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concerned predominantly with an in-depth description of lexemes,
it gives a close attention to a vocabulary in its totality, the social
communicative essence of a language as a synergetic system being
a study focus.

4. Subbranches of lexicology
There are several branches of lexicology. The general study
of words and vocabulary, irrespective of the specific features of
any particular language, is known as general lexicology.
Linguistic phenomena and properties common to all languages are
referred to as language universals. Special lexicology focuses on
the description of the peculiarities in the vocabulary of a given
language. A branch of study called contrastive lexicology
provides a theoretical foundation on which the vocabularies of
different languages can be compared and described, the correlation
between the vocabularies of two or more languages being the
scientific priority.
Within the framework of lexicology, both synchronic (Gr
syn “together”, “with” and chronos “time”) and diachronic or
historical (Gr dia “through”) approaches to the language suggested
by the Swiss philologist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) are
effectively realized. Language is the reality of thought, and
thought develops together with the development of a society, thus
the language and its vocabulary should be studied in the light of
social history. Every new phenomenon in a human society in
general, which is of any importance for communication, finds a
reflection in the corresponding vocabulary. A word is considered
to be a generalized reflection of reality; therefore, it is impossible
to understand its development if one is ignorant of the changes in
socio-political or everyday life, manners and culture, science of a
linguoculture it serves to reflect. These extra-linguistic forces
influencing the evolution of words are taken into the priority
consideration in modern lexicology.

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