Modern philology, as a science, consists of several main sections, each of which is devoted to the study of a particular linguistic phenomenon or class. One of these sections is devoted to such a category as words. Today we will talk about what lexicology is, what its subject is, and what exactly it studies.

Definition

First of all, let's start with the definition of the concept itself and the list of the main problems that science deals with.

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics that studies vocabulary, that is, the vocabulary of a language. The lexemes have a dual structure. They simultaneously have a plan of content and a plan of expression.

In general, science studies the following problems:

1. The lexical composition of the language.
2. The relationship between words and the concepts attached to them.
3. Main types lexical meanings- direct, portable.
4. The history of the emergence of words, replenishment vocabulary.
5. Groups of words depending on their stylistic meaning, frequency of use.

Sections

In lexicology, there are various sections and subsections.

These include:

1. General lexicology, which studies general patterns development of vocabulary, its functioning.
2. Specific, studying the vocabulary of a particular language.
3. Historical - studies the history of the emergence of words, ways to replenish vocabulary. Its second name is etymology.
4. Comparative - studies the vocabulary of two or more languages, highlighting common and various features in structure and semantics.
5. Applied lexicology is a science that studies the issues of linguodidactics, speech culture, as well as the features of compiling dictionaries.

Relationship with other disciplines

We found out what lexicology is, now it's time to talk about what it is connected with.

First of all, it is closely related to lexicography, the science of creating and functioning dictionaries. The object of study of lexicography is dictionaries, in which all data about words is recorded - their semantics, grammatical features, sphere of use, history of occurrence. All these data scientists-lexicographers receive directly with the help of lexicology.

It is also connected with etymology, the science of the origin of words. In fixed not only the meaning of the word, but also its origin, the history of formation and transformation. Sometimes in the Lexicology course, which we have defined, etymology is not singled out as a separate section.

Onomastics is the science of proper names. He studies the emergence and functioning of proper names - names and surnames, names of cities, villages, rivers, firms, space objects.

Stylistics - studies the functioning of certain groups of words in a particular style, depending on their meaning and origin, scope.

Phraseology is a science that studies phraseological units, proverbs and sayings, the ways of their occurrence, meaning. Quite often in textbooks on the Russian language you can see the section "Lexicology and Phraseology", although some authors of textbooks and training courses still prefer to make them into two sections when studying.

School course

Acquaintance with lexicology, like with any other section of linguistics, begins at school. Starting from the fifth grade, children are introduced to the basics - they explain what lexicology is, they learn to distinguish between synonyms, antonyms and homonyms, select pairs for them, talk about the ambiguity and unambiguity of a word, consider the phenomenon of paronymy. Further, they are introduced to the active and passive reserve, various layers of vocabulary - jargon, dialectisms, vernacular, clericalisms.

Students also develop skills in working with dictionaries - they are taught to find certain words in them, to read dictionary entries correctly and extract the necessary information from them.

In high school, the acquired knowledge is repeated, systematized and consolidated.

Studying at the university

At philological faculties, the study of the section "Lexicology" of the Russian language begins in the second year. During the course, students understand the basic concepts of lexicology, study the layers of vocabulary by origin, its functional varieties, the stylistic possibilities of classes and groups of words.

Such concepts as synonymy, antonymy, polysemy and homonymy, paronymy are especially carefully studied. At the same time, students are introduced to various dictionaries. Quite often, phraseology is also included in the course, devoting several classes to it.

Also, quite often, lexicography is studied simultaneously with lexicology, separating it into a separate special course.

findings

We found out what lexicology is, what are its main areas of work and with what philological sciences it is most closely related. The study of this section of linguistics begins at school, and while studying at the university at the Faculty of Philology, the previously acquired knowledge is deepened and improved.

λέξις - word, expression, λόγος - science, judgment) - a section of linguistics that studies vocabulary. Lexicology is divided into general and particular. Private lexicology studies the lexical composition of a particular language. Lexicology deals with:

• word and its meaning
• word relationship system
• history of the formation of modern vocabulary
• functional and stylistic difference of words in different areas speeches

The object of study is the word. It is also studied in morphology and word formation. However, if in them words turn out to be a means for studying the grammatical structure and word-formation models and rules of the language, then in lexicology words are studied for the knowledge of the words themselves, as well as the vocabulary of the language (lexicon). Since vocabulary is not just a sum of words, but a certain system of mutually related and interconnected facts, lexicology appears as a science not about individual words, but about the lexical system of the language as a whole.

