The Semiotic or Global Classification of Lexicon

In recent decades one more and really manifold and all-embrasing classification of lexicon has been put forward by the American linguist E. Nida and supported by the Russian linguist A. Ufimtseva. This classification is based on a considerably wider approach to the classification of all words, than the above-mentioned already traditional classifications of lexical units. Unlike previous approaches, this one involves global semi-otic classes of words belonging to a certain lexico-grammatical class/ part of speech. Hence, according to the semiological classification, as it was unanimously termed [51; 33], all nouns which denote substances fall into several major classes subdivided in their turn into some semiotic subclasses. Among the major of the suggested by E. Nida semiotic classes of nouns testifying to the principles employed by this American linguist are the following:

Class 1. Concrete, countable life nouns denoting non-persons. They include animals, birds, beasts of burdon, cattle, livestock, game, wild animals, table birds, flocks and herds, poultry, birds of prey. Class I also includes metaphorically used animals' and birds' names that are used as connotatives in the contrasted languages and characterise the negative features of people (Cf. parrot, fox, pig, swine, rat, etc.) and in Ukrainian: лисиця/лис, собака, кабанюра, бицюра and many others.

Class 2. Concrete, countable life nouns denoting persons. Their number is estimated to be in English and Ukrainian over 6, 000. These include proper names of people, names of nations (Germans, Ukrainians, Poles, etc., англійці, німці, поляки, українці); races (the whites, the yellow, the Negroes, the Afro-Americans, білі, жовті, чорні/негри, афроамериканці), ancestral and modifying names (leader, chairman, robber, керівник/вождь, головуючий, грабіжник, обманщик). Here also belong such jargonisms as boob, dully, fool, which are amply represented in every language (Cf. Ukrainian: бевз, тупак, дурник, телепень, бовдур, пень, etc.).

Class 3. Concrete, countable, non-person, inanimate nouns representing plant names (cabbage, beetroot, carrot, dill, potato, lilie капуста, буряк, кріп, картопля, лілея, etc.); names of celestial bodies and atmospheric masses as (comet, moon, sun, stars, clouds комета, місяць, сонце, зорі, хмара); parts of human body (hand, head, arm, leg, nose, foot рука, нога, голова, ступня, ніс); names of arts (dancing, painting, singing, танці, співи, малювання); means of communication (internet/telephon, telegraph, radio, телефон, інтернет, телеграф, радіо); names of unique unreal bodies (dickens/genius, gnome, nymph, чорт, домовик, гном, злий дух, русалка); metaphorical names, as stick (" дубина", " колода"), block (" довбешка/ довбня"), the heart (серденько), the sun (сонце), cf. сонечко/ серденько ти моє, etc.

Class 4. Concrete life nouns, non-person, represented in the contrasted languages by different common collective nouns (names of multitudes) as: nation, race, family, crew, staff, gang, company, police, militia, forces, troops, etc. Some of these nouns have in Ukrainian somewhat different properties being used, for example, in singular only (міліція, поліція). These nouns (militia and police) may be used in English both in singular and in plural. Eg.: police/ militia is an important state force. But: Police/militia have соте/gone in time. Police/militia have avoided clashes with the demonstrators.

Other life nouns belonging to class 4 in Ukrainian coincide with the English ones. Namely: родина, раса, нація, екіпаж, штаб, група, військо, збіговисько, зграя, etc.

Class 5. Collective life nouns representing species of animals (cattle, sheep or poultry, худоба/товар, вівці, домашня птиця), fish (school offish косяк риби) and nouns denoting a mass of some living beings: swarm of bees рій бджіл, pack of dogs/wolves зграя/тічка собак/вовків, flock of sheep/herd of cattle отара овець/череда корів, etc.

Class 6. Concrete, inanimate, uncountable non-person nouns that include all singularia tantum group denoting mass or material as well as different abstract nouns: butter, bread, sugar, oil, snow, sand, silver,

gas, glue, steam, soot, etc. They are the same in Ukrainian: залізо, срібло, повітря, паліччя, молоко, білизна, листя, збіжжя, залізяччя, тремтіння, триння, etc.

Class 7. According to the authors of the semiotic classification of lexicon this class contains numerous and various abstract nouns whose number in the contrasted languages is rather large. Cf. business, information, news, feudalism, thought, thinking, significance, tolerance, etc. Similarly in Ukrainian: гадка, думка, значимість, погляд, вміння, знання, мислення, безробіття, намагання, завзяття, ентузіазм, etc.