Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that studies vocabulary and words. It examines the origin, development, and use of words. Lexicology is concerned with individual words, variable word groups, phraseological units, and morphemes. There are different types of lexicology including general lexicology, which studies words irrespective of language, and special lexicology, which describes the vocabulary of a given language. Lexicology is also connected to other branches of linguistics like grammar, phonetics, and social linguistics. Word meaning has different components including conceptual meaning, associative meaning, stylistic meaning, and others. Lexicology examines free word groups that can be formed in speech compared to phraseological units which exist

1. Umm-e-RoomanYaqoob(Roll # 3)
LEXICOLOGY AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTICS
Lexicology
Lexicology(fromGreeklexis“word”andlogos“learning”) isthe partof linguisticsdealingwiththe
vocabularyof the language andthe propertiesof wordsasthe mainunitsof language. Lexicologyas
a branch of linguisticshasitsownaimsand methods of scientificresearch,itsbasictaskbeinga
studyand systematicdescriptionof vocabularyinrespecttoitsorigin,developmentandcurrentuse.
Lexicologyisconcernedwithwords,variableword-groups,phraseological units,andwith
morphemeswhichmake upwords.
Types oflexicology:Followingare the typesof lexicology:
 General Lexicologyisconcernedwiththe general studyof wordsandvocabulary
irrespectiveof the specificfeaturesof anyparticularlanguage.
 Special Lexicologyisconcernedthe studyand descriptionof vocabularyandvocabulary
unitsof a givenlanguage.
 Synchronic lexicology– dealswiththe vocabularyandvocabularyunitsof aparticular
language at a certaintime
 Diachronic lexicology– dealswiththe changesandthe developmentof vocabularyinthe
course of time.
Connectionswithother branches
 Lexicologyislinkedwith Grammarbecause the wordisusedinspeechasa grammatical unit,in
certaingrammatical formsand functions.Grammarstudiesmeansof expressinggrammatical
relationsbetweenwordsinspeechandpatternsafterwhichwordsare combinedintoword-
groupsand sentences.
 Alsolexicologyhasconnectionswith Phonetics.If we change the stress,we change the meaning
of the wordand evenpartof the speech:rEcord – recOrd,cOment– comEnt; blackboard – black
board,blackbird – blackbird.
 It has some linkswith Stylistics.One of the problemsof lexicologyisstylisticcharacteristics.
Stylisticsstudiesdifferentstylisticstyles.The reflectionof the style isinthe text.E.g.bookish
style we oftencanfindinclassical fictionortextbooks;collocations –in speech.
 Andthe last connectioniswith Social Linguistics(Cultural Studies):language isapart of the
culture,it’sa reflectionof the mentalityof people.There are some specificwordcombinations
and associationsineverylanguage.E.g.professions:kindnessisassociatedwithsocial workers.
Types ofword meaning.Conceptual MeaningAssociativeMeaningStylisticmeaningCollocative
meaningAffective meaningConnotative meaningGrammatical MeaningLexical Meaning

2.  Grammatical meaningis an expressioninspeechof relationshipsbetweenwordsbasedon
contrastingfeaturesof arrangementinwhichtheyoccur.
 Lexical meaninghas two components:conceptual andassociative. Conceptual meaning(also
knownas denotative meaning) isthe meaninggiveninthe dictionaryandformsthe core of
wordmeaning.Conceptual meaningformsthe basisforcommunicationasthe same wordhas
the same conceptual meaningtoall the speakersof the same language. Associate meaningis
the secondarymeaningsupplementedtothe conceptual meaning.Itdiffersfromthe conceptual
meaninginthatit isliable tothe influence of suchfactorsasculture,experience,religion,
geographical region,classbackground,education,etc.
 Associative meaningcomprisesfourtypes: Connotative meaning.Incontrastto denotative
meaning,connotativemeaningrefers tothe overtonesorassociationswhichawordsuggestsor
implies. Stylisticmeaning.Wordsmayhave stylisticfeatures,whichmake themappropriatefor
differentcontexts.Thisstylisticdifference isespeciallytrue of synonyms.Affective meaning.
Affectivemeaningindicatesthe speaker’sattitudetowardsthe personorthinginquestion.
Collocative meaning.Collocativemeaningconsistsof the associationsawordacquiresinits
collocation.Inotherwords,itisthat part of the wordmeaningsuggested bythe wordsbeforeor
afterthe word indiscussion.
Free-wordgroupsand Phraseological units.The free word-groupsare onlyrelativelyfree ascollocability
of theirmember-wordsisfundamentallydelimitedbytheirlexical andsyntacticvalency.Phraseological
unitsare comparativelystable andsemanticallyinseparable.
Distinctive features of free-wordgroupsandphraseological units.Free word-groupsPhraseological
units1. are formedinthe processof speechaccordingto the standardsof the language;1. existinthe
language side-by-sidewithseparatewords;2.are constructedinthe processof communicationby
joiningtogetherwordsintoaphrase;2. are reproducedinspeech asready-made units;
Free word-groupsPhraseological units3.substitutionispossible;3.no substitutionispossible;4.eachof
itscomponentspreservesitsdenotational meaning;4.the denotational meaningbelongstothe word
groupas a single semanticallyinseparable unit;
Free word-groupsPhraseological units5.lessstructural unity;5.greaterstructural unity;6. components
may have anyof the formsof theirparadigm.6. componentsoftenhave justone formof all the formsof
theirparadigm.
Semanticsis the studyof meaningsof words,phrasesandsentences.Semanticsisasubfieldof
linguisticsthatistraditionallydefinedasthe studyof meaningof (partsof) words,phrases,sentences,
and texts.
Semantic classificationofphraseological units is basedonthe motivationof the unit Phraseological
fusionsare unitswhose meaningcannotbe deducedfromthe meaningsof theircomponentparts;