Subject of lexicology:

• 1) The word from the point of view of the theory of the word. For example, how the meaning of a word relates to a concept. What is the role of the word in the text and in the language.
• 2) The structure of the vocabulary of the language. That is: how lexical units are related (in what relationship they are).
• 3) The functioning of lexical units. Word compatibility, frequency of use, etc.
• 4) Ways to replenish the vocabulary of the language. How new words are created and how new meanings are formed in words.
• 5) Correlation of vocabulary and extralinguistic reality. For example, how vocabulary can relate to culture.

Sections of lexicology

Sections of lexicology:

• 1) Onomasiology (other Greek. ὄνομα name, other Greek λόγος judgment) - explores the process of naming objects.
• 2) Semasiology (other Greek. σημασία sign, meaning, other Greek. λόγος judgment) - explores the meaning of words and phrases. It answers the question of how extralinguistic reality is displayed in words.
• 3) Phraseology (other Greek. φράσις way of expression, other Greek. λόγος judgment) - studies the phraseological composition of the language, the relationship of words between themselves and with other units of the language.
• 4) Onomastics (other Greek. ὀνομαστική letters. - the art of naming) - studies already existing proper names in broad sense words: a) toponymy - studies geographical names; b) anthroponymy - studies the names and surnames of people.
• 5) Etymology (other Greek. ἔτυμον original meaning [words]) - studies the origin of words and vocabulary in general.
• 6) Lexicography - deals with the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries.

Topic 13. Lexicology. Word properties. Semasiology. The concept of meaning. Nomination principles

Lexicology(from the Greek lexikos - related to the word and ...logia), branch of linguistics that studies the vocabulary of a language, its vocabulary. Closely related to lexicology semasiology, or semantics, doctrine of word formation, etymology and style.

One of the central problems of lexicology is the problem of word separation as independent unit vocabulary of the language. Modern lexicology, like grammar, is based on the concept of correlating (interrelated) categories. Exploring vocabulary as a system, the lexicologist has in mind the interaction between the meanings of words and concepts. Concepts are most often international, while the meanings of words are national.

Lexicology studies the patterns of functioning and development of the vocabulary of a language, develops the principles of the stylistic classification of words, the norms of literary word usage in its relation to vernacular, questions of professionalism, dialectisms, archaisms, neologisms, normalization of lexicalized phrases.

The word is the main object of study of lexicology. However, lexicology studies the word not only in itself, but also in a certain connection with other words, forming a system of vocabulary units of the Russian language, that is, its vocabulary.

The main tasks of lexicology are:

1) definition of a word as a significant unit of vocabulary;

2) characteristics of the lexico-semantic system, that is, the identification internal organization language units and analysis of their connections (the semantic structure of the word, the specifics of distinctive semantic features, the patterns of its relations with other words).

Lexicology also analyzes the trends in the development of the lexical system of the modern Russian language, reveals the nature of the lexical compatibility of words, the frequency of their use in different styles and substyles of speech, and so on.
Distinguish general lexicology, dealing with the consideration of the vocabulary different languages, and private lexicology, which deals with the problems of a particular language.

The very definition of the concept of lexicology can be wide and narrow. In a broad sense, lexicology includes both the doctrine of words and the doctrine of stable (phraseological) combinations of words (this was reflected in the doctrine of the word by V.V. Vinogradov, K.A. Levkovskaya, N.M. Shansky, D.N. Shmelev). In a narrow sense, lexicology deals only with words. In this case, phraseology is considered as an independent section of the science of language.

The lexical meaning of the word, being an element of the general language system, nevertheless, has sufficient independence. It has its own semantic, that is, specific properties inherent only to it, for example, different ways nominations of objects, concepts, phenomena, signs according to the nature of correlation with reality (direct - indirect or figurative), according to the degree of motivation (non-derivative - derivative), according to the methods and possibilities of lexical compatibility (free - not free), according to the nature of the functions performed (nominative - expressive -synonymous).
By the method of nomination, that is, by the nature of the connection between the meaning of the word and the subject objective reality, two types of lexical meanings are distinguished - direct, or basic, and indirect, or figurative. Direct meaning is called because the word that possesses it directly indicates the object (phenomenon, action, quality, and so on), that is, it is directly correlated with the concept or its individual features. The main (or main) meaning of a word is usually called the one that is less than all other meanings due to the properties of its compatibility. Direct meaning, which acts as the main, stable nomination of an object in the modern period of language development, is also called primary.

