INTRODUCTION.

FUNDAMENTALS.
A WORD AS THE BASIC UNIT OF
THE LANGUAGE.
Lecture 1
 Plan

1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistic science and its basic notions.

2. The connection of Lexicology with other branches of linguistics.
3. Characteristics of the word as the basic unit of the language.
4. Motivation as a language universal.
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 1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistic science and its basic notions.

The object of Lexicology (Gr. “lexis” – word, “logos” – learning) is

the science of the word.

The basic task of Lexicology is a study and systematic description

of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use.
The term vocabulary is used to denote the system formed by the
sum total of all the words and word equivalents that the language
possesses.

The term system denotes a set of elements associated and

functioning together according to certain laws.
 Syntagmatic combinatorial relations define the meaning of the
word when it is used in combination with other words in the flow of
speech.
He got a letter.
He got tired.
He got to London.
He could not get the piano through the door.
Paradigmatic contrastive relations exist between words belonging
to one subgroup of vocabulary items (e.g., verbs of motion, of sense
perception, sets of synonyms, etc.) that can occur in the same context
and be contrasted to one another. Paradigmatic relations are observed
in the system of language.
to go a mile
run
walk
stroll
General Lexicology is a part of General Linguistics, that is
concerned with the general study of vocabulary, irrespective of the
specific features of any particular language.

Special Lexicology devotes its attention to the description of the

characteristic peculiarities in the vocabulary of a given language.
Etymology is the branch of linguistics which studies the origin or derivation of
words. In many cases the etymology of a word reveals itself in comparative
historical studies.

Semasiology is the branch of linguistics whose subject-matter is the study of

word meaning. The term “semantics” is used to denote the lexical meaning of
words or phrases.

Onomasiology is the study of the principles of the signification of things and

notions by lexical and lexico-phraseological means of a given language.
Historical Lexicology discusses the origin of various words, their change and
development, the linguistic and extra linguistic forces modifying their structure,
meaning and usage.

Descriptive Lexicology deals with the vocabulary of a given language at a

given stage of its development. It studies the functions of words and their
specific structure.

Contrastive and Comparative Lexicology provides a theoretical basis on which

the vocabularies of different language can be compared and described.
The theoretical value: Lexicology forms the study of one of the three main
aspects of language – vocabulary, grammar and sound system, and meets the
demands of branches of applied linguistics – lexicography, literary criticism,
standartization of terminology.

The practical value: Lexicology helps to stimulate a systematic approach to the

facts of vocabulary and an organized comparison of the foreign and native
language, to build up the learner’s vocabulary by an effective selection,
grouping and analysis of new words.
2. The connection of Lexicology with other branches of linguistics.

 Phonetics: import (v) – import (n); blackbird – black bird.

 Grammar: damage (injury) – damages (compensation); make – remake;
come – encome; library school – school library; going (intension) – gone
(absence).
 Stylistics: the problems of meaning, connotations, synonymy, functional
differentiation of vocabulary according to the sphere of communication and
others; the expressive elements of a language.
 Sociolinguistics – the branch of linguistics, dealing with relations between
the way the language works and develops, on the one hand, and the facts of
social life, on the other hand: computer, cyclotron, psycholinguistics.
 3. Characteristics of the word as the basic unit of the language

words are the central elements of language system.

they are the biggest units of morphology and the smallest units of syntax.
words can be separated in an utterance by other such units and can be used in isolation.
a word is composed of one or more morphemes each consisting of one or more spoken sounds
or their written representation.
morphemes are also meaningful units but they can not be used independently, they are always
parts of words whereas words can be used as a complete utterance.
morphemes cannot be divided into smaller meaningful words.
a word has a sound form and morphological structure;
when used in actual speech, a word may occur in different word-forms,
different syntactic functions and signal various meanings;
being the central element of any language system, the word is a sort of focus
for the problems of Phonology, Lexicology, Syntax, Morphology and also for
some other sciences that have to deal with language and speech, such as
philosophy and psychology;
a word has been defined semantically, syntactically, phonologically and by
combining various approaches.
A word is the smallest unit of a given language capable of functioning alone
and characterized by

positional mobility within a sentence;

morphological uninterruptability;
semantic integrity.
 4. Motivation as a language universal.

