Lecture 1 INTRODUCTION. WORD AS the BASIC UNIT of LANGUAGE

3 Lecture 1 INTRODUCTION. WORD AS THE BASIC UNIT OF LANGUAGE 1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics and its ties with other disciplines. 2. Word as the basic unit of language and types of its Motivation 3. Semantic change 1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics and its ties with other disciplines. The object of Lexicology (Gr. ―lexis‖ – word, ―logos‖ – learning) is the science of the word. The literal meaning, however, gives only a general notion of the aims of this branch of linguistic science. The basic task of Lexicology is a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use. The term v o c a b u l a r y is used to denote the system formed by the sum total of all the words and word equivalents that the language possesses. Lexicology is concerned with words, word-groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes that make up words. The term s y s t e m as used in present-day Lexicology denotes a set of elements associated and functioning together according to certain laws. The lexical system of every speech contains productive elements typical of this particular period, others that are archaic and are dropping out of usage, and, finally, some new phenomena, neologisms. The elements of lexical system are characterized by their combinatorial and contrastive properties determining their syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships. S y n t a g m a t i c combinatorial relations define the meaning of the word when it is used in combination with other words in the flow of speech. E.g., compare the meaning of the verb ―to get‖ in the sentences: He got a letter. He got tired. He got to London. He could not get the piano through the door. P a r a d i g m a t i c 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. E.g. to go a mile run walk stroll The lexical system is not homogeneous. Its central part is formed by lexical units possessing all the distinctive features of words. Phrasal verbs, complex prepositions, some compounds, phraseological units, etc. function as lexical items of the vocabulary of the language. Lexicology is closely connected with general linguistics, history of the language, phonetics, stylistics, grammar and such new branches of our science as sociolinguistics, paralinguistics, pragmalinguistics. 4 The importance of the connection between Lexicology and P h o n e t i c s can be explained if we remember that a word is an association of a given group of sounds with a given meaning. Numerous examples show that in actual speech certain words acquire a different meaning because they are pronounced differently. Thus, discrimination between words may be based upon stress. E.g., ‗import, v. Stress also distinguishes compounds from homonymous word-groups: ‗blackbird : : ‗black ‗bird. Historical Phonetics and Historical Phonology can be of great use in the diachronic study of synonyms, homonyms and polysemy. When sound changes loosen the ties between members of the same word-family, this is an important factor of semantic changes. Meaning in its turn is indispensable to phonemic analysis because to establish the phonemic difference between /ou / and / o / it is sufficient to know that /houp/ means something different from /hop/. The points of contact between Lexicology and G r a m m a r are numerous and varied. Interactions between them are evident both in the sphere of morphology and in syntax. Morphological indicators often help to differentiate the meanings of the words. E.g., plural forms can serve to form special lexical meanings: advice (counsel), advices (information); damage (injury), damages (compensation). The suffix ―re‖ – can make verbs with the aspective sense of repetition: remake, reorganize. Causative meaning can find expression in derivatives with the prefix ―en‖: encome, enfree, endear. Syntactic position of a word does not only change its function but its lexical meaning as well. An adjective and a nominal element of the same group can more or less naturally exchange places, e.g., library school – school library. The grammatical form and function of the word affect its lexical meaning. E.g. ―He is going to write a new book‖ – the verb expresses an action in the nearest future; ―The house is gone‖ – the verb denotes absence. S t y l i s t i c s, although from a different angle, studies many problems treated in Lexicology. These are the problems of meaning, connotations, synonymy, functional differentiation of vocabulary according to the sphere of communication and others. The expressive elements of a language cannot be studied outside of their relations to other styles, which are emotionally neutral. Lexicology is closely connected with s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c s. It is 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. Language is the reality of thought, and thought develops with the development of society. Every new phenomenon in human society finds a reflection in vocabulary, e.g., computer, cyclotron, psycholinguistics. In contrast with Phonology, Morphology and Syntax, Lexicology is essentially a sociolinguistic science. The lexicologist should always take into account correlations between purely linguistic facts and the underlying social facts which brought them into life. 5 2. Word as the basic unit of the language and types of its motivation Words are the central elements of language system. The definition of a word is one of the most difficult in linguistics because the simplest word has many different aspects. It has a sound form and morphological structure; when used in actual speech, it 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. All attempts to characterize the word are necessarily specific for each domain of science and are therefore considered one-sided by the representatives of all the other domains. The word has been defined semantically, syntactically, phonologically and by combining various approaches. A w o r d is the smallest unit of a given language capable of functioning alone and characterized by p o s i t i o n a l m o b i l i t y within a sentence, m o r p h o l o g i c a l u n i n t e r r u p t a b i l i t y and s e m a n t i c i n t e g r i t y. All these criteria are necessary because they create a basis for the oppositions between the word and the phrase, the word and the phoneme and the morpheme; their common feature is that they are all units of the language, their difference lies in the fact that the phoneme is not significant, and a morpheme cannot be used as a complete utterance. The term m o t i v a t i o n is 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 and semantic motivation. 1. When there is a certain similarity between the sound that make up words and their meaning, the motivation is p h o n e t i c a l. All phonetically motivated words have their sounding structure somewhat similar to the sounds which they convey. Due to this, some of these English, Ukrainian and other languages' words thus motivated sound almost or quite alike. For example: 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, gagle - ґелґотати, hey! - гей!, hiss - 6 шипіти/сичати, hoop - 'гукати (сигналити), howl - вити, smack (one's lips) цмокати, moo - мукати, mewl - нявкати, baa / bar/ бе-е, бекати (вівці), etc. These words imitate sounds in nature because what they are referred to is a sound. These are naturally far from all the words whose notional meaning in the contrasted languages is based on sound imitation. Nevertheless, their number in comparison to other types of motivated words is not large, constituting in English about 1.08 % and in Ukrainian only about 0.8 %. It is also suggested that sounds themselves may be emotionally expressive which accounts for the phonetical motivation in certain words. Initial / f / and / p /, e.g., are felt as expressing scorn, disapproval or disgust: pooh! fie! fiddle-sticks, etc. The sound-cluster / iŋ / is imitative of sound or swift movement: ring, sing, swing, fling, etc. 2. The main criterion in morphological motivation is the relationship between morphemes. Hence, all one-morpheme words are morphologically non-motivated. Morphological motivation is ―relative‖, i.e. the degree of motivation may be different. The word ―endless‖, e.g., is completely motivated as both the lexical meaning of the component morphemes and the meaning of the pattern are perfectly transparent. The word ―cranberry‖ is only partially motivated because of the absence of the lexical meaning in the morpheme ―cran-‖.

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