The indirect (or figurative) meaning of a word is that, the appearance of which is due to the emergence of comparisons, associations that unite one object with another. A figurative meaning appears as a result of transferring the direct (basic) designation of an object to a new object. Portable values ​​are private, they are called secondary. Portable meanings, in turn, can be subdivided into portable ones with extinct imagery (bow of a ship, wings of an airplane) and figurative (heart of gold, stone face).

According to the degree of semantic motivation, two types of word meanings are distinguished: non-derivative (non-motivated, primary) and derivative (that is, motivated by the primary, initial meaning, which is secondary). If we look at the meaning of the word from these positions scale, then all three of its values ​​will be derived, motivated. But the sequence and degree of their motivation is not the same: the main (direct) meaning is motivated by the direct, primary meaning of the word boil - “Bubbling, foaming from the resulting strong heat pair", and figurative meanings are derived from the main meaning scale and are motivated by secondary figurative meanings of the original verb to boil.
According to the degree of lexical compatibility, free and non-free meanings are distinguished. If the compatibility is relatively wide and independent, then such values ​​are called free.

For example, the free meanings of the words head, nose, eye; table, petal, spring; fairy tale, dispute, luck and many others. However, the "freedom" of the lexical compatibility of such words is a relative concept, because it is limited by the subject-logical relations of words in the language. So, based on subject-logical connections, it is impossible to connect the word hand with words like funny, smart, deep etc. And, nevertheless, the meanings of these (and many other) words from the lexico-semantic point of view can be called free.

Another group of meanings includes the meanings of words, the lexical compatibility of which is already limited not only by subject-logical relations, but also by linguistic ones proper. Such values ​​are called non-free. Among the lexically non-free, two groups of word meanings are distinguished: phraseologically related and syntactically conditioned with a variety - constructively limited (or conditioned).

Phraseologically related a value is one that is realized only under conditions of certain combinations given word with a narrowly limited, stable range of lexical units. The connections of words in these combinations are no longer determined by subject-logical relations, but by the internal laws of the lexical system of the language. Yes, the word pitch-black meaning "complete, absolutely hopeless" appears only when combined with words hell or dark. The boundaries of phraseologically related meanings are narrower: the circle of words in combination with which these meanings are realized is, as a rule, small, often reduced to one combination.
As a result prolonged use only as part of narrowly limited combinations did some of these words lose their primary direct meaning and ceased to be perceived as nominative units. For them, phraseologically related meaning became in modern language basic, although indirect, but figurative. For example, goof - "be in a bad position" where prosak (obsolete) - "spinning machine", accidental hit in which was fraught with trouble. Information about the primary, direct meaning of such words can only be obtained with the help of special etymological studies.
Syntactically conditional is called such a figurative meaning that appears in a word when performing an unusual function for it in a sentence.

A variety of syntactic meanings are the so-called constructively limited (or conditional) meanings. These include meanings that are realized only under certain conditions. syntactic construction. For example, the word mirage the main one is terminological meaning - "optical phenomenon".

The nominative meanings of words can be called those that are used primarily to name objects, phenomena, qualities, actions, and so on. In the semantic structure of words with a similar meaning, as a rule, additional features (for example, evaluative ones) are not reflected. However, in the process of subsequent use, these signs may appear. The meaning of the words will be nominative senselessness, be proud, move, food, horse, horse, burden, journey, retribution, confusion and many others. Each of them is directly correlated with the concept, names it.

An expressive-synonymous meaning is one in which the emotional-evaluative feature is the main one. Words with this meaning arose as additional expressive and evaluative names of already existing nominations (nonsense, ascend, trail, voyage). Words with such meanings exist independently in the language and are reflected in dictionaries, but are perceived in the minds of native speakers by association with their nominative synonyms.

