Lexicography

Основы лексикографии

Classification of language units according to the period of time they live in the language

With the flow of time some new words may be formed in the language while other words begin to be used less often, move to the periphery of the lexical system or even become obsolete (устаревшие). According to the period of their life in the language words are divided into archaisms and neologisms. Archaisms are words which are no longer used in everyday speech, which have been ousted by their synonyms. Archaisms remain in the language, but they are used as stylistic devices to express solemnity.

Most of these words are lexical archaisms and they are stylistic synonyms of words which ousted them from the neutral style: steed (horse), slay (kill), perchance (perhaps), betwixt (between). These lexical archaisms belong to the poetic style.

Whe the causes of the word‘s disappearance are extra-linguistic, e.g. when the thing is no longer used, its name becomes a historism. Historisms are very numerous as names for social relations, institutions, objects of material culture of the past (brougham, berlin, fly, gig; also such vehicles as prairie schooner, also such boats as caravel, galleon, and such weapons as breastplate, crossbow, arrow, vizor.)

At the present moment English is developing very swiftly and there is so called neology blowup. The two greatest influences on the formation, adaptation and use of English words over the last forty years have been the United States of America and the progress of different branches of science and means of communication: television, cinema and printed material. Neologisms can develop in three main ways. a lexical unit existing in the language can change its meaning to denote a new object or phenomenon. In such cases we have semantic neologisms, e.g. the word umbrella developed the meanings авиационное прикрытие, политическое прикрытие. A new lexical unit can develop in the language to denote an object or pfenomenon which already has some lexical unit to denote it. In such cases we have transnomination, e.g. the word slum was first substituted by the word ghetto, then by the word-group inner town. A new lexical unit can be introduced to denote a new object or phenomenon. In this case we have a proper neologism, many of them are cases of new terminology.

The theory and practice of compiling dictionaries is called lexicography. It is closely connected with lexicology, both dealing with the same problems — the form, meaning, usage and origin of vocabulary units.