Peculiarities of motivation of vocabulary in the English language

Abstract

This article examines the issue of motivation as a feature underlying the naming of a word, and provides an analysis of this phenomenon in the vocabulary of the English language. The problems of motivation and motivatedness of lexical units, nominations, as well as the question of the ratio of motivated and motivating words are shown. The degree of motivation of the derived word is determined and the motivational connections of lexical units are established. This article also emphasizes that thanks to the nomination, the system of material and perceptible language signs (words, phrases or sentences) is enriched, designed to denote individual objects and classes of objects, their properties and connections, as well as facts or situations. Within the general category of nomination, lexical nominations are distinguished, which form an objective foundation for the development of the main classes of words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals, various service words. The purpose of our study was to show that motivation as a linguistic phenomenon is the reflection of one or more features of a subject in its name by means of the language, without changing the essence of motivation, if it is primarily about derivational relations. Various examples have confirmed that the word as an element of the language is motivated by that characteristic feature of the subject, which is the basis of its name and was established by the language practice. It is proven that if there is a direct connection between the structural component of a word and its meaning, then this word is motivated. So, such words as stakeholder, interconnect can be called motivated ones. Our article testifies and gives examples of lexical units that can be motivated semantically, morphologically or phonetically. If there is a connection between the meaning of a word and its sound, such a word is considered phonetically motivated. If the new meaning of a word is explained through the old one of the same form, it is considered semantically motivated. A word that consists of several morphemes containing a certain meaning will be morphologically motivated. It is confirmed that the theory of motivation of lexical units requires a complex approach. It is aimed at the reproduction of an essential connection for the purpose of the secondary nomination or transmission of the system of connections (holistic situation), and also contributes to the emergence of associative connections in the mind.