ETYMOLOGY OF THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE LEXICO-SEMANTIC FIELD SPACE IN ENGLISH ACCORDING TO THE THEORY OF SELF-ORGANIZATION

Abstract

The article considers the lexico-semantic field SPACE as a complex dynamic open unbalanced non-linear system. This assumes that it can organize and regulate itself. Under organization we understand the ability of language system to create its lexicon by the intrinsic means. These self-regulatory mechanisms reveal themselves on the epidigmatic language layer and they consist in the derivational mechanisms of the language, due to which appear new lexical units. Under self-regulation we understand the further adaptation of the lexical units to the communicative requirements, which consists in their semantic transformations and modifications. The paramount characteristic of the process of self-organization is that the newly coined lexical units must necessarily bear motivation, that is they are not created randomly but they must have lexico-semantic warrant, that is they must have morphological and associative bond with the already existing lexical units. One of the main verbal kinship parameters is etymological ties. Therefore, the investigation of etymology of the new lexemes enables to understand from one hand the motivation of their creation and from the other – to research the tendencies of wordformation that depict the mentality of the speakers. The motivated character of the new words that appear in the language reflects human way of thinking and cognizing the world which is characterized by law of apperception. It means cognition and understanding of something new by means of something already known. The new concepts which get into the focus of perception are comprehended through the ones which human cognized before. It is commonly known, that language depicts the way humans think and perceive the world. Therefore, apperception as the key feature of human cognition is revealed in the motivated character of the newly coined lexical units. In these terms etymology of the lexemes can be regarded as their imagery basis which correlates them with the ones which they are derived from and its role is analyzed in the article.