In this paper I discuss some phenomena of lexical semantics using data from D.Dobrovol’skij’s approaches and the results of the analysis of the combinatorial profile of Russian звать. This word makes up the core of a lexical class ( вызвать, позвать, etc.) and I analyse their use in various contexts. The comparison of the combinatorial profiles of these words proves to be an efficient instrument for defining the combinatorial norms and helps in the lexicographic description of these words.