1. The object of research of lexicology.

~Modern English lexicology investigates the problem of word structure and word formation, the
classification of vocabulary units, description of the relations between different lexical layers of
English vocabulary. As a science it has both theoretical and practical use.

2. The branches of lexicological science. Define the difference between the

approaches of general and special, descriptive and historical lexicology.
~Branches of lexicology: onomasiology (naming and nominative processes), semasiology (theory
of meaning), etymology (source of vocabulary and word origin), phraseology (theory of set
expressions), lexicography (the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries), onomastics (the
study of the history and origin of proper names, esp. personal names), terminology (the body of
terms used with a particular technical application in a subject of study, theory, profession, etc.).
The general study of words and vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of any language, is
known as General Lexicology.
Special Lexicology devotes its attention to the description of the characteristic peculiarities in the
vocabulary of a given language. Every Special Lexicology is based on the principles of General
Lexicology and forms a part of General Linguistics.
Historical Lexicology deals with the evolution of any vocabulary, as well as of its single elements,
with the origin of various words, their change and development.
Descriptive Lexicology deals with the vocabulary of a given stage of its development, with the
English words in its morphological and semantic structure.

3. What do the following branches of lexicological science study: etymology,

neology, morphology, semasiology, phraseology, lexicography, and dialectology?
~Etymology is the study of the origin of words. The etymology of etymology has its origin in both
Latin and Greek. The root word etymon and the root word ology come together to create
etymology, which means the study of words.
Neology is the process of creating new words and phrases through writing or speaking. The process
of neology can also involve adopting words that already exist and adapting them to illustrate a
different meaning.
Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words and forms a core part of linguistic study
today.
Semasiology is the branch of the study of language concerned with the meaning of words and word
equivalents.
Phraseology can be defined as the study of structure, meaning and use of phraseological units.
Lexicography is the practice of making and editing dictionaries and other reference texts.
Dialectology is the study of the way sounds, words and grammatical forms vary within a language.

4. The connection of lexicology with phonetics, grammar (morphology and

syntax) and stylistics.
~Lexicology is closely connected with other branches of linguistics, such as phonetics, grammar,
stylistics, which also study words from various angles.
The link between phonetics and lexicology is based on the following:
(a) The recognition and understanding of a word is impossible without its proper pronunciation.
(b) The position of stress is used to distinguish words of identical sound-forms but different parts of
speech,
e.g. 'rebel, n. - re'bel, v.; 'frequent, a. - fre'quent, v.
(c) Stress may also be used to distinguish between compound words and word groups made up of
identical components,
e.g. a 'dark 'room (a phrase, each component has its own stress),
a 'dark-room (a compound, only one stress).
The connection between lexicology and grammar is seen in the following:
(a) Each word belongs to some part of speech and has characteristics typical of it.
(b) The grammatical form and function of a word may determine its lexical meaning,
e.g. brother - brothers "sons of the same parents", brethren "fellow members of a religious society,
trade union, regiment, guild, order, etc."
(c) A grammatical form of a word may split off and acquire a new lexical meaning, becoming a new
word. This is called lexicalization of grammatical forms,
e.g. arm - arms (pl) , arms "weapons"; developments "events".
(d) Words are divided into notional words and form words. A word in one meaning may function as
a notional word and in another as a form word,
e.g. He looked indifferently at the food. He looked indifferent.
(e) The morpheme is the central unit of morphology, a branch of grammar, and also a unit of which
words are built, thus studied also in lexicology.
(f) The system of all grammatical forms of a word is called its paradigm. The paradigm is used as a
derivational means in conversion, one of the ways of word-building.
There is also a close link between lexicology and Stylistics. Stylistics is concerned with the study of
stylistic devices, on the one hand, and functional styles, on the other. Stylistics studies meaning,
synonymy, antonymy, etc. not as such, but for the purpose of analysing texts, the effect they
produce on the reader, in order to help the reader grasp the author's message.