The typology of lexical meanings is based on three main types of relations: conceptual and subject connection, the relationship of words to each other, and the degree of meaning motivation. Identification of different types of lexical meanings helps to better understand the semantic structure of the word, that is, to understand the nature of systemic intra-word connections.
Metaphorical, as well as their variety - functional - transfers occur constantly in the lexical system, but not all groups of vocabulary are equally affected by them. Metaphorization and functional orientation are especially noticeable in those layers of vocabulary that are associated with the naming of problems relevant to society. For example, the meaning of the word star expanded on a metaphorical basis: starry sky, starry hour.

Important role in the development and organization of the modern lexical system, transfers of names by adjacency play - metonymic transfers. In such cases, secondary meanings are based on associative links that arise when naming a material and an object made from this material in one word; action and the result obtained from this action; the whole and the part, as well as the part and the whole; proper name and common noun and others.
The variety of metonyms also includes types of transfers that occur when naming the whole object according to its part and vice versa. For example, the word beard has a basic direct meaning "hair on the lower part of the face, below the lips, on the cheeks and on the chin." However, they are often called a person with a beard. Metonymic transfers this type some researchers call synecdoche and often separate them from the actual metonymic ones as independent type name transfer.

Along with the expansion (quantitative) of the scope of the meaning of words in the process of development of figurative names in the language, its narrowing is also observed. For example, the word punishment in ancient times meant any "instruction, instruction" The semantic boundaries of words narrowed shame, vulgar, gunpowder, slingshot, vessel, scrupulous, bury and many others.
Often, in the process of functioning, the meaning of the word completely changes. At the same time, both expansion of the meaning and different type name transfers. For example, the word a week called in ancient times "holiday", which was later named Sunday. In the future, the word a week began to be called generally a seven-day period of time. Consequently, not only did the meaning change in the word, but the conceptual scope expanded and the name was transferred from the part to the whole.

The considered main ways of developing the meanings of words in the general lexical system of the language do not exclude the possibility of separate individual, contextually determined uses of the transfer of names both according to the metaphorical and metonymic models. Such transfers, as a rule, are not recorded in dictionary interpretations of the meanings of words. Their occurrence is due to various reasons, the main of which is the irregularity of their formation and context-stylistic dependence. Modern researchers include several cases to such values:

A) use singular instead of plural: And it was heard before dawn how the Frenchman rejoiced;

B) the use of clothing names to indicate their owner: The last visitors to the palace-museum passed in single file: sheepskin coats, chuiks, wadded jackets;

C) naming a set of people with a word that denotes the place where these people live, work, rest: Group 20B took part in the competition;

D) the use of nouns that have quantitative-temporal meanings in the function of the proper temporal: All the way she angrily clenched her fists under her handkerchief;

E) the use of abbreviations (ellipses) of a metonymic nature, based on a well-known model: I read all of Lermontov.

The section is very easy to use. In the proposed field, just enter right word, and we will give you a list of its values. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, derivational dictionaries. Here you can also get acquainted with examples of the use of the word you entered.

To find

Meaning of the word lexicology

lexicology in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

lexicology

lexicology, pl. no, w. (from the Greek lekxikos - vocabulary and logos - teaching) (philol.). Department of linguistics, studying vocabulary, vocabulary of the language. Works on lexicology. Practice lexicology.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.

lexicology

And, well. Section of linguistics - the science of the vocabulary of the language.

adj. lexicological, -th, -th.

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

lexicology

well. A branch of linguistics that studies the lexical composition of a language, its vocabulary.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

lexicology

LEXICOLOGY (from the Greek lexikos - referring to the word and ... logy) is a section of linguistics that studies the vocabulary of a language.

Lexicology

(from the Greek lexikos ≈ referring to the word and ... logy), a section of linguistics that studies the vocabulary of the language, its vocabulary. Semasiology, or semantics, the doctrine of word formation, etymology, and stylistics are closely related to L. One of the central problems of linguistics is the problem of the separateness of a word as an independent unit of the vocabulary of a language. Modern grammar, like grammar, is based on the concept of correlating (interrelated) categories. Such correlating lexicological and at the same time semasiological categories are: monosemy and polysemy, synonymy and antonymy, free and connected meaning of words, etc. Exploring vocabulary as a system, the lexicologist has in mind the interaction between the meanings of words and concepts. Concepts are most often international, while the meanings of words are national. L. studies the patterns of functioning and development of the vocabulary of the language, develops the principles of the stylistic classification of words, the norms of literary word usage in its relationship with common speech, questions of professionalism, dialectisms, archaisms, neologisms, normalization of lexicalized phrases (see Idiomatics, Phraseology), etc. A special section L. is the study of socio-political, scientific and technical terminology. L. is also closely connected with lexicography.

