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38THEORITICAL BASES OF LEXICOLOGY
Dilnoza Alisher qizi Tursunova
Karshi State University
ABSTRACT
The article shows that lexicology is the branch of linguistics that studies words and vocabulary and covers a very wide range of research. Lexicology also deals with the use, origin, and properties of words, as well as the system of vocabulary functions and relationships within the dictionary. All parts are interconnected on many levels. The description of one part cannot be left without the explanation of the other parts.
Keywords: onomastics, semasiology, etymology, semantics, general lexicology, special lexicology, contrastive lexicology, historical lexicology, descriptive lexicology
Lexicology is, in general, the study of words and vocabulary but it covers a very wide spectrum of research. "Traditionally it includes the study of naming extralingual reality (onomasiology); study of proper names (onomastics); study of meaning (lexical semantics, semasiology); history of words (etymology); word formation (lexical morphology), and as its specific part the study of multi-word expressions (lexical phrases), collocations, phrasemes/idioms - phraseology/idiomatics)"
More specifically, lexicology is engaged in the usage and origin of words and all their properties. It also includes the system of functions of vocabulary and the relationships within vocabulary [1-10]. All parts are linked together on many levels. The description of one part cannot omit an explanation of the other parts. Arnold states a classification of 5 basic types of lexicology that is clearly arranged:
- general lexicology
- special lexicology
- contrastive lexicology -historical lexicology -descriptive lexicology
At first, general lexicology studies vocabulary in general while special lexicology studies characteristic features of a language, as well as special features. Contrastive lexicology is concerned with the comparison of vocabularies of various languages. Historical lexicology deals with the origin and evolution of vocabulary and investigates the changes and modifications of language over the course of time. Arnold states that the problem with this type of lexicology is that linguists mostly study each word separately which is called the 'atomistic approach'. However, there is no reason why they should not study vocabulary as a system over time.
The most relevant to the present study is lexical semantics, the study of meaning which has been stated above. The study of meaning is comprehensive and can be considered from many points of view in an extensive work about lexicology. The aim of the present paper is to address the topic of the use of synonyms in the chosen texts according to style and types of associative meaning [11-19].
Semantics is a branch of linguistics, i.e. the study of meaning, including the sub-branch lexical semantics. Leech follows Bloomfield in saying that semantics is "the description of all that may be the object of human knowledge or belief". Semantics studies the relation between a linguistic sign (word, phrase, etc.) and its denotation. The linguistic item must be understood in a sentence, i.e. utterance in order to have all the properties.
Semanticists find the problem of semantics mainly in defining the analytic categories and categorizing words into them. Occasionally it is very hard to set some lexemes into categories, since some of them seem to belong to more than one category and some seem to belong somewhere between two categories.
Lexical semantics, the subfield of semantics, studies how words denote things or abstract phenomena. Lexical semantics is concerned with theories and classification of meaning as well as relations between components such as their similarities.
Lexical semantics is not a theoretical study as much as descriptive. It is not possible to just follow the theory because all lexical items need to be regarded from the point of view of practical contextual semantics. All aspects are important. We cannot study synonymy only theoretically; it has to be supported by practical research. Without practical study the topic cannot be fully understood. Cruse classes it as empirical study. "Semantics done this way has more of the character of an 'observational science', like geology, than that of an 'experimental science', such as physics or chemistry." It is obvious that an experimental science such as chemistry will have more research results and more pieces of information in a shorter time than an observational science such as semantics.
The first source of meaning of a linguistic component is the first intuition of the hearer. Meaning can be formed differently in the mind of a speaker or a hearer. S/he must pay attention to all parts of the communication and relationships between the members of the communication and between single constituents.
The first impression of synonymy is intuitive; however, intuition is not sufficient evidence. The proof of the relationship must be given. The intuition of synonymous words must be proved by objective analysis supported by work with dictionaries. An empirical study of synonymy is necessary, since the semantic properties of items "are fully reflected in appropriate aspects of the relations it contracts with actual and potential contexts". An empirical study of synonymy can be carried out by comparing the synonyms in relevant contexts where extra-linguistic aspects of meaning can be
found [20-35]. Comparing different contexts helps us to control linguistic contexts. This is called the 'contextual approach' by Cruse . The relation between the lexical item and its extra-linguistic context is shown and the semantic properties can be reflected. The nature of the changes can be studied in contextual approach.
