Part 1. Lecture guides

Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics

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 lexical subsystem of language is studied by lexicology, which became a separate branch of linguistics in the 19^th century.

The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis meaning ‘word, phrase’ (hence lexicos ‘having to do with words’) and logos which denotes ‘learning, a department of knowledge’. Thus, the literal meaning of the term ‘lexicology’ is ‘the science of the word’. Lexicology is a branch of linguistics which studies words and the vocabulary of a language. The term ‘ word ’ denotes the basic unit of a language resulting from the association of a particular meaning with a particular group of sounds capable of a particular grammatical employment. The word is a structural and semantic entity within the language system. The vocabulary of a language is the total sum of all the words and the word equivalents that the language possesses. Word equivalents are understood as set-expressions, which like words are not created in speech every time they are needed, but function as ready-made units. Thus, the object of lexicology is words and the vocabulary of a language.