Lit .: Smirnitsky A.I., On the question of the word, “Tr. Institute of Linguistics, 1954, v. 4; Akhmanova O. S., Essays on General and Russian Lexicology, M., 1957; Questions of the theory of language in modern foreign linguistics, M., 1961; Shmelev D. N., Problems semantic analysis vocabulary, M., 1973; Ullmann S., The principles of semantics, 2nd ed., Glasgow, 1959; Hallig R. und Wartburg W., von, Begriffcsystem als Grundlage für die Lexikographie, 2 Aufl., B., 1963.

Wikipedia

Lexicology

Lexicology- a branch of linguistics that studies vocabulary. Lexicology is divided into general and particular. Private lexicology studies the lexical composition of a particular language. Lexicology deals with:

• word and its meaning
• word relationship system
• history of the formation of modern vocabulary
• functional and stylistic difference of words in different spheres of speech

The object of study is the word. It is also studied in morphology and word formation. However, if in them words turn out to be a means for studying the grammatical structure and word-formation models and rules of the language, then in lexicology words are studied for the knowledge of the words themselves, as well as the vocabulary of the language. Since vocabulary is not just a sum of words, but a certain system of mutually related and interconnected facts, lexicology appears as a science not about individual words, but about the lexical system of the language as a whole.

Subject of lexicology:

• 1) The word from the point of view of the theory of the word. For example, how the meaning of a word relates to a concept. What is the role of the word in the text and in the language.
• 2) The structure of the vocabulary of the language. That is: how lexical units are related.
• 3) The functioning of lexical units. Word compatibility, frequency of use, etc.
• 4) Ways to replenish the vocabulary of the language. How new words are created and how new meanings are formed in words.
• 5) Correlation of vocabulary and extralinguistic reality. For example, how vocabulary can relate to culture.

Examples of the use of the word lexicology in the literature.

She accumulated many of her own valuable ideas in the field of phonetics, phonology, morphemic, morphonology, word formation, morphology, syntax, lexicology, phraseology, semantics, pragmatics, stylistics, text linguistics, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, etc.

Vostokov owns the preparation of the theoretical and material base for subsequent research in the field of historical word formation, lexicology, etymology and even morphonology.

The oppositional method, developed in phonology and morphology, becomes the basis for the formation of the method of component analysis in the field of structural lexicology and semantics.

The structure of the vocabulary is considered in two aspects: systemic relations between lexical units and stratification of the vocabulary. Lexicology studies the vocabulary of a language as a system of systems. Groups of words that form a system can differ in volume, in what underlies their commonality (form or content), in the degree of similarity of the forms or meanings of lexical units, in the characteristics of relationships (paradigmatic or syntagmatic) between lexical units. The minimal groupings of individual lexical units, based on the similarity of form, form homonyms (see Homonymy) or paronyms (with incomplete similarity; see Paronymy); when relying on content, groupings of words are distinguished based on conceptual logical relations or a paradigmatic type - equivalence (synonyms), opposites (antonyms, conversives: "give" - ​​"receive"), juxtapositions (semantic series: "pine" - "birch" - “oak”, “warm” - “hot”), inclusions (hyper-hyponymic relations: “tree” - “birch”; see Hyponymy), or syntagmatic type (subject - attribute, part - whole, etc.) .

Lexicology also explores larger groupings of words - fields, which are also formed on the basis of form (for example, a nest of words) or content and are built on the basis of paradigmatic or syntagmatic relations. The totality of paradigmatic and syntagmatic fields forms a thematic field that reflects a certain area of ​​extralinguistic reality (for example, means of transport, animal husbandry, art, etc.). When taking into account the form and content (polysemy, synonymy, word-formation connections, etc.), not a single section of the vocabulary is isolated, relationships are established between any lexical units.

