Филологические науки /7. Язык, речь, речевая коммуникация

Sotnyk I., MA student

Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine

The Notion of Lexical Combinability

Contemporary linguistics treats the concept of “word meaning” as a complex formation, as a structure that consists of several hierarchically related substructures, as a multi-level phenomenon comprising: semantics (information or knowledge about the objects of the surrounding reality which are signified by a word); pragmatics (information or knowledge about the conditions of communication); syntactics (information or knowledge about the rules of word usage).

The term “notion” was introduced into lexicology from logics. A notion denotes the reflection in the mind of real objects and phenomena in their relations. Notions, as a rule, are international, especially with the nations of the same cultural level, while meanings can be nationally limited. Grouping of meanings in the semantic structure of a word is determined by the whole system of every language. E.g. the English verb “to go” and its Ukrainian equivalent “іти, ходити” have some meanings which coincide: to move from place to place, to extend (the road goes to London), to function / to operate (Is your watch going?). On the other hand, they have different meanings: in Ukrainian we say “Он він йде”, in English we use the verb “to come” in this case. In English we use the verb “to go” in the combinations: “to go by bus”, “to go by train” etc. In Ukrainian in these cases we use the verb “їхати”.

Current research in semantics is largely based on the assumption that one of the more promising methods of investigating the semantic structure of a word is by studying the word’s linear relationships with other words in typical contexts, i. e. its combinability or collocability.

Lexical combinability is understood as a type of syntagmatic relations in vocabulary. Similarly to the notion of word meaning, the notion of lexical combinability claims constant attention of the scholars, because the word’s combinability is closely connected with its meaning.

According to V. V. Levyts’ky [2, p. 190], in the process of study of combinability it is worth while distinguishing between the three notions: combinability, distribution, and valency.

Distribution is a sum of elements that surround a certain element. In lexical semantics it is a sum of environments in which a certain word may be used. The word may occur in different lexical environment in a text. This fact, however, does not mean that the word enters into specific semantic and syntactic relations called combinability with each of the elements of the lexical environment.

The notion of ‘valency’ was introduced into Ukrainian linguistics under the influence of the scientific research conducted by L. Tesniere [4]. The scholar treated valency as the ability of a word (verb, in particular) to govern other words in a sentence. These governed words are called ‘actants’. Actants stand for certain positions in a sentence. Besides, the scholars distinguish between obligatory and optional positions. Thus, in the sentence Chernivtsi is situated the verb is situated must be followed by on the river Prut.

Scientists have not yet arrived to a unanimous decision as to the definition of lexical combinability. In the wide sense of the word, lexical combinability is the ability of a word to be connected with other words in a text [3, p. 206; 1, p. 81]. The fact that certain words can occur in the text together is not sufficient, since lexical combinability is the unity of semantically compatible words.

Compatibility may be stipulated by three factors: compatibility of denotative meanings of words, compatibility of communicative situations, in which the word may be used, and language compatibility proper. According to these factors, we may distinguish between denotative, pragmatic, and lexical compatibility [3, p. 207–210].

Depending on the context, the following three types of combinability may be distinguished: syntactic combinability, semantic combinability, and lexical combinability.

Syntactic combinability is viewed as an ability of a word to enter into syntagmatic relations with other words on the level of the grammatical class of words, that is, the totality of potentially possible syntactic relations of a word.

Semantic combinability is understood as an ability of a semantically realized word to combine with other words on the level of sub-class of words (e.g. verbs of movement, adjectives denoting size).

Lexical combinability stands for the ability of a word to combine with separate words (combinability at the level of one word). Lexical combinability, according to V. V .Levyts’ky, is characterized by three parameters: width, intensity, and selectiveness [2, p. 206]. All three parameters may be studied with the help of quantitative methods. Still factors, influencing the width of lexical combinability, need to be analyzed further.

Thus, a semantically realized unit may be combined with: a) a class of words; b) a sub-class of words; c) separate words. At the same time, a semantically realized unit may be represented not only by a word, but also by a lexical semantic micro-system and a lexical semantic variant of a word. Both a word and a lexical semantic micro-system are complex systemic and structural formations, possessing the characteristics of a “field”. The combinability of these units, viewed as a unity, is an invariant characteristics, common for all variants, in which the word and the lexical semantic micro-system are realized.

Bibliography:

1. Котелова Н. З. Значение слова и его сочетаемость / Котелова Н. З. – Л. : Наука, 1975. –164 с.

2. Левицкий В. В. Семасиология / Левицкий В. В. – Винница : Новая Книга, 2006. – 512 с.

3. Schippan Th. Lexikologie der deutschen Gegenwartssprache / Schippan Th. – Leipzig : Bibl. Institut, 1987. – 307 S.

4. Tesniere L. Elements de syntaxe structurale / Tesniere L. – Paris, 1959. – 212 p.