Course: Lexicology and Semantics

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Course title Lexicology and Semantics
Course code KAA/LEXIS
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study 2
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction English
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Kubánek Michal, Mgr.
  • Martinková Michaela, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
LEX1 topics for LESZ exam: 1. The English lexicon: differences between mental lexicon and dictionary. Size and structure, clues to mental lexicon. Basic units (lexeme, lexical unit/item, lemma, word, word forms). Learner's and unabridged dictionaries, structure of a dictionary entry. Core vocabulary, General Service List. 2. Syntagmatic relations in the lexicon. Compositionality. Open choice principle versus idiom principle. Syntactic properties of idioms. Idioms of decoding and idioms of encoding. Collocation and the ways of measuring its strength. Selectional restrictions, semantic anomaly. 3. Semantics. Semiotic triangle. Word meaning: descriptive (propositional) versus non-descriptive (non-truth conditional) meaning. Sense and reference, denotation, connotation, associations. Parametres of descriptive meaning, semantic features. Types of non-descriptive meaning and its treatment in dictionaries. Sentence meaning and entailment. 4. Paradigmatic lexical relations in terms of meaning relations. Complementaries and antonyms, converses and reversives. Absolute, propositional and near synonyms. Hyponym and hyperonym, hyponymy in terms of semantic features. Meronymy. Use of entailment for defining paradigmatic lexical relations. 5. Semasiological (linear and non-linear polysemy, homonymy) and onomasiological approach to lexicon (thesauri, lexical fields). Literal and non-literal meaning (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche). Ambiguity and vagueness, tests for ambiguity. Change of lexical meaning: widening/narrowing of meaning, grammaticalization. Pejoration/elevation of lexical meaning.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Projection (static, dynamic)
  • Attendace - 24 hours per semester
  • Preparation for the Course Credit - 26 hours per semester
  • Homework for Teaching - 50 hours per semester
Learning outcomes

- concepts and terminology essential to a) the English lexicon and its structure, b)lexical semantics
Prerequisites
UJ00 Introduction into linguistics.

Assessment methods and criteria
Student performance, Systematic Observation of Student, Written exam

1. Attendance, home readings and Moodle quizzes 2. Final test
Recommended literature
  • Aitchison, Jean. (2012). Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon, 4th Edition.
  • Akmajian, A., Demers, R. A., Farmer, A. K., & Harnish, R. M. (2010). Linguistics: an introduction to language and communication. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
  • Algeo, J., & Pyles, T. (2005). The origins and development of the English language. Boston, Mass: Thomson Wadsworth.
  • Cruse, D. A. (2004). Meaning in language: an introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Radford et al. (2009). Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
  • Saeed, John. (2019). Semantics..


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): English Philology (2025) Category: Philological sciences 3 Recommended year of study:3, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): English Philology (2025) Category: Philological sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): English Philology (2025) Category: Philological sciences 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: -