Lecture 1. 05.02.

24
English Ukrainian most relevant issues of more than linguistics when we speak
about the comparison between languages we principles that we are going to find
out the bills Common and distinctive characteristics which make the languages on
the one hand be similar in some respect but on the other hand all these distinctive
features make these languages different.
Contrastive lexicology of English and Ukrainian is a branch of linguistics which
comprises knowledge concerning specificity of the English and Ukrainian Lexus in
order to find out both similarities and differences in their structure and functioning.
It is an applied science which contributes to the translations theory as well as
practice concerning English and Ukrainian. Contrastive typological investigations
may be focused on various linguistic phenomena ranging from separate science of
the phonetic or phonological lexical morphological and syntactic plane up to
several languages. Many of these signs phenomenon may be contrasted either
synchronically or diaconically. Contrastive typological studies are both various and
many found? As they may involve at separate language feature or phenomenon
belonging to some geneologically close or geologically aline languages. They may
also involve similar features relevant to many geologically different languages.
English and Ukrainian have the common European roots and some parts of the
vocabulary coincide. Both languages have had the influences of the other linguistic
association, for example Norman Empire takes roots in English through French.
Different languages dominated over English and Ukrainian and otherwise had the
huge destructive changes into language purity. However, the development, the
historical conditions and the peculiarities of the making literary norm are different.
We should remember that English is the global language. It is the language of the
international communication. It is the world language. In this respect I may advise
you the very book written by prominent linguist David Crystal “English as a global
language” a very interesting book where the English language is characterized
from various angles and the explanations concerning the status of the English
language etc.
Ukrainian is the language only starts to return to our native ethnical grounds in
every communicative sphere. English has been enriched of new nominations in
spite of 80% of foreign words there. Still some years ago Ukrainian has been
served in only particular spheres of life. Namely, usual domestic communication
and official speech. Ukrainian terminological system in many sciences has not still
developed. Nowadays, Ukraine is the independent state and government has raised
the question about the significance of the Ukrainian language. Still foreign words
continue to influencing our language particularly English, Latin and French word
are still often used in everyday communication.
Lexicology is a broad branch of linguistics; it is the science of language. The term
lexicology is composed of two morphemes (from Gr lexis “word” and logos
“learning”), thus the literal meaning of the term lexicology is the science of the
word. Lexicology is closely connected with other linguistic disciplines, like
phonetics, grammar, lingo-stylistics, translation studies, history of the language
and many others.
if we speak about this close relationship between Stylistics and other subjects, we
have to mention here that phonetics is concerned with the study of the outer sound
form of the word. grammar is the study of the grammatical structure of language. it
is concerned with various means of expressing grammatical relations between
words and with patterns after which words are combined into word groups and
sentences. in this respect linguo-stylisctics is concerned with the nature functions
and structure of stylistic devices on the one hand and with this study of each style
of language on the other.
in this context lexicology as a branching linguistics has its own aims and methods
of scientific research. its basic task is the study and systematic description of
vocabulary units in respect to their origin, development and current use. by
vocabulary units we mean words. Besides lexicology is concerned with words,
word groups, phraseological units and with morphemes which make up words.
distinction is usually made between general lexicology and special lexicology.
general lexicology is part of general linguistics. it is concerned with the study of
the vocabulary irrespective of this specific features of any particular language.
special lexicology is lexicology of a particular languages. for example English,
Ukrainian, French, German etc. thus it deals with the study and description of the
languages vocabulary and vocabulary units primarily words as the main units of
language.
the special lexicology is based on the principles worked out and lead down by
general lexicology which is a general theory of the vocabulary.
vocabulary of the language – is all the words which are used in the language. thus
we of course have both our active and passive vocabulary but very often the words
from passive vocabulary may penetrate the active one and vice versa. it depends
upon many various factors, but still so one is to have his or her active vocabulary
being rather extended. two be able to communicate, make reports on different
topics, participate in international conferences etc.
Words are used to communicate to be able to communicate. of course it is
significant that many scolars have attempted to define the word as a linguistic
phenomenon. There are various definitions of the word, approaching it from
various angles. Yet not all the definitions can be considered totally satisfactory in
all aspects.
There is nothing accidental about the vocabulary of the language. We know that
each word is a small unit within a vast efficient and perfectly balanced system.
Another term is the words stock or the stock of words. We don’t know why it
posses these qualities nor do we know much about the processes it has acquired
them.
The main characteristics of the word:
A unit of speech which serves the purposes of human communication. Thus, the
word can be defined as a unit of communication.
The word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which it comprises.
From the structural point of view the word posses several characteristics: the
modern approach of word studies is based on distinguishing between the external
and the internal structures of the word.
by the external structure of the word we mean it's morphological structure, For
example, in the word post-impressionists the following morphemes can be
distinguished: the prefixes post-, im-, the root –press-, the noun-forming suffixes -
ion, -ist, and the grammatical suffix of plurality -s. All these morphemes constitute
the external structure of the word post-impressionists.
by the internal structure of the word we mean it's meaning. it is the words semantic
structure, this is certainly the words main aspect. Words can serve the purposes of
a human communication due to their meanings. the area of lexicology specializing
in the semantic studies of the word is called semantics.
another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possesses its both the
external or formal unity and the semantic unity.
The formal unity of the word can best be illustrated by comparing a word and a
word-group comprising identical constituents.
The difference between a blackbird and a black bird is best explained by their
relationship with the grammatical system of the language. The word blackbird,
which is characterized by unity, possesses a single grammatical framing:
blackbirds. The first constituent black is not subject to any grammatical changes.
In the word-group a black bird each constituent can acquire grammatical forms of
its own: the blackest birds I've ever seen. Other words can be inserted between the
components which is impossible so far as the word is concerned as it would violate
its unity: a black night bird.
