Vocabulary connections: multi-word items in English

Orietta Gutiérrez Herrera

CollocationModels of Western European languages for example, are built on grammatical principles with the clause sentence being the focal unit.

There are different models that analyse the sentences, these can be

•Transformational-generative model•Systemic model of grammar (lets the hearer to reconstruct its meaning)•Discourse-based grammatical model (Cohesive significance)•Collocatinist model (predictability of the co-occurrences of words)

•Transformational-generative model•Systemic model of grammar (lets the hearer to reconstruct its meaning)•Discourse-based grammatical model (Cohesive significance)•Collocatinist model (predictability of the co-occurrences of words)

Collocation studies are associated with corpus studies since it is very difficult to study this thing without real data.

According to some authors in a central study on collocations there are two principles which account for the structural patterning of LEXIS:

According to some authors in a central study on collocations there are two principles which account for the structural patterning of LEXIS:

•Open choice principle: correspondes to a way of seeing language text as the result of a very large number of complex choices.

•Idiom principle: Is that a language user has available to him or her a large number of semi-preconstructed phrases that constitute single choices even when they might appear to be analysable into segments.

A collocationist view of language observes the strong petterning in the co-occurrence of words.

It is complemented by the psycholinguistics approach which observes how language is processed and acquired.

And also since words are shown not to operate as independent and interchangeable parts of the lexicon but as part of a lexical system a learner must have full knowledge of the word: meaning pronunciation, morphology and its grammatical behavior.

Multi-words items: terms and categories

There are many forms of multi-word item and lexicology and idiomatology have generated a collection of names for them.

A multi-word item is a vocabulary item which consists of a sequence of two or more words (considering that a word is simply an orthographic unit)

Multi-words items are the result of lexical and semantic processes of what is known as fossilisation” rather than of grammatical rules.

For example: comparative forms of adjectives or passive forms or verbs can be separated out and excluded from the category since they are formed grammatically.

There are three criteria which help distinguish holistic multi-words items from other kinds of strings:There are three criteria which help distinguish holistic multi-words items from other kinds of strings:

Institutionalisation: the degree to which a multi-word item is conventionalised in the language: Does it recur?

Fixedness: The degree to which a multi-word item is frozen as a sequence of words: Does it inflect? – perhaps in its component lexis or words order?

Non-composionality: The degree to which a multi-word item cannot be interpreted on a word-by-word basis, but has a specialised unitary meaning. – Related to semantic non-composionality, which can also relate to grammar or pragmatic function.

These criteria operate are not absolutes but variables and they are present in differing degrees in each multi-word unit.

Multi-word item is a superordinate term; therefore, there are three different types of multi-word item:

Multi-word item is a superordinate term; therefore, there are three different types of multi-word item:

1) Compounds: Differ from single words only by being written as two or more orthographic words. Cannot be separated out altogether, since hyphenation conventions blur the distinction between compound multi-word items and polymorphemic.

Many open or two-word compounds are nouns: Prime Minister, crystal ball and so on.

Compound verbs are typically hyphenated

Compound adjectives are also often hyphenated.

2) Phrasal Verbs:

Are combinations of verbs and adverbial or prepositional particles. They have specialised meanings, which mean they may range in compositionality from transparent combinations (example: break off) through completives. (Example: eat up).

Phrasal verbs have particular syntactic problems such as the placement of any nominal or pronominal objects with respect to the verb.

3) Idioms:

Refers to multi-word items which are not the sum of their parts: they have holistic meanings which cannot be retgrieved from the individual meanings of the component words.

Idioms are also typically metaphorical in historical or etymological terms.

Metaphor may be relatively straightforward to decode

Regard to institutionalisation are generally infrequent.

In terms of fixedness are often held to be relatively frozen and have severe grammatical restrictions.

4) Fixed phrases:

Cover a number of multi-word items which fall outside the previous categories. Include items such as: in fact, by far as well as greetings and a few others.

Strongly institutionalised and strongly fixed.

Compositionality is variable in kind and degree.

Grammatically ill-formed or because they have specialist and non-predictable pragmatic functions.

Similes and proverbs can be included in this category.

5) Prefabs: Also known as prefabricated routines. Refer to as lexicalised sentence stems or ready-made (complex) units.

Prefabs are preconstructed phrases, phraseological chunks, stereotyped collocations or semi fixed strings which are tied to discoursal situations and which forma structuring devices.

Frequently used as particular kinds of signal or convention, but they often vary rather than being completely frozen.

Traditions and models of multi-word items

Semantics-based, are in many respects the most traditional. They differentiate between categories of multi-word items according to degrees of compositionality and also aim to identify the irreducible semantic building-blocks of the lexicon.

In contrast, Syntax-based take grammatical well-formedness as their starting point. Multi-word items and in particular idioms and fixed phrases are often non-compositional because they do not obey rules.

A last model is known as Functional, and here multi-word items are integrated into the vocabulary in terms of their pragmatics which leads to a more practical approach where multi-word items can be integrated into a dynamic model of language-in-use, rathen than language-as artifact.

Multi-word items and corpus evidence

The models seen set out to prove their robustness through convential modes of argumentation, etc. In contrast, corpus linguistics over recent years had made possible to examine lexis in a more scientific and objective way.

First generation: too rare and too genre-specific to show up. (words)

Second generation: 20 million words were to improve here approximately.

The main idea of the corpora is to present the most frequent words, however general tendencies are show up again and again in different corpora. There are a lot of multi-word items in the language but a lot of them are very infrequent.

Variability in multi-word items

Some of the principal kinds of variation are represented in the following:

a)British/American variations: Hold the fort(Br) / Hold down the fort(Am)b)Varying lexical component: Throw in the sponge/towelc)Unstable verbs: show/declare your true colorsd)Truncatione)Transformation: break the ice/ice-breaker

In extreme cases, there are no fixed lexical items at all but merely some sort of lexico-semantic core which can be considered an idiom-schema.0In extreme cases, there are no fixed lexical items at all but merely some sort of lexico-semantic core which can be considered an idiom-schema.0

Multi-word items in text and discourse

While corpora provides one kind of evidence for multi-word items; texts provide another. By checking different kinds of multi-word item in particular text types, it can be seen that there are often strong genre preferences.

Ex: Idioms are especially associated with journalism as well as informal conversation.

It is also mentioned the fact that multi-word items have important roles with respect to the structure of text.

Ex: Generalising, compounds typically denote and have high information content; mostly because they have technical terms or have specific reference.Fixed phrases and prefabs often organise

and provide the framework for the argument of a text.

Second language learning perspectives

Multi-word items are typically presented as a problem in teaching a foreign language due to their non-compositionality, whether syntactic, semantic or pragmatic in nature which means that they must be recognised learned, decoded and encoded as holistic units.

At the same time multi-word items are language specific and they have particular sociocultural connotations and associations.

When analogous multi-word items exist in not only L1 but also in L2, they are unlikely to be exact counterparts and there may be different constraints on their use.

L2 typically avoid using multi-word items, even where the languages are closely related and have apparently parallel expressions.

Teaching multi-word items

Many pedagogical techniques for the acquisition of multi-word items have been suggested.

The most appropriate strategy for teaching them is the use of short dialogues and at more advanced levels the use of contextualised examples would show up discoursal features.

Finally, collocations are a very important principle within the structure of language . Multi-word items can be really frequent or not that much but still have a very important role in real discourse.