This book is intended as a manual for English language students taking the course of English Lexicology along with other linguistic subjects which form part of the curriculum at Foreign Languages departments of colleges and universities. Post-graduates, teachers of English and all those interested in the subject can also make use of it.
The need for designing the manual was stipulated by the fact that with new achievements and intense growth of scientific research in the area of lexicology there emerged the necessity to introduce some new data into already accepted theories and definitions. On the other hand, the manual or text-book compiled for students should be to a certain extent selective as to all the new ideas hanging in the air.
The contents of the manual reflect the fundamentals and the basic theoretical aspects of the lexicological science, aiming at providing students with sound knowledge of the word theory, the meaning of words and phraseological units, systematic character of the English vocabulary, the way the words are coined and change in the course of the historical evolution of the language, the etymological background of the English lexicon.
Most of the chapters of the manual contain both theory and certain practical tasks with exercises to practice at seminars and for independent work.
This manual can be used as a supplement to the text-books on Lexicology by I.V.Arnold; R.S.Ginzburg, S.S. Khidekel, G.Y.Knyazeva, A.A.Sankin; G.B.Antrushina, O.V.Afanasyeva, N.N.Morozova and some others or on its own.
The author of the manual are very grateful to the colleagues, especially Professors T.M. Garipov and N.P.Peshkova, who have read the book in manuscript and made valuable suggestions.
Author
CONTENTS
Introduction. Lexicology as a Branch of Linguistics. Its Subject Matter and Objectives ................................................................................................................7
1. The Subject Matter of Lexicology........................................................................7
2. The Theoretical and Practical Value of Lexicology.............................................9
Chapter 1. Word as the Basic Unit of the Lexical System of the Language........10
1. Word as an Element of the Lexical System.......................................................10
2. The Problem of Word Definition.........................................................................12
3. Types of Nomination and Motivation of Lexical Units.....................................14
4. The Notion of Lexeme. Variants of Words.........................................................17
Chapter 2. Semasiology. The Problem of Meaning..............................................19
1. Referential and Functional Approaches to Meaning...........................................19.
2. Types of Meaning.................................................................................................22
3. The Semantic Structure of Words. Polysemy......................................................27
4. ?auses, Types and Results of Semantic Change.................................................32
Chapter 3. English Vocabulary as a System..........................................................39
Semantic Classes of Lexemes in the Lexico-semantic System of the English