The same example may be used to illustrate what we mean by semantic unity. In
the word-group a black bird each of the meaningful words conveys a separate
concept: bird – a kind of living creature; black – a color. The word blackbird
conveys only one concept: the type of bird. This is one of the main features of any
word: it always conveys one concept, no matter how many component morphemes
it may have in its external structure.
A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to grammatical
employment. In speech most words can be used in different grammatical forms in
which their interrelations are realized.
To sum it up, the word is a speach unit used for the purposes of human
communication materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning,
having grammatical employment and characterized by the formal and semantic
unity.
Modern approaches to this problem are characterized by two different levels of
study: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.
On the syntagmatic level, the semantic structure of the word is analyzed in its
linear relationships with neighboring words in connected speech. In other words,
the semantic characteristics of the word are observed, described and studied on the
basis of its typical contexts.
On the paradigmatic level, the word is studied in its relationships with other
words in the vocabulary system. So, a word may be studied in comparison with
other words of a similar meaning (e. g. work, n. – labor, n.; to refuse, v. – to reject
v. – to decline, v.), of opposite meaning (e. g. busy, adj. – idle, adj.; to accept, v. –
to reject, v.), of different stylistic characteristics (e. g. man, n. – chap, n. – bloke, n.
— guy, n.). Consequently, the key problems of paradigmatic studies are
synonymy, antonymy, and functional styles
the vocabulary can be studied synchronically (at a given stage of its development),
or diachronically (in the context of the processes through which it grew, developed
and acquired its modern form). sometimes we may come across the idea
concerning the opposition of these two approaches. we simply need to differentiate
between them, because much depends upon the topic of research if the scolar is
interested in any language phenomenon functioning at present thus in
contemporary English or contemporary Ukrainian then of course he was she will
prefer to use this synchronic approach to the study of vocabulary. if one is
interested in the history of words various origin then of course one is close to
diatronic approach to the study of vocabulary.
also when we speak about certain lexicological problems here we can mention:
 word building
 functional styles
 synonymy and antonymy etc
word building in English and Ukrainian has many common features. considerable
quality of prefixes and suffixes has analogs in English and Ukrainian languages.
for example English singer in Ukrainian співак. equivalent of English word with
the affix will be the affix foundation in Ukrainian. Affix or affixal system in
Ukrainian is richer than English. for example Ukrainian мамо may have also such
words made with the help of word-forming suffixes like мамусю, ягода-ягідка,
кіт-кішка-кицюня, whereas in English mother – mommy, then berry and cat -
kitty.
The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, is nowadays commonly
referred to as the word's semantic structure. This is certainly the word's main
aspect. Words can serve the purposes of human communication solely due to their
meanings. Some words have sufficiently transparent phonetic motivation (for
example: англ. to snore, to tinkle, to jingle; укр. хропіти, деренчати, дзвякати).
For Ukrainian it is a wide spreaded complex adjective (фізико-математичний
факультет, розмовно-просторічна лексика); but for English this method is not
typical. English words can build by convertion method: a spring to spring, a smoke
to smoke, a stage to stage, a play to play; and the method of lexicalization: a don't-
wake-the-baby voice. These ways of word building are not typical for Ukrainian.
By the way we will indeed analyze the system of word building in both English
and Ukrainian, because there are certain differences between various types of word
building. When speak about the very results of contrastive language studies first
we have to mention that the results gained in the course of contrastive lexicology
studies can be employed both in theoretical linguistics and in teaching practices
The lexical level like any other level of language stratification, is represented
by some characteristic constants and their peculiar features. The principal
constants of this language level are the following:
 words, their semantic classes and word-forming means as well as their
structural models and stylistic peculiarities of use;
 the second object of contrasting alongside of separate words and their
classes present the lexico-semantic groups (LSGs) of words which are
pertained to the contrasted languages;
 the third group of lexical units contrasted at this level are stable and
idiomatic expressions which are also of universal nature, though they always
have some national peculiarities in every single language (idioms, proverbs,
sayings).
As we are going to deal with mostly lexico semantic level of the language we have
to say that this is one of those language levels which is very sensitive to changes.
New words emerge in language as a result of technological advancements,
particularly in fields like science, engineering, physics, and economy. Concepts
such as internet, email, mobile phones, and computers were unfamiliar just a
decade ago but have become integral to everyday communication. All these words
have become international ones because they are used in many languages all over
the world These terms have not only penetrated the lexical level but have also
become international, maintaining consistent spelling and pronunciation across
various languages. The evolution of language is closely tied to developments in
science and technology, leading to the adoption of new words on a global scale.
Phraseology is the branch of lexicology specialising in word-groups which are
characterised by stability of structure and transferred meaning. For example,
in English we have “Either win the horse or lose the saddle” – Або пан, або
пропав, “Not to know chalk from cheese” – Нічого не розуміти, не тямити. East
or west - home is best. We never know the value of water till the well is dry. You
can take the horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. Those who live in
glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
There are many other idioms which also speak about the very richness of the
vocabulary of the language. The same in Ukrainian, we have many various
proverbs and sayings which represent the mentality.
Phraseological units, or idioms, as they are called by most western scholars,
represent what can probably be described as the most picturesque, colourful and
expressive part of the language's vocabulary.
They are characterized by a double sense which means that the current
meanings of constituent words build up certain picture but the actual
meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to do with that picture creating
an entirely new image by itself. Let's take for instance the very idiom a dark
horse. So, a dark horse mentioned above is actually not a horse but a person about
whom no one knows anything definite, and so one is not sure what can be expected
from him. The imagery of a bull in a china shop lies very much on the surface: the
idiom describes a clumsy person. The green-eyed monster is jealousy, the image
being drawn from Othello.