Word as a lexical unit the main functions of lexical units

OBSERVATION OF LEXICAL UNITS: MORPHEMES, WORDS, VARIABLE WORD-GROUPS AND PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Lexicology studies various lexical units: morphemes, words, variable word-groups and phraseological units. We proceed from the assumption that the word is the basic unit of language system, the largest on the morphologic and the smallest on the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis. The word is a structural and semantic entity within the language system. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression.The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.¹⁸
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are considered roots (such as the morpheme cat); other morphemes, called affixes, are found only in combination with other morphemes. For example, the -s in cats indicates the concept of plurality but is always bound to another concept to indicate a specific kind of plurality.
This distinction is not universal and does not apply to, for example, Latin, in which many roots cannot stand alone. For instance, the Latin root reg- (‘king’) must always be suffixed with a case marker: rex (reg-s), reg-is, reg-i, etc. For a language like Latin, a root can be defined as the main lexical morpheme of a word.
These sample English words have the following morphological analyses: "Unbreakable" is composed of three morphemes: un- (a bound morpheme signifying "not"), break (the root, a free morpheme), and -able (a bound morpheme signifying "an ability to be done"). The plural morpheme for regular nouns (-s) has three allomorphs: it is pronounced /s/ (e.g., in cats /kæts/), /ɪz, əz/ (e.g., in dishes /dɪʃɪz/), and /z/ (e.g., in dogs /dɒɡz/), depending on the pronunciation of the root. Every morpheme can be classified as free or bound: Free morphemes can function independently as words (e.g. town, dog) and can appear within lexemes (e.g. town hall, doghouse). Bound morphemes appear only as parts of words, always in conjunction with a root and sometimes with other bound morphemes. For example, un- appears only when accompanied by other morphemes to form a word. Most bound morphemes in English are affixes, specifically prefixes and suffixes. Examples of suffixes are -tion, -sion, -tive, -ation, -ible, and -ing. Bound morphemes that are not affixed are called cranberry morphemes. It is an indisputable fact that words are used in certain lexical contexts, i.e. in combination with other words. The noun question, e.g., is often combined with such adjectives as vital, pressing, urgent, disputable, delicate, etc. This noun is a component of a number of other word-groups, e.g. to raise a question, a question of great importance, a question of the agenda, of the day, and many others. The aptness of a word to appear in various combinations is described as its lexical valency or collocability.
The range of the lexical valency of words is linguistically restricted by the inner structure of the English word-stock. This can be easily observed in the selection of synonyms found in different word-groups. Though the verbs lift and raise, e.g., are usually treated as synonyms, it is only the latter that is collocated with the noun question.
One more point of importance should be discussed in connection with the problem of lexical valency — the interrelation of lexical valency and polysemy as found in word-groups.
Firstly, the restrictions of lexical valency of words may manifest themselves in the lexical meanings of the polysemantic members of word-groups. The adjective heavy, e.g., is combined with the words food, meals, supper, etc. in the meaning ‘rich and difficult to digest’. But not all the words with more or less the same component of meaning can be combined with this adjective. One cannot say, for instance, heavy cheese or heavy sausage implying that the cheese or the sausage is difficult to digest."
Secondly, it is observed that different meanings of a word may be described through the possible types of lexical contexts, i.e. through the lexical valency of the word, for example, the different meanings of the adjective heavy may be described through the word-groups heavy weight (book, table, etc.), heavy snow (storm, rain, etc.), heavy drinker (eater, etc.), heavy sleep (disappointment, sorrow, etc.), heavy industry (tanks, etc.), and so on.
From this point of view word-groups may be regarded as the characteristic minimal lexical sets that operate as distinguishing clues for each of the multiple meanings of the word.
The meaning of word-groups may be analysed into lexical and grammatical components.
The lexical meaning of the word-group may be defined as the combined lexical meaning of the component words. Thus the lexical meaning of the word-group red flower may be described denotationally as the combined meaning of the words red and flower. As a rule, the meanings of the component words are mutually dependent and the meaning of the word-group naturally predominates over the lexical meaning of its constituents.
