Lexicology

 

Lexicology is the branch of linguistics, the science of language that studies words- their nature, meaning, structure, elements, relation between them, word groups, origin, and the whole lexicon or dictionary embodying all the words, idioms, and phrases used in a particular language.  The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis, meaning ‘word, phrase’, and logos, denoting ‘learning, a department of knowledge’. That is, the literal meaning of the term lexicology is the ‘science of the word’.

Lexicology has its aims and methods of scientific research, its basic task being the study and systematic description of vocabulary. The key features of lexicology are given below:

Word formation: How words are created, for example, compounding, derivation, blending

Word structure- Analyze the internal components of words (prefixes, roots, suffixes)

Word meaning- Exploring semantics and the changes in word meaning over time.

Word origins (Etymology) -Study where words come from and how they have evolved.

Vocabulary system- How words are grouped and related (synonyms, antonyms, etc.)

Types of Lexicology:

General Lexicology-  A branch of lexicology that studies the general properties and features of words across all languages. It focuses on universal features of vocabulary rather than the specifics of a single language. It studies the nature of the word, word structure, word meaning, word formation processes, lexical relations, word classification, semantic changes, and so on.

Special Lexicology- A branch of lexicology that studies the vocabulary of a specific language- its structure, meaning, usage, and development, for example, English lexicology, French lexicology, etc.

Contrastive Lexicology- A branch of lexicology that studies and compares the vocabularies of two or more languages to identify similarities and differences. Contrastive lexicology is applicable for language teaching and translation, dictionary compilation (bilingual dictionaries), and cross-cultural communication studies.