1. Lexicology as a science. Branches of lexicology.

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics, which deals with the vocabulary of a language and the properties of words as the main units of language. The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes ‘lexis’ – word, phrase and ‘logos’ – learning, i.e. the science of the word. However the literal meaning gives only the general motion of the aims and the subject matter of this brunch of linguistics, since all the other brunches also study words in one way or another. Ex: phonetics is connected with the study of the outer sound-form of the word. Grammar – with the study of the grammatical structure of language. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own aims and methods of scientific research. Its basic task is a study and systematic description of vocabulary, in respect to its origin, development and current use. Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units and morphemes which make up words. The general study of words and vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any particular language is known as general lexicology. Special lexicology is the lexicology of a particular language. Within lexicology we distinguish various brunches: semaseology studies meaning; phraseology studies word groups functionally and semantically inseparable, i.e. phraseological units; word-formation – the study of various types and ways of forming words; etymology – the study of the origin and history of words, causes of their appearance, their volume; lexicography is considered by some linguists to be a separate branch of linguistics, connected with lexicology. Still others think it to be a brunch of lexicology. Lexicography is a science of dictionary compiling. It deals with the same problems as lexicology – the form, meaning, usage and origin of vocabulary units.

2. What is a word

We do know that the word is a unit of speech which, as such, serves the purposes of human communication. Thus, the word can be defined as a unit of communication.

Secondly, the word can be perceived as the total of the sounds which comprise it.

Third, the word, viewed structurally, possesses several characteristics.

The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and the internal structures of the word.

¹ By the vocabulary of a language is understood the total sum of its words. Another term for the same is the stock of words

The word is a speech unit used for the purposes of human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterised by formal and semantic unity.

The external structure of words, and also typical word-formation patterns, are studied in the section on word-building (see Ch. 5, 6).

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, and it is most unfortunate when this fact is ignored by some contemporary scholars who, in their obsession with the fetish of structure tend to condemn as irrelevant anything that eludes mathematical analysis. And this is exactly what meaning, with its subtle variations and shifts, is apt to do.

The area of lexicology specialising in the semantic studies of the word is called semantics.

Another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possesses both external (or formal) unity and semantic unity. Formal unity of the word is sometimes inaccurately interpreted as indivisibility. The example of post-impressionists has already shown that the word is not, strictly speaking, indivisible. Yet, its component morphemes are permanently linked together in opposition to word-groups, both free and with fixed contexts, whose components possess a certain structural freedom, e. g. bright light, to take for granted.

3 Informal Style

Informal vocabulary is used in one's immediate circle: family, relatives or friends. One uses informal words when at home or when feeling at home.

Informal style is relaxed, free-and-easy, familiar and unpretentious. But it should be pointed out that the informal talk of well-educated people considerably differs from that of the illiterate or the semi-educated; the choice of words with adults is different from the vocabulary of teenagers; people living in the provinces use certain regional words and expressions. Consequently, the choice of words is determined in each particular case not only by an informal (or formal) situation, but also by the speaker's educational and cultural background, age group, and his occupational and regional characteristics.

Informal words and word-groups are traditionally divided into three types: colloquial, slang and dialect words and word-groups.

4 Colloquial Words

Among other informal words, colloquialisms are the least exclusive: they are used by everybody, and their sphere of communication is comparatively wide, at least of literary colloquial words. These are informal words that are used in everyday conversational speech both by cultivated and uneducated people of all age groups. The sphere of communication of literary colloquial words also includes the printed page, which shows that the term "colloquial" is somewhat inaccurate.

Vast use of informal words is one of the prominent features of 20th century English and American literature. It is quite natural that informal words appear in dialogues in which they realistically reflect the speech of modern people.

Here are some more examples of literary colloquial words. Pal and chum are colloquial equivalents of friend; girl, when used colloquially, denotes a woman of any age; bite and snack stand for meal; hi, hello are informal greetings, and so long a form of parting; start, go on, finish and be through are also literary colloquialisms; to have a crush on somebody is a colloquial equivalent of to be in love. A bit (of) and a lot (of) also belong to this group.

Literary colloquial words should not only be included in the students' functional and recognition vocabularies, but also presented and drilled in suitable contexts and situations, mainly in dialogues. It is important that students should be trained to associate these words with informal, relaxed situations.

5 The informal element in the vocabulary. Slang. Slang words are expressive mostly ironical words serving to create fresh names for some things that are frequent topics of discourse. The etimology of word “slang” had not been established so far. In different dictionaries different words are refered to the layer of slang. Slang is substantive colloquial speech of general currency which is emotionally coloured and synonyms to neutral words. there are various slang words for money: beans, brass, dough, poof. The slang synonym for the word head- attic, brain-pan, hat peg, nut, upper storey. Slang exist on 2 levels:1) highly colloquial words(general slang): buck, bob, to tuck in; 2)words of different jargons ['ʤɑːgən](medical, students, theatrical)- special slang:big boy-крупнокалиберная пушка, to cut a lesson-сбежать c yрока. There are cases when words originating as professional slang later on become terms. A great deal of slang come from the USA:cute, teenager, snob, trip, hitch-hiker.