5. Language as a system. Its elements.

~As a system, language is subdivided into three basic subsystems, each of which is a system in its
own turn. They are the phonetical (phonological), lexical and grammatical systems. The phonetical
system includes the material units of which language is made up: sounds, phonemes, different
intonation models, and accent models. The phonetical system of language is studied by a separate
branch of linguistics called phonology. The lexical system includes all the nominative (naming)
means of language – words and stable word-combinations. The lexical system is studied by
lexicology. The grammatical system includes the rules and regularities of using lingual units in the
construction of utterances in the process of human communication. The grammatical system is
described by grammar as a branch of linguistics.

6. Describe the main unit of lexical system and its distinguishing features.
~Lexical units are multi-faceted linguistic units, which are characterized at least by 2 features:
meaning and form. This leads to the phonemes being ousted out of the vocabulary as they don’t
bear any signification but fulfill differentiating function, communicative role and performance of
linguistic units in communication: words’ and morphemes’ function in communication is to serve as
ready-made units at the speakers’ disposal. Communication- a creative process with ready-made
language units. The results of the process- utterances. Lexical units are reproduced ready-made
linguistic units which possess both form and meaning.

7. The essence of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations in a language

~Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations are understood as basic linguistic relationships describing
the complex structure of a language system. This distinction is relevant to all levels of description.
It was introduced by the Swiss linguist Ferdinard de Saussure in 1916 as a generalisation of the
traditional concepts of a paradigm and a syntagm.
Paradigmatic relations exist between units of the language system outside the strings where they co-
occur. They are based on the criteria of selection and distribution of linguistic elements.
Paradigmatic relations determining the vocabulary system are based on the interdependence of
words within the vocabulary: synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, meronymy.
Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear links between the units in a segmental sequence.
Syntagmatic relations are horizontal since they are based on the linear character of speech.
8. Hyponymic relations between lexical units.
~Another approach to the classification of vocabulary items into lexico-semantic groups is the study
of hyponymic relations between words. By hyponymy is meant a semantic relationship of inclusion.
Thus, e.g., vehicle includes car, bus, taxi and so on; oak implies tree;
horse entails animal; table entails furniture. Thus the hyponymic relationship may be viewed as the
hierarchical relationship between the meaning of the general and the individual terms.
The general term (vehicle, tree, animal, etc.) is sometimes referred to as the classifier and serves to
describe the lexico-semantic groups, e.g. Lexico-semantic groups (LSG) of vehicles, movement,
emotions, etc.

9. The correlation between phonetic, morphological and semantic types of

motivation in the lexical units of English and Ukrainian. Give examples.
~When there is a certain similarity between the sound that make up words and their meaning, the
motivation is phonetical. 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 - шипіти/сичати, hoop - 'гукати (сигналити), howl - вити, smack
(one's lips) цмокати, moo - мукати, mewl - нявкати, baa / bar/ бе-е, бекати (вівці), etc. Here the
sounds of a word are imitative of sounds in nature because what is referred to is a sound.
The morphological motivation in the contrasted languages remains the major one. It is characteristic
of numerous notional words, in which it is clearly indicated by the affixal morphemes. For example,
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, etc. A similar function may be performed by some prefixal morphemes in both
contrasted languages. Cf: 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, etc.
Similarly in Ukrainian: 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; 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,
etc.
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. E.g., “mouth” denotes a part of a human face
and can be metaphorically applied to any opening: the mouth of a river, the mouth of a furnace.
This is expressed by many semantically motivated words and word-groups in both contrasted
languages. Cf. 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); the house of Tudor династія Тюдорів; the first/second house перший/другий
сеанс (у кінотеатрі); bed of roses легке/розкішне життя; bed of a river русло річки; bed of
honour поле бою; arm рука, but: secular arm світська влада; the arm of the law сила закону; the
arm of the sea вузька затока; the arms of a coat рукава (піджака, пальта); the arms of a tree
великі гілляки дерева; the arms of a chair бильця (крісла), a coat of arms герб, etc.
Exercises:
Verba pp.125-129 - 5 words from each exercise: ex.5-9, 11, 12
give three examples of hyponymic relations
1. Hyperonym - the verb to see, hyponyms - glimpse, stare, gaze.
2. Hyperonym - tree, hyponyms - maple, birch, and pine.
3. Hyperonym - color, hyponyms - blue, yellow, green.