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English Lexicology

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English Lexicology
English Lexicology
Ecaterina Albu, MA, senior university lecturer








unilateral, bilateral, trilateral, multilateral monogamy, polygamy inflexible, imbalance, irrational, illegal download, copyright, mother wit, green wealth We summered in Spain last year.
English Lexicology(I)

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skate, skim, skin, ski, sketch, skid
This fox goes well with your cap.
He is too fond of bottles. blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, gray-collar works, pink-collar works, gold-collar workers forbidden fruits
The question was like the Sphinx’s riddle to them
Your Adam’s apple is not apparent as timid as a rabbit ; a green hand
English Lexicology(I)

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It’s a difficult operation.
I do think Adam is quick. a sheet of paper; a white paper, a term paper; today’s paper, examination paper

English Lexicology(I)

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“Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”
(Wilkins, 1972)

Lecture 1
1.1 Language, Linguistics and Lexicology
1.2 Aims and Significance of the Course

1.1 Language, Linguistics and Lexicology


What is language?
 a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
 a specific social action
 a carrier of information.

“Language is man’s way of communication with his fellow man and it is language alone which separate him from the lower animals”
English Lexicology(I)

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1.1 Language, Linguistics and Lexicology


What is linguistics?
 scientific study of language
 studies the general principles upon which languages are constructed and operate as systems of human communication English Lexicology(I)

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Linguistics –study of language SYSTEM

GRAMMAR – hierarchy of language

SEMANTICS – deals with meaning

PRAGMATICS – language in context

It’s all connected in LANGUAGE
Language is a SYSTEM

What do linguists do? Learn languages?
Why do we need linguistics

Linguistics – is it useful?


Computer programming
(Google searches, Siri)



Language education



Speech-Language pathology



Academia = scientific research

Linguistics is INTERDISCIPLINARY

neurology psychology anatomy

computer science linguistics history biology

anthropology

acoustics

And now the conclusion:

Linguistics explains how and why languages work the way they do.

Lexicology
“lexis” - word, phrase
“logos” - science



Lexicology is…
 a branch of linguistics

concerned with the study of the vocabulary of a given language. English Lexicology(I)

Other useful Greek roots
“phono” - sound
 “morpho” - form, shape, formation
 “sema” – meaning
 “pragma”- use, context, effect
 “syntaxis” – connection, sentence
 “grapho” - writing


Other useful terms








Lexical – dealing with words and vocabulary
Semantic - dealing with meaning
Phonetic – dealing with sounds
Grammatical – dealing with language structure
Morphological – dealing with word form
Syntactical – dealing with sentence structure
Stylistic - dealing with emotional effect produced



Lexicology deals with…
 words and other units
 their origin
 development
 structure
 formation
 meaning and usage
English Lexicology(I)

Language Units
Morphemes
 Words
 Word groups/Phrases
 Set-expressions / Phraseological units
/Idioms
NB! Phrase = word combination/group
Phrase IS NOT sentence!


1.2 Aims and Significance of the Course


What is lexicology?







theoretically-oriented
It is mainly concerned with the basic theories of words in general and of English words in particular. a practical course we will deal with large stocks of words and idioms study many usage examples lots of practice
English Lexicology(I)

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1.2 Aims and Significance of the Course
The role of vocabulary in the language system




Vocabulary is the building material of the language system. It is one of the essential elements of language: speech sounds, grammar and vocabulary.
“…there is a sense in which learning a foreign language is basically a matter of learning the vocabulary of that language. Not being able to find the words to express yourself is the most frustrating experience in speaking another language.”
English Lexicology(I)

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1.2 Aims and Significance of the Course


Aims of the course





Give a systematic description of the
English vocabulary.
Offer an insight into the origin and development of the English vocabulary.
Discuss the problems of word-structure and word-formation
Study the use of English words , their meanings and changes in meaning, their sense relations.
English Lexicology(I)

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Aims of Lexicology










Principles of the classification of vocabulary units into various groupings
The laws governing the replenishment (=enrichment) of the vocabulary
Studies the relations between various lexical layers of the
English vocabulary
The specific laws and regulations that govern development of the vocabulary
The source and growth of the vocabulary and changes it has undergone

Lexicology and Connections with
Other Linguistic Sciences

phonetics
 grammar
 stylistics
 history of the language
 sociolinguistics


Types of Lexicology




General Lexicology – general study of words and vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of any particular language part of general linguistics

Types of Lexicology


Special Lexicology – description of the characteristic peculiarities in the vocabulary of a given language

We study ENGLISH lexicology =>
English vocabulary

Types of Lexicology


Historical Lexicology – origin of various words, their change and development, linguistic and extralinguistic factors influencing the structure of words, their meaning and usage

Types of Lexicology




Descriptive Lexicology – vocabulary of a given language at a given stage of its development functions of words, morphological and semantic structures of words

Types of Lexicology


Comparative and Contrastive Lexicology – correlation between the languages, correspondences between the vocabulary units of different languages

1.2 Aims an Significance of the Course





Develop your personal vocabulary and consciously increase your word power (active vocabulary).
Understand word-meaning and organize, classify and store words more effectively.
Understand meaning and usages, use words more accurately and appropriately.
Develop your skills and habits of analyzing and generalizing linguistic phenomena in your learning experiences. English Lexicology(I)

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BOOKS (all in English, don’t you worry)





I. V. Arnold – The English Word / Лексикология современного английского языка (in our library)
G. B. Antrushina - Лексикология английского языка
R. S. Ginzburg – A Course in Modern English
Lexicology
You will be given a DOWNLOAD link.

Things you need to do:



Fill in this online form: http://goo.gl/CyJy6s
Download books: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49662694/Uni versity/2014-2015/LEXICOLOGY.zip

THANK YOU!
See you at the seminar.

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