The properties of the words as the basic units of the language

1.1. The Object of Lexicology and its Connection with Other Branches of Linguistics
Lexicology derives from two Greek words lexis "word" and logos "learning". It is
a branch of Linguistics dealing with the vocabulary system of the language. It studies
the total sum of all the words that the language possesses. Thus, this science studies
the properties of the words as the basic units of the language.
The word can be defined as a structural and semantic entity of the language
system. The word is simultaneously a semantic, grammatical and phonological unit.
Lexicology studies various lexical units: words, variable word-groups, phraseological
units, and morphemes which make up words. The word as well as any linguistic sign
is a two-faced unit possessing both form and content or in other words sound-form
and meaning.
The term vocabulary means the total sum of words that there are in the language.
The size of the vocabulary of any language is huge. No person can learn or know all
the words of the language. Individual people possess their own total vocabulary
consisting of all the words they know. Another word used to denote vocabulary is the
term lexicon. In modern Linguistics three main meanings of the term lexicon are
distinguished: 1) the vocabulary which a speaker of a language has in his or her head,
that is, mental lexicon; 2) the set of lexemes of a language and the processes which
are related to them; 3) the set of lexical items of a language.
Distinction is made between General Lexicology and Special Lexicology.
General lexicology is a part of General linguistics. It is concerned with the study of
vocabulary and its basic units, irrespective of the specific features of any particular
language. It works out basic notions and methods of vocabulary study. Within the
frames of General Lexicology many notions, such as the notion of the word, the
notion of the meaning, the notion of the context, the notion of system relations are
investigated. Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular language (English,
Russian, German, French, etc.). It describes words and vocabulary of one particular
language. Every Special Lexicology is based on the principles of General Lexicology.
Special Lexicology is further subdivided into Diachronic/Historical and
Synchronic/Descriptive. Historical Lexicology deals with the evolution of any
vocabulary, the origin of words, their change and development. The subject matter of
Descriptive Lexicology is the vocabulary of a particular language at a given stage of
its development. It studies mainly the structure and specific functions of words.
2.The connection of lexicology with other language aspects
There are different aspects or branches of Lexicology. Any language is the unity
of different aspects: grammar, vocabulary, and sound system. As Lexicology is the
science that deals with vocabulary systems, it is definitely connected with all the rest
of the aspects. Lexicology is linked with phonetics since the latter is concerned with
the study of the sound-form of the word. There is a close relationship between Lexicology and Grammar. Grammar is concerned with various means of expressing
grammatical relations between words as well as with patterns according to which
words are combined into word-groups and sentences. Lexicology is bound up with
Stylistics since there are problems of meaning, vocabulary stratification, style treated
in the frames of both the branches. The structure of words is studied by morphology.
Ways of coining new words is the object of word-building, meaning of words, their
relations in vocabulary became the object of semasiology. Set-expressions and
idioms are studied by phraseology, the origin of words, their development in the
language are dealt with etymology and the behaviour of words in speech is
considered by contextology.