Subject matter of lexicology

General lexicology studies general rules of lexicology, irrespectively of other more specific problems. Special lexicology studies one specific language, description of its vocabulary, vocabulary units, the main units of the language. But every special lexiclology is based on principles of general lexicology, a general theory of vocabulary.
Lexicology is concerned with words, variable word-groups, phraseological units, and with morphemes which make up words. Lexicology as a branch of linguistics has its own aims and methods of scientific research, its basic task being a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use.  is the part of linguistics dealing with the vocabulary of the language and the properties of words as the main units of language. Lexicology (from Gr lexis “word” and logos “learning”)
Types of lexicology General Lexicology is concerned with the general study of words and vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any particular language. Special Lexicology is concerned the study and description of vocabulary and vocabulary units of a given language. special descriptive lexicology (synchronic lexicology) – deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time special historical lexicology (diachronic lexicology) – deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time. is separate words, their morphological and semantic structure, and the vocabulary of the language, which includes words, word combinations, their origin, development and current use.The subject matter of lexicology
If lexicology studies the meaning of the word, Grammar studies grammatical problems. Both study roots, morphemes, affixes. But, unlike grammar, lexicological function is to name objects. Word is the smallest part of the sentence, and the sentence in its turn is the smallest communicative unit.Lexicology has lots of connections with other branches which also have word as a central unit.
Also lexicology has connections with Phonetics. If we change the stress, we change the meaning of the word and even part of the speech: rEcord – recOrd, cOment – comEnt; blackboard – black board, blackbird – black bird.
Also it has some links with Stylistics. One of the problems of lexicology is stylistic characteristics. Stylistics studies different stylistic styles. The reflection of the style is in the text. E.g. bookish style we often can find in classical fiction or textbooks; collocations – in speech.
And the last connection is with Social Linguistics (Cultural Studies): language is a part of the culture, it’s a reflection of the mentality of people. There are some specific word combinations and associations in every language. E.g. professions: kindness is associated with social workers.
Word meaning Semasiology (semantics). Types of meaning. Change of meaning. Meaning and polysemy.
Semasiology (Gr. “Sema” = “sign”, “Semantikos” = “significant”, “Logos” = “learning”) is a brunch of linguistics which deals with the meaning of words and word equivalents. Word is made up of many components and they are usually described as types of meaning. Among the word’s various characteristics, meaning is certainly the most important.
Types of word meaning. Conceptual Meaning Associative Meaning Stylistic meaning Collocative meaning Affective meaning Connotative meaning Grammatical Meaning Lexical Meaning
Grammatical meaning is an expression in speech of relationships between words based on contrasting features of arrangement in which they occur. The grammatical meaning is more abstract and more generalized than the lexical one. It unites words into big groups such as parts of speech or lexico-grammatical classes. Such word form as ‘girls’, ‘tables’ denote completely different objects but have the common element, the grammatical meaning of plurality. Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion by means of a definite language system. This type of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word. The lexical meaning of every word depends upon the part of speech to which the word belongs. (ex: drive – drives – drove – driven possess different grammatical meaning of tense, person, etc. but each form has the same semantical component denoting the process of movement).
Associate meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. It differs from the conceptual meaning in that it is liable to the influence of such factors as culture, experience, religion, geographical region, class background, education, etc. Conceptual meaning (also known as denotative meaning) is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. Conceptual meaning forms the basis for communication as the same word has the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers of the same language. Lexical meaning has two components: conceptual and associative.
Collocative meaning. Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires in its collocation. In other words, it is that part of the word meaning suggested by the words before or after the word in discussion. Affective meaning. Affective meaning indicates the speaker’s attitude towards the person or thing in question.  Stylistic meaning. Words may have stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different contexts. This stylistic difference is especially true of synonyms. It is observed that there are few words which have both the same conceptual meaning and stylistic meaning.  Connotative meaning. In contrast to denotative meaning, connotative meaning refers to the overtones or associations which a word suggests or implies. Associative meaning comprises four types:
Semantics. Sense relations Homonymy. Synonymy. Antonymy.
Semantics is the study of meanings of words, phrases and sentences. Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that is traditionally defined as the study of meaning of (parts of) words, phrases, sentences, and texts.
Synonymy Synonyms are two or more forms with very closely related meanings, which are often, but not always, intersubstitutable in sentences. For example: broad=wide, almost=nearly Synonyms may differ: - in emotional colouring: alone – lonely (sad, longing for company) - in valency: win (a victory, a war) – gain (a victory, not a war!) - in style: begin (neutral) – commence (literary) There are words that are similar in meaning only under some specific conditions – contextual synonyms. E.g. buy and get in a sentence: “I’ll go to the shop and get/buy some bread.”
The same word may have different antonyms when used with different words: single ticket – return ticket, she is single – she is married. Unlike synonyms, antonyms do not differ in style, emotional coloring or distribution.  Antonyms are two (rarely more) words of the same language belonging to the same part of speech with contradictory meaning (alive – dead, love –hate, useful - useless). Antonymy
Homonyms – the words of one and the same language which are identical phonetically or graphically in all or several grammar forms (and in all or several phonetic and graphic variants) but which have essential difference in lexical or grammatical meanings. Homomymy is recognized as a language universal. It creates lexical ambiguity in that a single form has two or more different meanings. Homonyms