English Lexicology and E-Lexicography (master level)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The study course is designed to develop students’ theoretical and practical knowledge of various aspects of the English lexical system, its characteristic features and diachronic development, as well as to foster an understanding of the theory and practice of English lexicography. Particular attention is paid to e-lexicography, the key features of English lexicographic discourse in the digital age, and the role of text corpora and digital tools in the development of contemporary English electronic dictionaries.

CONTENT

1. English lexicology: the object of study in lexicology. Word: the notion of word.
2. English semantics. Lexical semantics. Polysemy. Homonymy. Metaphor and metonymy.
3. English etymology and its criteria. Native and borrowed vocabulary. Language contacts, borrowing, loan words. Neologisms and archaisms.
4. Word structure in English. Morphemes. Different types of word-formation. Flexion and derivation. Affixation: prefixes and suffixes. Phraseology: idioms, binomials, phrasal verbs, collocations.
5. English lexicography. Text corpora. Digital tools used in the process of dictionary compiling.
6. The structural levels of dictionaries: mega-, macro- and microstructure. Dictionary definitions. Lexicographic metalanguage.
7. Learner’s dictionaries.
8. Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.