The lexical composition of the language is heterogeneous, stratified. It distinguishes categories of lexical units for various reasons: according to the scope of use - common vocabulary (interstyle) and stylistically marked, used in certain conditions and areas of communication (poetic, colloquial, scientific, professional vocabulary, vernacular, argotisms, regionalisms, dialectisms); in connection with the study of variants of literary languages ​​- their specific vocabulary; by emotional coloring - neutral and emotionally colored (expressive) vocabulary; according to the historical perspective - neologisms, archaisms (see Obsolete words); by the origin of words or the realities they denote - borrowings, xenisms (designations of foreign realities), barbarisms, internationalisms; in relation to the language system and functioning - active and passive vocabulary, potential words, occasionalisms. The lexical system is the least rigid of all subsystems of the language, the boundaries between groupings of words are fuzzy, the same word can belong to different categories of lexical units in its different meanings and uses.

When studying vocabulary in its functioning, the following problems are considered: the frequency of vocabulary in texts; vocabulary in speech, in the text, its nominative function, contextual shifts in meanings and features of use (many of the lexicological categories are peculiarly refracted in speech, in connection with which language and speech synonyms, antonyms are distinguished; lexical polysemy and homonymy in speech are usually eliminated or take the form word play or semantic syncretism); compatibility of words, which is considered at the semantic levels (compatibility of concepts denoted by these lexical units: “stone house”, “fish swims”) and lexical (compatibility of lexemes: “to give a lecture”, but “to make a report”). Free and bound combinations are distinguished, and within the latter - idiomatic, which is the subject of study of phraseology.

Lexicology explores ways to replenish and develop the vocabulary of a language, distinguishing 4 ways to create nominations, three of which are based on the use of the internal resources of the language - the creation of new words (see Word formation), the formation of new meanings (polysemy, transfer of meanings, and patterns of filiation of meanings are studied) , the formation of phrases, and the fourth - on attracting the resources of other languages ​​- borrowings (lexical borrowings and tracing papers). The factors and forms of integration of borrowed words are investigated.

An important aspect of lexicology is the study of words in their relation to reality, since it is in words, in their meanings, that the life experience of the collective in a certain era is most directly fixed. In this regard, such problems as vocabulary and culture, the problem of linguistic relativity (the influence of vocabulary on the “vision of the world”), linguistic and extralinguistic components in the meaning of the word, background vocabulary, etc. are considered.

There are general, particular, historical, comparative and applied lexicology. General lexicology establishes the general laws of the structure, functioning and development of vocabulary, private Lexicology studies the vocabulary of one language.

historical Lexicology studies the history of words in connection with the history of the objects, concepts, and institutions they designate. The data of historical lexicology are widely used in historical science. Historical lexicology gives a description of the dynamics of the vocabulary (or its section) or a static description of a slice of the historical state of the language. The subject of research can be a single word or a lexical system (conceptual field), the history of words as such, or forms of semantic changes (for example, narrowing of the meaning), processes in the semantic structure of words (for example, the study of the development of words with an abstract meaning, the process of synonymization, the emergence of proper names etc.). In its direction, historical and lexicological research can be semasiological (changes in the meanings of words or groups of words are studied) or onomasiological (changes in the method of naming an object). In view of the systemic relations within the vocabulary, when studying a group of words, both aspects are present simultaneously, since the study of changes in the meaning of one word is impossible without studying the evolution of the designation of a concept common to a group of words.

Comparative Lexicology studies the vocabulary in order to identify the genetic relationship of languages, structural and semantic similarities and differences between them (regardless of relationship) or in order to derive common lexicological (often semantic) patterns. The collation can concern any aspect of the vocabulary. Can be compared individual words, but greater value has a comparison of groups of words (or fields), for example, verbs of motion, terms of kinship, etc., which shows how the designation field is divided differently ( objective reality) lexical means of different languages, what aspects of objects are fixed in the meanings of words in different languages. Of great interest for comparative lexicology is the comparison of the functioning of broad lexicological categories in two languages: synonymy, antonymy, types of polysemy, phraseology, correlation in the meaning of words of general and particular, logical and emotional, etc. The data of comparative lexicology are widely used in applied sections of linguistics ( lexicography, translation), as well as in ethnography.

