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Chapter1Thedefinitionoflexicology1.1LexicologyThetermlexicologycontainstwoGreekmorphemes:lexiconandlogie.Theformermeanswordandthelattermeanslearningorthestudyof.TheliteralmeaningofthetermisthescienceofwordsLexicologyisthebranchoflinguisticsconcernedwiththestudyofthevocabularyofagivenlanguage.Itdealswithwords,theirorigin,development,history,structure,meaningandapplication.Inshort,itisthestudyofthesignificationandapplicationofwords.1.1.1AimsofthecourseofEnglishLexicologyAllthewordsinalanguagetogetherconstitutewhatisknownasitsvocabulary.Vocabularyisoneofthreeelementsoflanguage:speechsounds,grammarandvocabulary.Inlearningaforeignlanguage,itisveryimportanttoenlargeone’svocabulary.InordertolearnanduseEnglishwordscorrectly,thosewhomajorintheEnglishlanguageshouldacquireabasicknowledgeofEnglishlexicology.TheaimofthecourseinEnglishlexicologyistogiveasystematicdescriptionoftheEnglishvocabulary.Concretelyspeaking,EnglishlexicologyoffersstudentsaninsightintotheoriginanddevelopmentoftheEnglishvocabulary.ItdealswithmeaningsofModernEnglishwordsandtheirchangesinthecourseofhistoricaldevelopment.Itdiscussestheproblemsofword-structureandword-formationinEnglish,includingtheformationofnewwordswhichhaveappearedsincetheSecondWorldwar.ItalsostudiestheuseofEnglishwords,phrasesandidioms.1.1.2ThesignificanceofacourseinEnglishlexicologyforlanguagelearningisalsoevident.ThecoursewillhelpthelearnerstoenlargetheirvocabularyandimprovetheirabilitytoanalyzeanduseEnglishwords.EnglishlexicologyasatheoryofModernEnglishmaybeusefulinvocabularystudybecauseitderivesfrompracticeandshouldguidepracticesinceitisknownthatlanguagelearningrequirespractice.StudentswillusethebasicknowledgeofEnglishlexicologytounderstandthematerialalreadyfamiliartothemfromEnglishclassesandapplyitintheirfurtherstudyofEnglish.1.2TheconnectionofLexicologywithotherBranchesofLinguistics.1)Withphonetics语音学:Phoneticsisthestudyandsystematicclassificationofthesoundsmadeinthespokenutterance,thatis,thestudyofspeechsounds.Itiscloselyrelatedtolexicology.Withoutsoundthereisnowordbecauseeverywordisaunityofsoundandmeaning.2)Withgrammar:Vocabularyandgrammarareorganicallyrelatedtooneanother.Inlearningalanguage,attentiontogrammarisasimportantasattentiontovocabulary.Itisnotedthatthevocabularyisthebuildingmaterialofalanguage.Thevocabularyofalanguageassumestremendousimportancewhenitcomesunderthecontrolofgrammar,whichisconcernedwiththemodificationinformofwordsandthecombinationofwordsintosentences.3)Withstylistics文体学:Leechdefinesstylisticsasthestudyoftheuseoflanguageinliteratureandconsidersstylisticsameetinggroundoflinguisticsandliterarystudy.Toputithereconcerninglexicology,Stylisticsisthestudyofoptionalvariationsinthesounds,forms,orvocabularyofalanguage,differentsituationsofuse,ordifferentliterarytypes.Itshouldbementionedthatlexicologystudiesstylisticvariantsonthebasisofmeaningsofwordsandtheirchanges:synonyms,antonyms,etc.Stylisticsisconcernedwithlanguagevarietydifferingaccordingtouseratherthanuser.Thesameusermayusedifferentvarietiesfordifferentpurposes,differentsituations,inconversationwithdifferentpeople,toproducedifferenteffects.Thesamesubjectmattercanbeexpressedindifferentstyles,e.g.(1)Hisbelovedfriendhasbreathedhislast(咽气了)(2)Hisdearfriendhaspassedaway（与世长辞）(3)Hisclosefriendhasdied（死了）(4)Hisoldguyhaskickedthebucket.（翘辫子）(5)Hisoldfriendhasabandontheworld/jointhechoirinvisible/gotoNirvana/paythedebtofnature（谢世/归寂/去极乐世界/了结尘缘）4)Withhistoricallinguistics:Historicallinguisticsstudieswordsfromtheviewpointofdiachrony,whereaslexicologystudieswordsfromtheviewpointofbothsynchronyanddiachrony,butespeciallyofsynchrony.1.3TwoapproachestothestudyofEnglishlexicology.TherearetwomainapproachestothestudyofEnglishlexicology,thatis,synchronicanddiachronic.Thetermsynchronicmeansdescribingalanguageasitexistsatonepointoftime.Thetermdiachronicmeansconcernedwithhistoricaldevelopmentofalanguage.Asynchronicapproachisanapproachtothestudyofalanguageatoneperiodoftime,whereasadiachronicapproachisanapproachtothestudyofthechangeinalanguagethattookplaceoveraperiodoftime.Thefollowingexamplesmayillustratethedifferencebetweenthetwoapproachesandtheirinterrelation.1)Synchronically,wordslikeJanuary,February,etc.aresimplyEnglishwords,thenamesofthefirstandsecondmonthsoftheyear.Diachronically,theyareborrowedwords.TheywerederivedfromLatin.Forinstance,Januaryis“thedooroftheyear”.ThewordwasderivedfromLatinJanuameaningdoor.AugustisthenameofthefirstRomanEmperor,AugustusCaesar.ItissaidthatAugustusborrowedadayfromFebruaryandgaveAugust31days.2)Synchronically,wordslikewoman,Monday,etc.aresimplewords,awoman,notaman,andMonday,theseconddayoftheweek.Diachronically,theyexistedascompoundsinOldEnglish.Thewordwomancamefrom“wif+mann”.ThewordMondaycamefrom‘mona+dag”,thatis,thedayofthemoon.3)Synchronically,weconsiderwordslikeeventful,talkative,etc.asderivatives.Diachronically,theywerehybrids,thatiswordswhicharemadeoftwoparts,eachfromadifferentlanguage.EventisaLatinroot,fulisanoldEnglishsuffix.TalkisanoldEnglishroot,ativeisaLatinsuffix.4)Accordingtosynchron