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Applied Linguistics 1989 10(4):382-391; doi:10.1093/applin/10.4.382
© 1989 by Oxford University Press
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The Semantico-Functional Variability of Words and the Teaching of Vocabulary to Advanced EFL Students1

IRINA KERIM-ZADE and VLADIMIR PAVLOV

Dnepropetrovsk Engineering Institute
Simferopol State University

This article attempts to explore one of the aspects of the systematic organization of the English lexicon: semantico-functional variability. This is understood here as a derivational process, similar to conversion, but occurring at the level of subclasses of parts of speech, a process whereby a lexical unit comes to belong to a new semantico-functional subclass and, while retaining components of lexical meaning, acquires new categorial semantic characteristics. The resulting semantico-functional variant of a lexeme performs a different function in speech. Different levels of such variability are discussed in a separate section of the article. Since semantico-functional variability is in many cases neglected by lexicographers and grammarians it presents certain difficulties for foreign learners in acquiring the full range of functional possibilities displayed by English vocabulary. Therefore, the teaching of English vocabulary should include the teaching of rules concerning the semantico-functional variability of words.


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