Applied Lexicology covers mainly 4 areas: lexicography, translation, linguistic pedagogy and culture of speech. Each of these areas enriches the theory of lexicology. For example, lexicography encourages deepening the problem of the meaning of a word, improving its description, highlighting meanings, studying compatibility, etc. Translation provides a lot of material for comparative lexicology, word problems when teaching native and non-native languages ​​sharpen a number of general lexicological issues (word and context, word combination, synonymy - word choice, vocabulary and culture). At the same time, each of them uses the provisions and conclusions of lexicology, however, lexicological categories receive specific refraction in them; for example, the problems of highlighting the meanings of a word, phraseology in lexicography are solved differently depending on the type of dictionary.

Lexicology uses general linguistic research methods (see Method in Linguistics). The most commonly used methods include: distributive (determining the boundaries of a word, its morphological structure, delimiting meanings, etc.), substitution (studying synonymy, meanings of a word), component-opposite (determining the structure of the meaning of lexical units, the semantic structure of a word as a whole, analyzing semantic fields, changing the values ​​of lexical units, updating the meaning of a unit in the context), transformational (in word formation, when identifying the semantic load of a word in a context by folding or expanding syntactic structures, when determining the meaning of a lexical unit). Qualitative methods are supplemented by quantitative-statistical methods (determining the frequency of a lexical unit, its syntagmatic connections, etc.; see Quantitative Methods in Linguistics).

Lexicological data are used in many related disciplines: psycholinguistics (the study of word associations, etc.), neurolinguistics (types of aphasia), sociolinguistics (the study of the linguistic behavior of a team), etc. Some aspects and types of lexical units are studied in special sections of linguistics (see Onomastics, Phraseology, Culture of speech, Stylistics, Word formation, etc.).

[History of Lexicology]

Lexicology emerged as a separate section of linguistics later than some others, such as grammar. Even in the 20th century some early directions of structuralism denied the need to single out lexicology, either on the grounds that the vocabulary is supposedly weakly structured, or because linguistics should not deal with semantics at all, which is the core of lexicology (the school of L. Bloomfield).

A number of problems of lexicology were discussed long before its formation as a special branch of linguistics. AT ancient time and the Middle Ages, questions of semantics and structure of the word were considered. Ancient rhetoric paid attention to the artistic function of the word. The development of lexicography in Europe in the 16th-18th centuries. stimulated the development of lexicology. In the preface to explanatory dictionaries(for example, dictionary of the French Academy, 1694, English dictionary S. Johnson, 1755) a number of lexicological categories were noted (synonymy, word combination, primary and derivative words, etc.). The term "lexicology" was first introduced by the French encyclopedia D. Diderot and J. L. D'Alembert in 1765, where lexicology is defined as one of two (along with syntax) sections of the doctrine of language. The authors saw the task of lexicology in the study of words beyond their specific use in speech, in the study general principles organization of the vocabulary of the language. They singled out in lexicology the study external form, meanings and etymology of words (under which word formation was also understood). In treatises on the style of the 18th century. more detailed description of the ways of formation figurative meanings words. The first works on comparative historical linguistics (R. K. Rask, F. Bopp) laid the foundations for comparative lexicology. In the 19th century the main area of ​​lexicological research in Europe was semantics: the internal form of the word was studied (W. von Humboldt), the general patterns of the formation and evolution of the meanings of words (A. Darmsteter, G. Paul), historical lexicology received great development. The achievements of semasiology were generalized and developed in the work of M. Breal (1897), where semasiology appeared as a special branch of the science of language. Continuing into the 20th century the development of semasiology was aimed, on the one hand, at identifying the general semantic laws of the evolution of word meanings using data from logic or psychology (E. Cassirer, H. Kronasser, S. Ullman, G. Stern and others), which subsequently led to the development of semantic universals , on the other hand, to the study of the history of words in connection with the history of objects (the “Words and Things” school, which is characteristic, in particular, for dialectology). The onomasiological direction in lexicology, which contributed to the study of groups of words, was described in the book by B. Cuadri (1952).

The idea of ​​the systematic nature of linguistic phenomena, which is increasingly penetrating into lexicology, was reflected primarily in the theory of lexical fields built on paradigmatic (J. Trier) and syntagmatic (W. Porcig) principles. The completion of the field theory is the thesaurus representation of the organization of the dictionary (Sh. Balli, R. Hallig, W. von Wartburg). The problem of the general theory of the word as a unit of language was developed, discussions continued regarding the separability of the word and its criteria (Bally, A. Martinet, J. H. Greenberg and others), its semantics (C. K. Ogden, A. Richards, K. Baldinger) . The study of the correlation of vocabulary with the extralinguistic world, the history of words in the history of society (P. Lafargue; French sociological school: A. Meillet, E. Benveniste, J. Matore, M. Cohen), vocabulary and the structure of consciousness of speakers (E. Sapir , B. Whorf, L. Weisgerber). The linguists of the Prague school revealed the functional differentiation of vocabulary.