Motivation – the term used to denote the relationship existing between the
phonemic or morphemic composition and structural pattern of the word, on the
one hand, and its meaning, on the other.

There are three main types of motivation:

phonetical motivation;
morphological motivation;
semantic motivation.
The motivation is phonetical when there is a certain similarity between the sound that make up
words and their meaning.

to cade – кудкудакати
cock-a-doodle-doo – кукуріку
bang - бух/бухнути
bark - гав/гавкати
buzz – дзижчати
chirp/chirrup – цвірінькати
cuckoo - кукукати/ кукувати
crack - трісь/ тріщати
moo – мукати

about 1.08 % - in English

about 0.8 % - in Ukrainian
The main criterion in morphological motivation is the relationship between
morphemes.

completely motivated
end + less = endless
partially motivated
cran + berry = cranberry

non-motivated
matter, repeat
The morphological motivation is characteristic of numerous notional words, in which it is clearly indicated
by the affixal morphemes:
by suffixes: doer one who does smth; flyer one who flies; detainee one who is detained; examinee one
who is examined; changable that which is subjected to change/can be changed; movable smth. that can
be moved, оповідач той, хто оповідає/розповідає; писар той, хто пише; співець той, хто співає;
ношений якого (що) носили; смажений якого (що) смажили; читаючий який читає, носач той,
що має великого носа; митець той, хто творить якийсь вид мистецтва (швидко чи дуже
якісно/майстерно) малює, будує, співає, танцює; злітати підніматися вище попереднього місця
перебування.
by prefixal morphemes: asleep the one who is in the state of sleeping; bedew to cover with dew; overturn
to turn smth. over; ex-president the one who was president, переказати (щось) розповісти вдруге вже
раз сказане чи написане; передісторія історія, що була перед цією/відомою історією; вчетверте
те, що повторюється четвертий раз; поверх (чогось) – щось понад чимось чи додатково до
чогось.

88,5 % in English
91.8 % in Ukrainian
Semantic motivation of lexical units is based on the co-existence of direct and figurative
meaning of the same word within the same synchronous system.
foot of a mountain підніжжя гори
hand/ hands of a watch стрілка/стрілки (схожі на руки) годинника
to keep house вести домашнє господарство
an ancient house стародавній рід (династія)
bed of roses легке/розкішне життя
bed of a river русло річки
bed of honour поле бою
secular arm світська влада
the arm of the law сила закону
легка/важка рука
липкі руки/липкий на руку
купатися в розкошах
купатися в славі
Some words denoting in the contrasted languages popular names of flowers, trees, birds, and animals have a
transparent etymological motiva­tion as well.
bluet (flower) is васильок
bluebell is дзвоник
black­bird is чорний дрізд
blackcock is тетерук
black berry means ожина
horse-tail/cat's tail means хвощ,
жовтець (yellow gold)
чорниця (bilberry)
чорнобривці (French marigold)
куцохвостий (заєць)
січень (сніг січе), лютий (мороз лютує)…

in English about 10 %
in Ukrainian about 7.4 %
Compound words are either morphologically or semantically motivat­ed in the contrasted languages.

Their motivation is morphological if the meaning of the whole is based on the direct meaning of the components
headache is pain in the head
air-crew is a crew of an aircraft
after-effect effect that occurs after some action
to blackboard to write on a black board
Their motivation is semantic if the combination of components is used figuratively.
headache – anything or anyone very annoying
good-neighbourhood being near good neighbours
classroom (room for classes or for schoolchildren)
note-book (book for notes)
вільнодумець (думає про волю)
добродійник (робить добро)
лизогуб (облизує губи)
марнотратство (витрата чогось без користі, марно)