Traditionally, lexicography and lexicology are considered to be the most developed disciplines in Arabic linguistics. During pre-Islamic period, Arabs were very concerned the the protection of the original Arabic vocabulary, and in the first centuries of an Islam expansion, the vocabulary of the literary arabic language was collected and compiled into the dictionaries of the most different kinds. The vocabulary of the modern Arabic language implies some words that are, according to their origin, common for all Semitic languages, and it sometimes dates back to 2.500.b.c. It also implies a great number of words originated from Aramaic language, as well as the words from the Indo-European languages that have been adapted to the grammatical patterns of this language. On the basis of wide philological research and comparison, it is proved that the lexis of pre-Islamic period, Arabic dictionaries and the Qur'an does not originate from the same developmental period.
Arabic vocabulary structure is based on a consonant model, that means a word root is consisted of only the consonants without their independent meaning, but if they are combined with the vowels they form a basis with useful models and defined meanings. There are four models of vocabulary expansion in Arabic language. The first one is analogy as a main tendency in historical language development; the second one is derivation from Arabic roots as a basic model of Arabic language development. This last one has its own models, and they are a simple derivation, a consonants changing place- metathesis an root-modification. The third and the fourth models are formation of compound words and assimilation of foreign words, and, because of their specific features, they have great impotrance in modern Arabic language.
Key words: lexicology, lexicography, vocabulary, word, word structure, analogy derivation, derivation from Arabic root, metathesis and assimilation of foreign words
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