As with polymorphemic words word-groups possess not only the lexical meaning, but also the meaning conveyed mainly by the pattern of arrangement of their constituents. A certain parallel can be drawn between the meaning conveyed by the arrangement of morphemes in words and the structural meaning of word-groups. It will be recalled that two compound words made up of lexically identical stems may be different in meaning because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the stems. For example, the meaning of such words as dog-house and house-dog is different though the lexical meaning of the components is identical. This is also true of word-groups. Such word-groups as school grammar and grammar school are semantically different because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the component words.
Linear relations of words in connected speech are called syntagmatic relations or the relations on the horizontal level. Syntagmatic relations define the meaning of a word when it is used in combination with other words in speech. Words put together in speech make functional units called phrases or word groups also called word combinations or collocations. The word group is the largest two-facet functional lexical unit (assuming that the word is the basic lexical unit) comprising more than one word on the syntagmatic level of analysis.
Collocability of words that is their ability to combine with other words in speech is based on their valency. Valency and collocability may be lexical and grammatical, or syntactical.
The aptness of a word to be used in certain grammatical or syntactical pattern is called grammatical valency. In other words grammatical valency is the possibility of syntactical connection of a word on the syntactical level. Grammatical or syntactical collocability is the realization of the grammatical valency in speech which is achieved through lexical collocability. Lexical valency is the aptness of a word to appear in various combinations with other words in speech. Lexical valency is the possibility of connecting a word with other words on the lexico-semantic level. Lexical collocability is the realization of lexical valency in speech. Valency and collocability are linguistic factors that determine the co-occurrence of English words, but they are not the only factors that influence the co-occurrence of words in speech.
Word groups may be classified according to different principles: according to the order and arrangement of the component members; according to the criteria of distribution (endocentric and exocentric word groups); according to their head-word ( nominal, adjectival, verbal, adverbial, etc.); according to their syntactic pattern (predicative and non-predicative); according to the degree of motivation and the degree of the semantic and structural cohesion of the members (motivated, free, or variable word-groups; semi-motivated and non-motivated). Non-motivated word-groups are called stable word-groups, set-phrases, idioms, or phraseological units. Phraseological unities are much more numerous. They are partially motivated word-groups because their meaning can be usually guessed from the meaning of its components through the metaphorical meaning of the whole phraseological unit. It is important to underline that the metaphorical meaning is the meaning the word-group acquires as a result of a complete or partial change of meaning of an initial word-combination on the basis of likening of one object of reality to another. Phraseological unities are as a rule marked by a comparatively high degree of stability of the lexical components. The examples of phraseological unities are:  to add oil to the fire - to make things worse;  a dark horse - somebody who is secretive or unusually reserved;  to bend the knee - to submit to a stronger force, to obey submissively; Phraseological collocations are fully motivated word-groups their meanings are easily deduced from meanings of their contituents. Phraseological collocations are not only motivated but contain one componentused in its direct direct meaning, while the other is used metaphorically. The following phrases illustrate the examples of phraseological collocations: To come to power, to make it a rule, to take one’s seat, to meet the requirements, to attain success. The Kunin’s classification is the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology. The classification is based on the combined structural - semantic principle and it also considers the quotient of stability of phraseological units. 1. Nominative phraseological units - are represented by word groups, including the ones with one meaningful word, and coordinative phrases of the type “wear and tear”, “well and good”. 2. Nominative - communicative phraseological units - include word - groups, of the type “to break the ice” - “the ice is broken”, that is, verbal word – groups which are transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive voice. 3. Phraseological units - which are neither nominative nor communicative, include interjectional word- groups. 4. Communicative phraseological units - are represented by proverbs and sayings. The proverb “An hour in the morning is worthy two in the evening”, Never say “Never” Sayings, unlike proverb, are not evaluative and didactic. 5. Interjection phraseological unit- express the people’s emotions and feelings and attitudes to the other things, for example: “Good God!”, “God damn it”. To sum up, We pointed out the essence of phraseological units. Phraseological units are habitually defined as non motivated word - groups that cannot be freely made up in speech but are reproduced as ready - made units. This term habitually used by linguistics is very often treated as synonymous with the term idiom. Phraseological units can be classified according to different classifications and play an important role in an English language.