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 content plan and an expression plan.
In general, science studies the following problems:
- The lexical composition of the language.
- The relationship between words and the concepts assigned to them.
- The main types of lexical meanings are direct, figurative.
- The history of the emergence of words, vocabulary replenishment.
- Groups of words depending on their stylistic meaning, frequencyuse.
Sections
Different sections and subsections are distinguished in lexicology.
This includes:
- General lexicology, which studies the general laws of the development of vocabulary, its functioning.
- Specific, studying the vocabulary of a particular language.
- Historical - studies the history of the emergence of words, ways to replenish vocabulary. Its second name is etymology.
- Comparative - studies the vocabulary of two or more languages, highlighting common and different features in structure and semantics.
- Applied lexicology is a science that studies the issues of linguodidactics, the culture of speech, as well as the features of compiling dictionaries.
Links with other disciplines
We found out what lexicology is, now it's time to talk about what philological sciences 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, which record all data about words - their semantics, grammatical features, scope of use, history of occurrence. Lexicographers get all this data directly with the help of lexicology.
It is also connected with etymology, the science of the origin of words. In etymological dictionaries, not only the meaning of the word is recorded, but also its origin, history of formation and transformation. Sometimes in the Lexicology course, the definition of which we have given, etymology is not distinguished inseparate 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 stock, various layers of vocabulary - jargon, dialectisms, vernacular, clericalism.
The students also develop skills in working with dictionaries - they teach them 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 University
Onphilological 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.
Particularly carefully study such concepts as synonymy, antonymy, polysemy and homonymy, paronymy. At the same time, students are introduced to various dictionaries. Quite often, phraseology is also included in the course, devoting several lessons to it.
Also, quite often, lexicography is studied simultaneously with lexicology, separating it into a separate special course.
Conclusions
We found out what lexicology is, what are its main areas of work and what philological sciences it is most closely connected with. 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.