[Lexicology in Russia and the USSR]

Soviet linguists, based on the position that the word is the basic unit of the language, made a great contribution to the general theory of the word, to the definition of its boundaries, its relationship with the concept (A. M. Peshkovsky, L. V. Shcherba, Vinogradov, A. I. Smirnitsky, R. O. Shor, S. D. Katsnelson, O. S. Akhmanova, Yu. V. Rozhdestvensky); Special attention is given to the semantic aspect of the word (L. A. Bulakhovsky, V. A. Zvegintsev, D. N. Shmelev, B. Yu. Gorodetsky, A. E. Suprun and others). The achievement of Soviet lexicology is the development of a typology of word meanings (Vinogradov), the doctrine of lexico-semantic variants of a word (Smirnitsky), intermediate link in the development of the meanings of the word (Budagov). Thanks to these studies, the problem of polysemy of the word received a reliable theoretical basis,

Investigating the word as a unit of language and the vocabulary in its synchrony, Soviet linguists conduct research in the field of etymology (O. N. Trubachev), historical lexicology (Filin), and the history of the vocabulary of the literary language (Yu. S. Sorokin). There are numerous monographic studies on many categories of lexicology: synonyms, antonyms, internationalisms, terminology, phraseological units, etc. Exploring all layers and aspects of the vocabulary of different languages, Soviet linguists in the 70-80s. special attention is paid to the problems of systematic vocabulary, including lexical paradigmatics (Shmelev, A. A. Ufimtseva, Yu. N. Karaulov), lexical semantics in connection with general theory nominations and references, interaction of vocabulary with other levels of the language, primarily with syntax (Yu. D. Apresyan), psycholinguistic aspects of vocabulary (study of lexical associations, etc.), comparative study of the vocabulary of different languages ​​(Budagov, V. G. Gak). Of great practical and theoretical importance is the study of interaction in the vocabulary of the languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR (Yu. D. Desheriev, I. F. Protchenko). The methodology of lexicological research is being actively developed (M. D. Stepanova, N. I. Tolstoy, E. M. Mednikova, and others).

• Smirnitsky A. I., Lexicology in English, M., 1956;
• Akhmanova O. S., Essays on General and Russian Lexicology, M., 1957;
• Zvegintsev V. A., Semasiology, M., 1957;
• Budagov R. A., Comparative semasiology research. (Romance languages), M., 1963;
• Katsnelson S. D., The content of the word, meaning and designation, M.-L., 1965;
• Stepanova M. D., Methods of synchronous analysis of vocabulary, M., 1968;
• Weinreich W., On the semantic structure of the language, trans. from English, in the book: "New in linguistics", v. 5, Moscow, 1970;
• Makovsky M. M., Theory of lexical attraction, M., 1971;
• Shansky N. M., Lexicology of the modern Russian language, 2nd ed., M., 1972;
• Doroshevsky V., Elements of lexicology and semiotics, M., 1973;
• Apresyan Yu. D., Lexical semantics, Moscow, 1974;
• Stepanova M. D., Chernysheva I. I., Lexicology of the modern German language, M., 1975;
• Karaulov Yu. N., General and Russian ideography, M., 1976;
• Vinogradov V. V., Selected works, vol. 3, Lexicology and lexicography, M., 1977;
• Gak V. G., Comparative lexicology, M., 1977;
• Lopatnikova N. N., Movshovich N. A., Lexicology of modern French, M., 1982;
• quadri B., Aufgaben und Methoden der onomasiologischen Forschung, Bern, 1952;
• Ullman S., The principles of semantics, 2 ed., Glasgow-L.-Oxf., 1959;
• Weinreich U., Lexicology, "Current Trends in Linguistics", The Hague, 1963, v. one;
• Rey A., La lexicologie. Lectures, P., 1970;
• Lyons J., Semantics, v. 1-2, Camb., 1977;
• see also literature under articles