37.

The importance of English lexicology is based not on the

size of its vocabulary, however big it is, but on the fact that at
present it is the world’s most widely used language. One of the
most fundamental works on the English language of the
present — “A Grammar of Contemporary English” by R.
Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik (1978) —
gives the following data: it is spoken as a native language by
nearly three hundred million people in Britain, the United
States, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa
and some other countries. The knowledge of English is widely
spread geographically — it is in fact used in all continents. It is
also spoken in many countries as a second language and used
in official and business activities there. This is the case in India,
Pakistan and many other former British colonies. English is
also one of the working languages of the United Nations and
the universal language of international aviation. More than a
half world’s scientific literature is published in English and
60% of the world’s radio broadcasts are in English. For all
these reasons it is widely studied all over the world as a foreign
language.
The theoretical value of lexicology becomes obvious if we
realise that it forms the study of one of the three main aspects
of language, i.e. its vocabulary, the other two being its
grammar and sound system. The theory of meaning was
originally developed within the limits of philosophical science.
The relationship between the name and the thing named has in
the course of history constituted one of the key questions in
gnostic theories and therefore in the struggle of materialistic
and idealistic trends. The idealistic point of view assumes that
the earlier
forms of words disclose their real correct meaning, and that
originally language was created by some superior reason so
that later changes of any kind are looked upon as distortions
and corruption.
Lexicology came into being to meet the demands of many
different branches of applied linguistics, namely of
lexicography, standardisation of terminology, information
retrieval, literary criticism and especially of foreign language
teaching.
Its importance in training a would-be teacher of languages is
of a quite special character and cannot be overestimated as it
helps to stimulate a systematic approach to the facts of
vocabulary and an organised comparison of the foreign and
native language. It is particularly useful in building up the
learner’s vocabulary by an effective selection, grouping and
analysis of new words. New words are better remembered if
they are given not at random but organised in thematic groups,
word-families, synonymic series, etc.
A good knowledge of the system of word-formation furnishes
a tool helping the student to guess and retain in his memory
the meaning of new words on the basis of their motivation and
by comparing and contrasting them with the previously
learned elements and patterns.
The knowledge, for instance, of the meaning of negative,
reversative and pejorative prefixes and patterns of derivation
may be helpful in understanding new words. For example
such words as immovable a, deforestation n and miscalculate
v will be readily understood as ‘that cannot be moved’,
‘clearing land from forests’ and ‘to calculate wrongly’.
By drawing his pupils’ attention to the combining
characteristics of words the teacher will prevent many
mistakes.1 It will be word-groups falling into patterns, instead
of lists of unrelated items, that will be presented in the
classroom.
A working knowledge and understanding of functional styles
and stylistic synonyms is indispensable when literary texts are
used as a basis for acquiring oral skills, for analytical reading,
discussing fiction and translation. Lexicology not only gives a
systematic description of the present make-up of the
vocabulary, but also helps students to master the literary
standards of word usage. The correct use of words is an
important counterpart of expressive and effective speech.
An exact knowledge of the vocabulary system is also
necessary in connection with technical teaching means.
Lexicology plays a prominent part in the general linguistic
training of every philologist by summing up the knowledge
acquired during all his years at the foreign language faculty. It
also imparts the necessary skills of using different kinds of
dictionaries and reference books, and prepares for future
independent work on increasing and improving one’s
vocabulary.
38.

The native element The borrowed element

1.Indo-European element I. Celtic (5th – 6th c.A.D.).

2.Germanic element II. Latin

1st group: 1st c.B.C.

2st group: 7th c.A.C.

3st group: the Renaissance

period

3.English Proper element III. Scandinavian (8th – 11th

(no earlier than 5th c.A.D.) c.A.D.)

IV. French

1. Norman borrowings:
11th–13th c.A.D.

2. Parisian borrowings
(Renaissance)

V. Greek (Renaissance)

VI. Italian (Renaissance and

later)

VII. Spanish (Renaissance

and later)

VIII. German

IX. Indian

X. Russian and some other

groups

By the Indo-European element are meant words of roots

common to all (or most) languages of the Indo-European
group. The words of this group denote elementary concepts
without which no human communication would be
possible. The following groups can be identified.
1.Family relations: father, mother, brother, son, daughter.
2.Parts of the human body: foot, nose, lip, heart.
3.Animals: cow, swine, goose.
4.Plants: tree, birch, corn.
5.Time of day: day, night.
6.Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star.
Numerous adjectives: red, new, glad, sad
7.The numerals from one to a hundred.
8.Pronouns - personal (except “they” which is a
Scandinavian borrowing) and demonstrative.
9.Numerous verbs: be, stand, sit, eat, know.
The Germanic element represents words of roots common
to all or most Germanic languages. Some of the main
groups of Germanic words are the same as in the Indo-
European element.
1.Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone.
2.Animals: bear, fox, calf.
3.Plants: oak, fir, grass.
4.Natural phenomena: rain, frost.
5.Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer.
6.Landscape features: sea, land.
7.Human dwellings and furniture: house, room, bench
8.Sea-going vessels: boat, ship.
9.Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white, small, thick, high, old,
good.
10.Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, give,
drink.
The English proper element is opposed to the first two
groups. For not only it can be approximately dated, but these
words have another distinctive feature: they are specifically
English have no cognates in other languages whereas for
Indo-European and Germanic words such cognates can
always be found, as, for instance, for the following words of
the Indo-European group.
Star: Germ. - Stern, Lat. - Stella, Gr. - aster.
Stand: Germ. – stehen, Lat. - stare, R. – стоять.
Here are some examples of English proper words: bird, boy,
girl, lord, lady, woman, daisy, always.
Latin affixes of nouns:
The suffix (-ion): legion, opinion, etc.; the suffix (-tion):
relation, temptation, etc.
Latin affixes of verbs:
The suffix (-ate): appreciate, create, congratulate, etc.; the
suffix (-ute): attribute, distribute, etc.; the remnant suffix (-
ct): act, collect, conduct, etc.; the prefix (dis-): disable,
disagree, etc.