Lexico-grammatical meaning – categorial (part-of-speech) meaning, a shared meaning within members of lexico-grammatical group of words (part-of-speech class).

Lexico-grammatical variant – same as lexico-semantic variant (q.v.)

Lexicography – a branch of linguistics studying methods of describing lexical items with the purpose of fixing them in a dictionary; a science and art of dictionary-making. Basic methods distinguished lexical analysis:

• onomasiological – the descriptive study of the ways the cognitive-conceptual sphere is reflected in the lexicon (which meanings are conveyed by which lexemes); deals with ideographic dictionaries;

• semasiological – the descriptive study of the meanings the lexemes convey (which words convey which meanings).

Lexicology – 'science of the word', a branch of linguistics, which basic task is a study and systematic description of vocabulary in respect to its origin, development and current use.

• general l. – part of general linguistics, is concerned with the study of vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of any particular language;

• special l. – the lexicology of a particular language, i.e. the study and description of its vocabulary and vocabulary units, primarily words as the main units of language.; s.l. is based on the principles worked out and laid down by general lexicology, a general theory of vocabulary. S.l. employs synchronic (q.v.) and diachronic (q.v.) aproaches:

• special descriptive l. (synchronic l.) – deals with the vocabulary and vocabulary units of a particular language at a certain time

• special historical l. (diachronic l.) – deals with the changes and the development of vocabulary in the course of time.

Lexicon, encyclopaedia – a dictionary, a compilation of all the words (and other lexical units) known in the language.

Lexico-semantic/lexical-semantic/lexico-grammatical variant of the word (LSV) – a unit within a polysemantic whole expressing one particular meaning; a word used in speech actualising this particular meaning. a variant of a lexeme characterized by paradygmatic or morphological peculiarities, different valency, different syntactic functions, frequency, form-building paradigm, word-building paradygm, subcategorial part-of-speech status. – See Lexeme; Allolex; Identity-of-unit problem; Philological topology; Polysemy

Linguistic categorization – the way languages reflect natural conceptualization and categorization of objects, events, phenomena of the real world. – See Categorization; Cultural concepts

Linguistic picture of the world – linguistic reflection (in lexicon and grammar) of culture-specific conceptualization of extralinguistic reality. – See Linguistic relativity; Cultural concepts

Linguistic relativity – the idea of the autonomy of language and thought, the admittance of the crucial role of the language in determining our conception of the world. – See Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Linguostylistics – a branch of linguistics studying the use of linguistic units for expressive purposes. – See Stylistic semasiology

Litotes/understatement – a figure of speech, which may be defined as expressing the affirmative by the negation of its contrary, conscious understatement in which emphasis is achieved by negation; examples are the common expressions 'not bad!' (for 'good'), 'not small' (for 'great') and 'no coward' (for 'brave'). – See Figurative language

Loaded language – the extended use of the vocabulary highly charged with connotations. – See Doublespeak; Political Correctness

Loan translations/calques – borrowing by means of literally translating words (usually one part after another) or word combinations, by model­ling words after foreign patterns.

Loan words/borrowed words – See Borrowing

M

Mapping – See Lexical mapping

Marker – a categorial seme (semantic component) (q.v.) within the semantic structure of a word referring to features which the word has in common with other lexical items. E.g. for the words to float, to swim, to sail the common marker would be 'to move in water'. – See Componential analysis; Distinguisher

Meaning – the reverberation in the human consciousness of an object, a quality of extralinguistic reality (a phenomenon, a relationship, a quality, a process) which becomes a fact of language because of its constant indissoluble association with a definite linguistic expression. M. conveyed by a speaker is the speaker's communicative intent in using an expression, even if that use departs from the expression's meaning. Accordingly, any discussion of m. should distinguish speaker's m. from linguistic m. – See Sense. There exist a number of definitions of meaning:

• a reciprocal relation between name and sense, which enables them to call up one another (St.Ullmann);

• function in a context. Meaning, then, we use the whole complex of functions which a linguistic form may have (J.R.Firth);

• a function of the descriptions at all levels (M.A.K.Halliday) and many others.