The primary data of semantics can be studied in various ways using a contextual approach. The first principle is intuitive semantic judgment as mentioned above. The intuitive judgment must be based on at least a simple sentence. The second principle is elicitation which has an experimental character. It is a controlled study of situational contexts where informants are asked to name semantic models. The informants must be asked accurate questions. When we study synonymy, the informants must assess the natural occurrence and meaningfulness of the sentences. Another test is called 'entailment' by Cruse. When studying synonymy, the propositions are viewed and studied in more contexts. The relations and affinities of propositions undergo semantic analysis. Entailment is good for discovering whether the propositions are hyponyms or synonyms where the boundary of confusion is mall. A lexical item may be subjected to research in all possible contexts. This type of testing is demanding but ideal for testing absolute synonymy. Two absolute synonyms must be replaceable in all possible contexts without changes to meaning. When the test shows the propositions are changeable only in some contexts, it points to partial synonymy. Synonymy discovers more than one expression for one meaning and the reason for that can be found in the diversity of texts and its descriptive function.
Vocabulary is an extensive and adaptive system of all lexical items (i.e. words, word expressions) used in a particular language. It is a systematic phenomenon consisting of many levels and sub-levels on which it functions and every part of the system fits into the other.
Words are typically listed in a dictionary which is the simplest grouping of words, but it is necessary to emphasize that this approach to vocabulary is not that simple. "There are different relationships and connections between words, and different types of groupings of vocabulary used for different purposes, depending which quality of words is taken into consideration: semantic, formal, synchronic, diachronic, etc." It is important especially for teachers to explain correctly what vocabulary is and emphasize that it is not as simple as it seems at first sight. It is not just a list of words, but it is a system where many interactions between words take place that need to be taken into account.
Vocabulary is an open and resourceful system. It means that unlike closed systems vocabulary is constantly changing and evolving. Lexical systems adjust according to the needs of communication. Changes are subject to the requirements of communication, science, culture or age. As the world is changing, so is vocabulary. Vocabulary loses words, gains new ones, borrows some from other languages, and some
words are updated. This all influences synonyms, especially the change of meaning, and gaining of an additional meaning. Synonyms still accrue, wane or alter their meaning.
Synonymy is included in the semantic grouping (or field) or lexico-semantic group by Arnold. Words related semantically are characterized by their meaning. Synonyms are related on the basis of similarities and differences in meaning, while sharing the general meaning. Synonyms are one of the many sub-levels of vocabulary. They complete the system and interrelate with other parts of the system, e.g. relations, meaning, grouping. New synonyms contribute to vocabulary by entering and enriching the system. Synonyms exist for better description and expressing of ideas and their better understanding on the other side. New synonyms cause changes in the vocabulary, e.g. meaning changes, increasing or decreasing the number of words in the vocabulary.
SEMANTIC CONSTITUENTS
This chapter serves as a demarcation of boundaries between lexical units, i.e. words, word forms, lexemes and lexical units. The meaning of a sentence is formed by the meanings of individual lexical units. These units that carry the meaning and build the sentence meaning are called semantic constituents by Cruse. The crucial element of a language is a word. The term is ambiguous. It is widely understood as a grammatical unit by many linguists; however, a common definition of a word does not exist in the vast literature dealing with the category of linguistics.
A word is considered as a minimal element of a language which can move in a sentence or modify it under proper conditions. A word is a unity of a form and a meaning which serves as a name for an object or a concept of reality. 'Word' as a term is not good enough because it is an intuitional label lacking precision in semantic matters, e.g. should air force be considered one word or two words? Another example is the word make whose variants are - make, makes, made, making but should they be considered the same word, or variants of the same word because they semantically refer to one unit. For studying semantics, linguists prefer the terms lexeme and lexical unit which are precisely defined below.
The problems with defining a word were solved by distinguishing a word from other terms, word forms and lexemes. The fundamental unit, a lexeme, comes from linguist B. L. Wharf, who coined the term. Lexemes are formed from one or more word forms, which are characterized by different affixes. To be specific, I would like to show the difference between a lexeme and a word form with an example. Word forms are, for example, swim, swims, swimming, swam, swum but all these word forms have one common lexeme swim. Thus we can see that a lexeme is, in this case, the root of these words. We just simply add affixes (derivational or inflectional) to the lexical roots.
