Lecture 9 Theme: 1. Word-Groups and Phraseology.

2.The Basic Feature of Word-Groups (Lexical Valency, Grammatical Valency)

3. Structure and Meaning in Word-Groups.

Words put together to form lexical units make phrases or word-groups. Lexicology deals with words, word-forming morphemes and word-groups we assume that the word is the basic lexical unit. The smallest morpheme which is studied on the morphological level of analysis.

The largest two-facet lexical unit comprising more than one word is the word-groups observed on the syntagmatic level of analysis of the various ways words are joined together to make up single self-contained lexical units. The degree of structural and semantic cohesion [k u`hi:z n] of word-groups may vary. Some word-groups, e.g. at least, point of view, by means of, take place, seem to be usually described as set-phrases, word-equivalent or phraseological units and are traditionally regarded as the subject matter of the branch of lexical science, that studies phraseology.

The component members in other word-groups, e.g. ‘a week ago, man of wisdom, take lesson, kind to people, seem to possess, greater semantic and structural independence. Word-groups of this type are defined as free on variable word-groups or phrases and are habitually studied in syntax.

Some Basic Features of Word-Groups

To get a better insight into the essentials of structure and meaning of word-groups we must begin with a brief survey of the main factors active in uniting words into word-groups.

The two main linguistic factors to be considered in this connection are the lexical and the grammatical valency of words.

1. Lexical valency (Collocability). It is an indisputable fact that words are used in certain lexical contexts, i.e. in combination with other words. The noun question, e.g., is often combined with such adjectives as vital, pressing, urgent, disputable, delicate, etc. This noun is a component of a number of other word-groups, e.g., to raise a question, a question of great importance. The aptness of a word to appear in various combinations is described as its lexical valency or collocability. The range of the lexical valency of words is linguistically restricted by the inner structure of the English word-stock. This can be easily observed in the selection of synonyms found in different word-groups. Though the verbs lift and raise, e.g., are usually treated as synonyms, it is only the latter that is collocated with the noun question.

The verb take may be synonymically interpreted as “grasp”, “seize”, “catch”, “lay hold of”, etc. but it is only take that is found in collocation with the nouns examination, measures, precautions, etc., only catch in catch smb napping and grasp in grasp the truth.

The lexical valency of correlated words in different languages is not identical. Both the English word flower and its Russian counterpart - цветок: for example, may be combined with a number of other words all of which denote the place where the flowers are grown, e.g. garden flowers, hot-house flowers, etc. (cf.- pot-flowers – комнатные цветы).

One more point of importance of lexical valency of words may manifest themselves in the lexical meanings of the polysemantic members of word-groups. The adjective heavy, e.g., is combined with the words food, meals, supper, etc. in the meaning “rich and difficult to digest”. But not all the words with more or less the same component of meaning can be combined with this adjective. One cannot say, for instance, heavy cheese or heavy sausage.

Same difference observed that different meanings of a word may be described through the possible lexical valency of the words, for example, the different meanings of the adj.: heavy may be described through the word-groups heavy weight, (book, table, etc), heavy show (storm, rain, etc.), heavy (drinker, eater), heavy (sleep, disappointment, sorrow), heavy industry (tanks, etc.), and so on.

Grammatical valency. Words are used also in grammatical contexts. The minimal grammatical context in which words are used when brought together to form word-groups is usually described as the pattern of the word-group. For instance, the adj. Heavy discussed above can be followed by a noun (e.g. heavy storm or by the infinitive of a verb (e.g. heavy to lift), etc. The aptness of a word to appear in specific grammatical (or rather syntactic) structures is termed grammatical valency. The range of grammatical valency is delimited by the part of speech the word belongs to. It follows that the grammatical valency at each individual word is dependent on the grammatical structure of the language. This is not to imply that grammatical valency of words belonging to the same part of speech of the two synonymous verbs suggest and propose. Both verbs can be followed by a noun (to propose or suggest a plan, a resolution). It is only propose, however that can be followed by the infinitive of a verb ( to propose to do smth.). The adj-s clever and intelligent are seen to possess different grammatical valency as clever can be used in word-groups having the pattern: ADJ.+PREPOS. at + NOUN (clever at mathematics), whereas intelligent can never be found and in exactly the same word-group.

3). a) STRUCTURE OF WORD-GROUPS

Structurally word-groups may be described through the order and arrangement of the component members. The word-group to see smth. can be classified as a verbal-nominal group, to see to smth. as verbal- prepositional-nominal, etc.

Structural meaning.

As with polymorphemic words word-groups possess not only the lexical meaning, but also the meaning conveyed mainly by the pattern of arrangement of their constituents. Two compound words made up of lexically identical stems may be different in meaning, because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the stems. For example, the meaning of such words as dog-house and house-dog is different though the lexical meaning of components is identical. This is also true of word-groups. Such word-groups as school-grammar and grammar-school are semantically different because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the component words. In the example discussed above, the structural meaning of the word-group may abstracted from the group and described as quality-substance meaning.

This is the meaning expressed by the pattern of the word-group but not by either the word school or the word-grammar.

It follows that we have to distinguish between the structural meaning of its constituents.