ENG 4339 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bacon, Purpura, Noam Chomsky
LEXICOLOGY
UNIT 1. Introduction To Lexicology
WHAT IS LEXICOLOGY?
1. Lexicology defined
Ginzburg, Khidekel, Knyazeva and Sankin (1979:7)
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics, the science of language. The term Lexicology is
composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis meaning “word, phrase” (hence lexicos
“having t do with words”) and logos which denotes “learning, a department of
knowledge”. Thus, the literal meaning of the term LEXICOLOGY is “the science of
word”. 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”.
Jackson and Zé Amvela (2007:1)
The study of lexis, understood as the stock of words in a given language, i.e. its
vocabulary or lexicon (from Greek “lexis”, “word”, “lexicos”, “of/for words”)
Synchronic vs diachronic approach
Synchronic approach (at the same time/ particular time): Vocabulary structure and
meaning at a given point of time.
E.g. “A person who begs” <to beg (cf. teacher “a person who teaches”)
Diachronic approach (across time, in the course of time): Changes and development of
vocabulary in the course of time
E.g. Beggar: borrowed from Old French> to beg
2. Lexicology in relat. To other disciplines
Morphology
The study of morphemes and their arrangements in forming words. Morphemes are the
smallest meaningful units which may constitute words or parts of word (Jackson and Zé
Amvela 2007: 2).
E.g. cat, child, with, sleeping, armchairs, farmer, unputdownable.
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Semantics
The study of meaning. Its aim is therefore to explain and describe meaning in natural
languages (Jackson and Zé Amvela 2007:4).
- Pragmatic semantics : It studies the meaning of utterances in context. E.g. It’s
five o’clock.
- Sentence semantics studies the meaning of sentences as well as meaning
relations between sentences. E.g. You must be very tolerant.
- Lexical semantics studies the meaning of words and the meaning relations that
are internal to the vocabulary of a language, the different meaning that a word
can have. E.g. bright
Acceptability vs meaningfulness
Lexicography
A special technique, the writing and compilation of dictionaries […] the principles that
underline the process of compiling and editing dictionaries (Jackson and Zé Amvela
2007: 8)
→Descriptive vs prescriptive approach: In Prescriptive approach, the dictionary is taken
as it was the Bible (if a word appears in this dictionary, this word is correct). And in
descriptive approach the dictionary is not taken as it was the Bible.
Phonology
The study of sound systems of individual languages nd of the nature of such systems
generally (Matthews 2007: 300)
→Minimal pairs: A minimal pair consists of two words with different meaning, which
only differ in a phoneme.
E.g. pill vs bill; sheep vs ship; meat vs meal
→Suprasegmental or prosodic features; applies to several different linguistic
phenomena (such as pitch, duration, and loudness)
E.g. ex’port (verb) vs ‘export (noun)
→Compounds: Words made up of two free morphemes
E.g. greenhouse vs green house
Syntax
The study of grammatical relations between words and other units within the sentence
(Matthews 2007: 397)
→ Colorless green ideas sleep furiously (Chomsky 1957)
→Sophisticated mice prefer to eat red elephants. vs The flower gracefully walked away
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Etymology
The study of the whole history of words, not just of their origin (Jackson and Zé Amvela
2007: 7)
E.g. Nice ‘precise’ (a nice distinction) < ‘silly’ (Latin nescius ‘ignorant) < ne ‘not’ se
‘cut’ (cf. scissors, shears) <???
Folk etymology (aka Reanalysis): A historical process whereby speakers who cannot
analyse an obscure form replace it with a different form which is morphologically
transparent (Jackson and Zé Amvela 2007:7).
Is change in a word or phrase over time resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar
form by a more familiar one. Folk etymologies result from mishearing,
mispronunciation, misunderstanding, and a desire to rationalize words that make no
sense to the speaker. is defined as a change in the form and /or meaning of a word,
which results from the incorrect assu mption that it has a certain etymological origin.
This supposition is triggered by some associations of form or meaning between the
changing word, unfamiliar to the speakers, and a more familiar term. is usually
described as a type of false analogy, which alters the form or meaning of an unfamiliar
term so as to reflect the connection that speakers think that exists between it and a
better-known or better-understood word. As a result, the target expression begins to be
spelt, pronounced or used in a manner that is consistent with the false etymological
origin that speakers ascribe to it. This phenomenon, therefore, can be interpreted as an
attempt at de-obscuring words that speakers feel to be opaque because they are not used
to their form, pronunciation or meaning. folk etymology refers to a complete absorption,
on associative grounds, of one lexical unit by another more frequently used or better
protected. For this phenomenon to be successful, the assumed etymology must be
shared by a large number of speakers after its initial development by some individual.
E.g. bikini, hamburger, bridegroom, adder, nickname
Bikini etymology: Bikini islands, where the atomic bomb was tested. The swimming
custom is called bikini because it was considered to be a bomb for men mind.
Bridegroom etymology: Is the men who is going to marry the bride. The Old English
word for this word was brydeguma. And the meaning of guma was “man”.
Adder etymology: The Old English of this word was naeddre. As the common definite
English article is for centuries “a/an” for the beginning of the words naeddre it became
finally to adder
Nickname etymology: The Middle English word for this word was ekename. For the
same reason as the previous example, the word ekename finally became to nickname.
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Document Summary
Lexicology is a branch of linguistics, the science of language. The term lexicology is composed of two greek morphemes: lexis meaning word, phrase (hence lexicos. Having t do with words ) and logos which denotes learning, a department of knowledge . Thus, the literal meaning of the term lexicology is the science of word . 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 . The study of lexis, understood as the stock of words in a given language, i. e. its vocabulary or lexicon (from greek lexis , word , lexicos , of/for words ) Synchronic approach (at the same time/ particular time): vocabulary structure and meaning at a given point of time.
