulary instruction has never been given a prominent role in the curriculum. It has been demoted to a supporting role in favor of university-level syntax. The undergraduate student must have enough foundation both in terms of vocabulary and syntax. Of the two, vocabulary is more fluid and hence it should be given as much importance as the choice of structures in the English curriculum. Vocabulary teaching is very essential especially where students are from regional medium schools and have limited exposure to English (English syntax, 2012).

Lexicology, which investigates the linguistic levels above and below the word, is closely related to other linguistics fields. This is natural, since the word, which is the main subject of lexicology, is also studied “from above” or “from below” by such linguistic sciences as phonetics, grammar and stylistics, not to mention others. If we keep in mind that words are made up of phonemes, which serve to differentiate one meaningful word from another despite having no semantic meaning, the connections between phonetics and lexicology become clear.

Stylistics, on the other hand, approaches the word “from above”, studying the problem of meaning, connotation, etc. as they apply to a word in a context or a group of words or a whole text, rather than an isolated word (English syntax, 2012). We will investigate the connections between lexicology and grammar in more detail because they entail a number of issues that are now being discussed in linguistics. The reason for these links to be so close is that words seldom if ever occur in isolation. More typically, they are grouped according to certain more or less fixed patterns, which finally become part of the language structure as “grammatical meaning” of those words.

Conclusion

In conclusion, lexicology develops the laws of practical use and development of vocabulary, the principles of methodological classification of words. In addition, the professional standards, dialectics, archaisms, neologisms, and standardization of lexical terms are examined, and some conclusions are formed from them. It is that branch of linguistics which is associated with each and every aspect of English learning and language knowledge. The importance of English lexicology is based not on the size of its vocabulary, however big it is, but on the fact that at present. It is the world's most widely used language.

General lexicology is the study of words and vocabulary in general that focuses on their most typical or universal features (so-called “language universals”) while ignoring the specific features of any individual language. Special lexicology, on the other hand, is concerned with specific features of the vocabulary of any given language (English, Russian, German, etc.). We will be studying contemporary English vocabulary synchronically and diachronically in the current course, which is a particular lexicology course. The study of word development, etymology, and stylistics is known as semantics (semasiology), and it is closely related to lexicology.

Lexicology does not study each word in isolation, but in conjunction with other words. Lexicology is closely related to such branches of linguistics as lexicography, phraseology, semantics or semantics, etymology, stylistics, the study of word formation, etc. The word's status as a separate language unit is one of the major issues with lexicology. Lexicology also studies the relationships of words, such as synonymy, antonymy, free or interdependence of word meanings.

There is an inextricable link between lexicology and morphology. In both, the words are learned. They differ in what aspect of the word they learn. Lexicology studies the meaning of a word, and morphology studies its grammatical meaning and the means by which it is expressed.

Any grammatical meaning is expressed in a certain grammatical form. Grammatical forms are means of expressing grammatical meanings.

Bibiliography

Hajiyeva A. (2011). English Lexicology. (Azerbaijan University of Languages, Baku, Azerbaijan, Elm & Tahsil. 9 p.

Herbst. T. (2010). English Linguistics: A Coursebook for Students of English. 110 p.

Yule. G. (2010). The study of Language. 87 p.

Lavrova. N. A. (2018). A Coursebook on English Lexicology. Flinta Publishing House, 145 p.

English syntax. (2012). Cambridge University Press, 95 p.

LECTURES ON ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY, 2010. Retrieved from https://kpfu.ru/docs/F1797492221/Lectures. on.Le_icology1.pdf

REFERENCES

Hajiyeva A. (2011). English Lexicology. (Azerbaijan University of Languages, Baku, Azerbaijan, Elm & Tahsil. 9 p.

Herbst. T. (2010). English Linguistics: A Coursebook for Students of English. 110 p.

Yule. G. (2010). The study of Language. 87 p.

Lavrova. N. A. (2018). A Coursebook on English Lexicology. Flinta Publishing House, 145 p.

English syntax. (2012). Cambridge University Press, 95 p.

LECTURES ON ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY, 2010. Retrieved from https://kpfu.ru/docs/F1797492221/Lectures. on.Le_icology1.pdf

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