English lexicology - Курс лекций

1. Lexicology as a science The term Lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis meaning ‘word, phrase’ (hence lexicos ‘having to do with words’) and logos which denotes ‘learning, a department of knowledge’. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes which make up words. English, Russian, etc.), i.e. the study and description of its vocabulary and vocabulary units. There are two principal approaches in linguistic science to the study of language material, namely the synchronic (Gr. syn - ‘together, with’ and chronos - ‘time’) and the diachronic (Gr. dia - ‘through’) approach. The synchronic approach is concerned with the vocabulary of a language as it exists at a given time, for instance, at the present time. It is special Descriptive Lixicology that deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time. The diachronic approach deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time. It is special Historical Lexicology that deals with the evolution of the vocabulary units of a language as time goes by. An English Historical Lexicology would be concerned, therefore, with the origin of English vocabulary units, their change and development, the linguistic and extralinguistic factors modifying their structure, meaning and usage within the history of the English language. The two approaches should not be contrasted, or set one against the other; in fact, they are intrinsically interconnected and interdependent: every linguistic structure and system actually exists in a state of constant development so that the synchronic state of a language system is a result of a long process of linguistic evolution, of its historical development. Closely connected with Historical Lexicology is Contrastive and Comparative Lexicology whose aims are to study the correlation between the vocabularies of two or more languages, and find out the correspondences between the vocabulary units of the languages under comparison. Of primary importance in this respect is the comparison of the foreign language with the mother tongue. Comparative Lexicology is closely connected with Cognitive Lexicology, which is based on the assumption that words of the language represent our knowledge of the world which is the result of cognitive process. It studies the way human knowledge is represented in vocabulary and also studies the laws of vocabulary acquisition. Branches: ? Semantics - studies meanings of words ? Etymology - origin of words ? Phraseology - special lexical units (idioms, set-phrases, etc.) ? Lexicography - an applied branch - deals with science of compiling dictionaries. 2. Branches of lexicology Lexicology consists of the following parts, or branches: 1. Etymology, which studies the origin of words and the connections of the vocabulary of the given language with the vocabularies of other languages. 2. Word-structure (word-building), which studies the elements the word consists of (morphemes: roots, affixes) and the patterns according to which words are built: affixation, composition, conversion, shortening, sound imitation, etc. 3. Lexicography, which deals with creation of dictionaries, their types and application. 3. Etymological characteristics of the Modern English vocabulary Etymology is a branch of lexicology studying the origin of words. Etymologically, the English vocabulary is divided into native and loan words, or borrowed words. A native word is a word which belongs to the original English word stock and is known from the earliest available manuscripts of the Old English period. A borrowed word is a word taken over from another language and modified according to the standards of the English language. Etymological structure of the English vocabulary. - Native word-stems (man, pan). Late Celtic borrowings are more numerous and they came into the English language from Scottish, Irish and Welsh: clan, flannel, lock, shamrock (трилистник), slogan, Tori, whiskey. Some Celtic words came into English via French: tunnel, carry, cargo, gravel, etc. In the 15th - 16th centuries many words were borrowed by the English language from Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian and other languages. The process of borrowing from Italian started in the epoch of the Renaissance. Borrowings from the Italian language can be divided into several groups: 1) words from the sphere of art, (music, theatre, literature, architecture): aria, baritone, concert, opera, piano, violin, sonata [a:], tempo, scenario, fresco, studio, novel, sonnet, balcony, arcade, corridor, villa 2) military terms: alarm, cartridge, cavalery, regimen, captain, colonel, pistol, campaign, brave, ambush, attack; 3) names of food: ravioli, spaghetti, macaroni, pizza, chianti.