One lexeme can also hide several semantic words, i.e. elements of meaning, several senses. The word crown is one lexeme but it has more than one meaning: a symbol of power or a coin. Lexemes have great value for synonymy, because the
meaning is the same for all word forms. Lexemes can be simple or complex, depending on whether they contain one or more words. If a lexeme hides more than one sense, the context is necessary. One more very important term is 'lexical unit'. The difference between a lexeme and a lexical unit is that a lexeme is simply an entry in a dictionary, the most abstract item connecting meaning and form. A lexical unit, on the other hand, is one single meaning of a lexeme, a separated meaning. A lexeme in a dictionary has a subheading with multiple possible meanings. For example, the lexeme key has two possible meanings, i.e. a thing we use to open doors or a button on a computer. For synonymy lexical units are the most important units.
Kvetko deals mainly with the terms 'morphological' and 'lexical words'. These terms are given in contrast to the term 'semantic word' which was described above. One lexical item can create several morphological words. One of many examples is the lexical item make where the grammatical words are makes, made. The lexical item is equal to the word lexeme. Kvetko states that lexemes are dictionary terms. He considers the relation word - lexeme as one of the most important distinctions.
Arnold differentiates lexical units. She understands lexical units as components which can be further analyzed. The basic unit is the word. Words can be analyzed into morphemes that cannot be further analyzed into smaller parts. The next unit is a set expression which is a word group used in speech as a complete unit. They have a special meaning which is a more abstract sum of the meaning of the elements. The last unit is an orthographic word which is a sequence of letters divided by spaces, e.g. phrasal verbs or complex prepositions.
Cruse illustrates two types of units for lexical semantics - lexical units and lexemes. He presents lexemes as items in the lexicon listed alphabetically with one sense that can be associated with many other senses. He understands lexemes as "a family of lexical units". Lexical units express identity through relations and they form meaning complexes. Lexical units are composites of lexical forms and senses in a very similar way to word forms and lexemes mentioned above. Lexical units can be made from a lexeme only by adding derivational affixes (e.g. dis-, un-, -ship), not by adding inflectional affixes (e.g. -s, -ed). Lexical forms are formed with inflectional affixes. In this characteristic lexical units are significant for synonymy in this perspective. Lexical units are significant in relations, especially in synonymy and antonymy. Synonymy is a relation between lexical units. An example is dishonest: honest, where two lexical units express the relation of the words. Two lexical units are made from one lexeme. What we are interested in is the relation between them, either how similar or how different they are.
A more sophisticated explanation is provided by Lipka . He distinguishes lexemes, lexical items, and word forms on the one hand, and lexical entries and lexical units on the other hand. The lexeme is an abstract unit which Lipka sometimes
substitutes with the term 'lexical item'. The lexeme is also a sign with a specific linguistic function which can be simple or complex. Constituents forming lexemes are either morphemes (make), phrasal lexemes (hold on) or idioms (make up). The lexeme buy differs from the word-forms buys, bought. The term lexical entry in Lipka's model proceeds from the properties of a word. Properties can have six variants: phonological, graphic, morphological, inflectional, syntactic and semantic. We have to analyze the word to its syntactic properties to see the lexeme and affixes, which helps us to distinguish the type of specification.
Classification of words Classifications of words are heterogeneous, but always organized according to the features they share. The common feature is typically on the basis of meaning. Kvetko points out the most typical classification of words - into word classes (parts of speech). There are traditionally ten word classes - nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners and interjections. Synonyms are usually found within adjectives, nouns, verbs or adverbs. Synonymy is considered within one word class, not across them.
Lipka distinguishes three types of words:
- phonological unit
- grammatical unit
- abstract unit
The first one is a phonological unit, a word as a sequence of sounds. The second type is understood as a grammatical unit representing a sequence of letters and the last one as an abstract unit. This structural classification is irrelevant for the study of synonymy as it is a meaning relation. Thus the common meaning shared by two different forms needs to be considered, we need to look at the word as if from 'inside'. Kvetko and also Palmer divide words into 2 very important categories:
- lexical words
- grammatical words
Synonymous words we are interested in are lexical words with full meaning. Lexical (or content, notional) words have the quality that they can stand by themselves while a grammatical word has to be combined with a lexical word. Lexical words are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, and more than grammatical words they have the ability to form words and are able to form utterances. Lexical words are related into higher units, sentences, by using grammatical words. Grammatical (or functional) words are articles, auxiliary verbs, object pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions, which express grammatical relationships between words within a sentence. The same two types are stated by F. R. Palmer with the difference that he calls lexical words "full" words and grammatical words "form" words.
Linguists dealing with synonymy and other meaning relations are mostly interested in lexical words. Their content reflects reality. The same content is the sense or notion we find in related words which we call synonyms. Synonyms differ at least in one reflection of reality but correspond in more important aspects of the meaning.
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