You cannot speak a language proficiently if you do not understand its vocabulary or lexicon. To speak a language proficiently, you must understand the origin of its words, the relationship that exist among them, their meanings, how they are used in sentences, etc.,. This brings us to the study of lexicology in linguistics.
What is Lexicology?
Lexicology is the study of the lexis of a language. It is also known as the study of the vocabulary or lexicon of a language—basically, the totality of words in a language. To be able to understand lexicology, you must first come to terms with the fact that words, and lexis are not the same. While words are lexical items in context, that is, when lexical items are used in larger structures like sentences, lexis refers to lexical items in a language in isolation—that is, without being used in context like words.
Since lexicology is the study of the lexis of a language, our focus will be on lexis not words. What this implies is that the field of lexicology looks at lexical items in a language in isolation, without considering context. Our focus here is on lexical items as individual elements, in isolation, not as part of a larger group.
So we will not explore how lexical items can generate different meanings when used in sentences, rather our attention will be on their basic meanings—the common meanings which they are primarily associated with. Now take for instance; the lexical item, "boy", is generally associated with a young male human when used in isolation, but it is bound to take up other meanings when used in sentences, in which case it becomes a word.
Features of Lexicology
The field of lexicology is interested in the study of the lexis of a language to be able to uncover the following features:
Meaning
As I already established before now, the field of lexicology is interested in the meaning lexical items in a language express in isolation. This aspect evaluates the meaning of lexical items to uncover how they mean what they mean. It branches into lexeme which is the study of the basic units of meaning of lexical items.
Lexical items can have multiple interpretations but their interpretations are often connected. Take for instance: the word, "see", can mean to look at something or someone, it can also mean to understand or to have foresight. You can tell that these meanings are related.
Also, lexical items can have different inflectional forms, for instance, the item: "be", can be realized as the following: "be", "is", "was", "were", "being", up to eight forms. These are what we uncover when we study the meaning of lexical items or lexemes.
Origin or History
The field of lexicology is also concerned with the origin of lexical items in a language. It examines the places where items originated from. For instance: items like, "tiger", and "curry", are known to have originated from India, before making their way into the English lexicon. Lexicology, in the same vein, studies how the meaning of items change over a period of time. For instance: the lexical item: "meat", was used to refer to all types of foods in the past, but now it refers to the consumable flesh of livestock. This study is usually identified as historical lexicology.
Usage
Just as it is important to understand the meaning and origin of lexical items in a language, it is equally important to study how they are used. Lexicology evaluates how lexical items in a language are used in sentences to communicate ideas, issue commands, or make inquiries. For instance: the item, "man", usually plays the role of a noun in sentences as in: "Jason is man", but it can also act as a verb, as in, "Marty manned the ship by himself".
Relationship
Lexicologists are interested in the intrinsic relationship that exist between items in a language. They study how items are related and grouped based on their meanings. For instance: items with similar or related meanings are identified as synonyms, those with contrasting meanings are identified as antonyms, and those that belong to the same category are grouped as hyponyms. For instance: "tulip", and "rose", belong to the same category known as, "flowers", and so they are grouped together as hyponyms.
Also, lexical items can express certain meanings when they co-occur with other lexical items, which they cannot express in isolation. For instance: the meaning communicated in this sentence: "The chief has kicked the bucket", which is an euphemism for passing away, cannot be communicated by the individual items used in the sentence
Acquisition
Lexicology studies how people can learn the lexical items of a language. Lexicologists often come up with theories for learning or acquiring items in a language, after studying both the speakers of a language and the language itself. These theories provide actionable insights on how second language or foreign speakers can learn a language. Some of these language learning theories range from Behaviourists theory to nativists theory, cogntivist theory, etc.,.
So lexicology is an amazing field that focuses only on the lexical items in a language. It studies the meaning of lexical items, their origins, the relationship they share with one another, their usages and how they can be learnt or acquired among others. Understanding lexicology will better inform you on how the lexical items of a language work, and how best they can be learnt and used.
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