3. 1. Phraseological fusionsare unitswhose meaningcannotbe deducedfromthe meaningsof their
componentparts. The meaningof PFsisunmotivatedatthe presentstage of language
development.
2. Phraseological unitiesare expressionsthe meaningof whichcanbe deducedfromthe meanings
of theircomponents;the meaningof the whole isbasedonthe transferredmeanings of the
components,e.g.toshowone’steeth (tobe unfriendly).
3. Phraseological collocationsare notonlymotivatedbutcontainone componentusedinitsdirect
meaning,whilethe otherisusedmetaphorically,e.g.tomeetrequirements,toattainsuccess. In
thisgroup of PUs some substitutionsare possiblewhichdonotdestroythe meaningof the
metaphoricelement,e.g.tomeetthe needs,tomeetthe demand,tomeetthe necessity;to
have success,to lose success.
Word formationis the creationof a new word It iss a branch of science of the language,whichstudies
the patternson whicha language formsnew lexicalitems(new unities,new words) It’sa processof
formingwordsbycombiningrootandaffixal morphemes.
Differenttypesof word formation: There are 2 waysof wordformation:productive andnon-productive
ways
 Productive way.
a) Affixation.Itconsistsof addingan affix tothe stemof a definite partof speech.The main
functionof suffixationistoformone part of speechfromanother.The secondaryfunctionisto
change the lexical meaningof the same partof speech. Affixationisdividedintosuffixationand
prefixation.
b) Prefixation.A prefix isanaffixationprocessthatincludesaddingamorpheme atthe beginning
of the word.
c) Suffixation.Itis a formationof new wordsbyaddingsuffixestothe stem.There are 5 groupsof
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
d) Compounding. It referstothe joiningof twoseparate wordstoproduce a single word.The two
wordsdon’tlose theirindividual sounds. Bookcase ,Fingerprint,Sunburn, Doorknob ,Basketball
e) Conversion. Thisisthe change of the function of the word.Forexample whenanouncomesto
be usedas a verb.Bag – to bag Back – to back Bottle – to bottle
f) Abbreviation. Word groupscan be shortened. Examples:professor-prof.Fantasy-fancy.
Abbriviationcanbe graphical (a.m.- inthe morning,i.e.- thatis) andInitial (J.V.- jointventure,
BBC, UK, UNESCO) Abbreviationof wordsconsistsinclippingapartof a word.
g) Clipping.Clippingasynonymof reduction.Inthisprocessaword that hasmore thanone
syllable isreducedtoashorterform .Brassiere (bra) Fanatic(fan) SituationComedy(sitcom).
 Non-productive way.

4. a) Blending.Newwordsare formedfroma wordgroup or twosynonymsbyclippingthe endof the
firstcomponentandthe beginningof the secondcomponentmedical +care = medicare Spanish
+ English= SpanglishModulator+demodulator=Modem
b) Backformation or Negative derivation.A complex wordexistsfirst,the non- affixedformis
derivedlater,e.g. –baby-sittertobaby-sit–editortoedit
c) Stress interchange isone of the waysof wordbuilding,basedonashiftof stress'conduct – to
con'duct 'present – to pre'sent'frequent - tofre'quent.
Conclusion:
Lexicologyisthatbranchof linguisticswhichisassociatedwitheachandeveryaspectof Englishlearning
and language knowledge.