lexicology

Lexicology

The term “lexis “ refers to the vocabulary (words with the meaning content) of a language, each itself being referred to as a lexeme or lexical item .the entire range of lexical items in a language is known as its lexicon . thus ,lexicology refers to the study of the vocabulary of a language and the development of its lexicon .

 

Table 1. Difference of morpheme ,lexeme and sememe in English

	Morpheme	Lexeme	Sememe
Ball	(grammatical word ) Noun-naming an object or thing	(meaning word) The round object used used in games	(extended meaning word )(i)formal / socil event ;/dance (ii)part of palm or foot joining the fingers /toes
Eye	a.noun – namimg an     object /thing b.verb –a doing word describing an action	Organs with which we see To look at closely , carefully	a.Quiet center of a strom b. The hole in a sewing needle cte.
Hand	a.noun – namimg an object /thing b.verb –a doing word describing an action	The moveble part of the body at the end of the arm to give from one’s ows hand	a.The moving pointer on a clook etc b.To admit suceess

Lexical Decomposition

The first of these is lexical  decomposition.  lexical decomposition is a means of characterizing the detaillexical features of a word ,for example taking the words kitten, puppy and fawn we can see some commonality in them . individually we can assigh each of them.

Collocation

Another feature the is important in the field of word meaning is collocation . collocation refers to the co occurrence possibility or compatibility of a word with other words . this feature is spoken of in  syntagmatic terms . sentence ordering terms as well as formal tems (meaning compatibility ). For example “black” collocates well  with “black “box”black” coffee,” black “ board and “black “bird

where meaning compatibility is concerned ( lexical collocation ) a sentence such as “ they baked all the letters and served them  for  tea  “is not semantically sound as we know that “baked “ does not go well with “ letters “ . thus although the sentence is absolutely  grammatical , it does  not  collocate correctly for meaning . in the sentence , “ they baked all the cakes and served them for tea “ “ cakes and “ baked “ do collocate well ( they are semantically agreeable )

Denotation and Conntation

Denotation refers to the strict definition of a word , the class of things denoted by a word. for  example the lexeme “mother has its dictionary definition as female parent . Thus for “ mother “ the connotative meaning would entail “ compassion, love, comfort, solace, strength “ and other maternally eminent qualities.

Table2.  Denotation and Connotation in English

Cat	Denotation	Four – legged, furry , purry animal
	Connotation	Stealthy , spiteful , calculating , guiet
Feelings	Denotation	What someone senses/ emotions
	Connotation	Happy , sad , frightenet , glad ( the whole range from positive to negative  feelings)
Success	Denotation	Ability to pas or get through some difficulty
	Connotation	Positive feelings , happiness sense of achievement
Home	Denotation	Shlter and place of refuge
	Connotation	Protectiono , affection , love ,peace , happiness