THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE GERMAN LEXICON ACCORDING TO PARTS OF SPEECH: STRUCTURAL, SEMANTIC, AND PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This study examines the classification of the German lexicon according to parts of speech from structural, semantic, and pedagogical perspectives. It provides an overview of how the German language organizes its vocabulary into grammatical categories such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and particles. Each category is analyzed in terms of its morphological features, syntactic roles, and semantic functions, revealing how linguistic form and meaning interact within the system of the German language. The research argues that the division of words into grammatical classes is not only a grammatical phenomenon but also a cognitive and communicative process that reflects how speakers conceptualize the world through language. It emphasizes the dynamic nature of the German lexicon, where new words emerge through derivation, composition, and borrowing, and where traditional boundaries between categories may shift depending on context and usage. Methodologically, the paper combines descriptive and comparative approaches that connect classical grammatical theory with modern perspectives from morphology and lexical semantics. It also highlights the pedagogical importance of understanding word classes in the teaching and learning of German as a foreign language, demonstrating that awareness of grammatical categories strengthens both vocabulary development and communicative competence. The study presents the German lexicon as a living, evolving system in which structure, meaning, and function are closely interrelated, and where analysis and synthesis methods were applied to ensure a comprehensive linguistic interpretation.