lexicology

Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob

LEXICOLOGY

UMM-E-ROOMAN YAQOOB

Definition• Lexicology (from Greek lexis “word” and logos

“learning”)is the part of linguistics dealing with the

vocabulary of the language and the properties of

words as the main units of language.

•Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own

aims and methods of scientific research, its basic

task being a study and systematic description of

vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and

current use.

• Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-

groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes

which make up words.

Types of lexicology

General Lexicology is

concerned with the

general study of words

and vocabulary

irrespective of the

specific features of any

particular language.

Special Lexicology is

concerned with the study

and description of

vocabulary and vocabulary

units of a given language.

special descriptive

lexicology

(synchronic

lexicology) – deals with

the vocabulary and

vocabulary units of a

particular language at a

certain time

special historical

lexicology

(diachronic

lexicology) – deals

with the changes and

the development of

vocabulary in the

course of time.

CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER BRANCHES

Grammar• Lexicology is linked with Grammar because the

word is used in speech as a grammatical unit, in

certain grammatical forms and functions.

• Grammar studies means of expressing grammatical

relations between words in speech and patterns

after which words are combined into word-groups

and sentences.

PhoneticsAlso lexicology has connections with Phonetics. If we

change the stress, we change the meaning of the

word and even part of the speech: rEcord – recOrd,

cOment – comEnt; blackboard – black board,

blackbird – black bird.

StylisticsOne of the problems of lexicology is stylistic

characteristics. Stylistics studies different stylistic

styles. The reflection of the style is in the text. E.g.

bookish style we often can find in classical fiction or

textbooks; collocations – in speech.

And the last connection is with Social Linguistics

(Cultural Studies): language is a part of the culture,

it’s a reflection of the mentality of people. There are

some specific word combinations and associations in

every language. E.g. professions: kindness is

associated with social workers.

Cultural Studies

SARA GEORGE

Types of word meaning

Conceptual

Meaning

Associative

Meaning

Stylistic meaning

Collocative meaning

Affective meaning

Connotative meaning

Grammatical

Meaning

Lexical

Meaning

Grammatical meaning is an expression in speech

of relationships between words based on

contrasting features of arrangement in which they

occur.

Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or

emotion by means of a definite language system.

The lexical meaning of every word depends upon

the part of speech to which the word belongs.

Lexical meaning is further divided into:

• Conceptual meaning Conceptual meaning forms

the basis for communication as the same word has

the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers of

the same language.

• Associate meaning is the secondary meaning

supplemented to the conceptual meaning.

Associative meaning • Connotative meaning.

In contrast to denotative meaning, connotative meaning refers to

the overtones or associations which a word suggests or implies.

• Stylistic meaning.

Words may have stylistic features, which make them

appropriate for different contexts. This stylistic difference is

especially true of synonyms.

• Affective meaning.

Affective meaning indicates the speaker’s attitude towards the

person or thing in question.

• Collocative meaning.

Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires

in its collocation. In other words, it is that part of the word

meaning suggested by the words before or after the word in

discussion.

MEHAK RASOOL

Free-word groups and

Phraseological units.

The free word-groups are only relatively free

as collectability of their member-words is

fundamentally delimited by their lexical and

syntactic valency.

Phraseological units are comparatively

stable and semantically inseparable.

Distinctive features of

free-word groups and phraseological units

Free word-groups Phraseological units

are formed in the

process of speech

according to the

standards of the

language;

exist in the language

side-by-side with

separate words;

are constructed in the

process of

communication by

joining together words

into a phrase;

are reproduced in

speech as ready-

made units;

components may

have any of the

forms of their pattern.

components often

have just one form of

all the forms of their

pattern.

substitution is

possible;

no substitution is

possible;

each of its

components

preserves its

denotational

meaning;

the denotational

meaning belongs to

the word group as a

single semantically

inseparable unit;

SAMIA SHABBIR

Semantics is the study of meanings of

words, phrases and sentences.

Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that

is traditionally defined as the study of

meaning of (parts of) words, phrases,

sentences, and texts.

Semantics

Semantic classification of

phraseological units

• Semantic classification of phraseological units is based on the motivation of the unit. It is divided further into three categories.

1. Phraseological fusions:

Phraseological fusions are units whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of their component parts. The meaning of PFs is unmotivated at the present stage of language development.

2. Phraseological unities:

Phraseological unities are

expressions the meaning of which can be deduced from

the meanings of their components; the meaning of the

whole is based on the transferred meanings of the

components, e.g. to show one’s teeth (to be unfriendly),

They are motivated expressions.

3. Phraseological collocations:

Phraseological

collocations are not only motivated but contain one

component used in its direct meaning, while the other is

used metaphorically, e.g. to meet requirements, to attain

success.

KINZA QAISARANI

Word formation

• Word formation is the creation of a

new word.

• It is a branch of science of the language,

which studies the patterns on which a

language forms new lexical items (new

unities, new words)

• It’s a process of forming words by

combining root and affixal morphemes.

Types of word

formation:

There are 2 ways of word formation: productive

and non-productive ways.

• Productive ways: includes affixation, word

composition, conversion, abbreviation.

• Non-productive way: includes sound

interchange, stress interchange, sound imitation,

blending, back formation.

Productive way

Affixation• It consists of adding an affix to the stem of a

definite part of speech. The main function of

affixation is to form one part of speech from

another.

• The secondary function is to change the lexical

meaning of the same part of speech.

• Affixation is divided into suffixation and

prefixation.

Prefixation• A prefix is an affixation process that includes

adding a morpheme at the beginning of the word.

Suffixation• It is a formation of new words by adding suffixes to

the stem.

• There are 5 groups of suffixation:

- Noun-forming –er, -dom, -ism

- Adjective-forming –able, -less, -ous

- Verb-forming -ize, -ify, -en

- Adverb-forming –ly, -ward, -wise

- Numeral-forming –teen, -ty, -fold

Compounding

• It refers to the joining of two separate words to produce a single word. The two words don’t lose their individual sounds.

•Bookcase

• Fingerprint

• Sunburn

•Doorknob

• Basketball

FAIZA ANWAR

KAMAL

Conversion• This is the change of the function of the word. For

example when a noun comes to be used as a verb.

Bag – to bag

Back – to back

Bottle – to bottle

Clipping• Clipping a synonym of reduction. In this process a word

that has more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form

• Brassiere (bra)

• Fanatic (fan)

• Situation Comedy (sitcom)

Abbreviation

•Word groups can be shortened.

• Examples:

professor-prof.

Fantasy-fancy.

• Abbreviation can be graphical (a.m.- in the

morning, i.e.- that is) and Initial (J.V.- joint

venture, BBC, UK, UNESCO)

•Abbreviation of words consists in clipping a part

of a word.

Non-productive way.

Blending

• New words are formed from a word group or

two synonyms by clipping the end of the first

component and the beginning of the second

component

• medical + care = Medicare

• Spanish + English = Spanglish

• Modulator + demodulator = Modem

Backformation• Backformation or Negative derivation is a concept

that complex word exists first, the non-affixed

form is derived later, e.g.

–baby-sitter to baby-sit

–editor to edit

Stress interchange• is one of the ways of word building, based on a shift

of stress

'conduct – to con'duct

'present – to pre'sent

'frequent - to fre'quent

Conclusion

•Lexicology is that branch of

linguistics which is associated

with each and every aspect of

English learning and language

knowledge.

Thank You