The difference between word and word combinations

A
word-combination is a compound nominative unit of speech, which is
semantically both global and articulated. There are some differences
in the terminology in the Russian- and the English-speaking
linguistic tradition. In the Russian terminological system the term
словосочетание
is
used
to
denote the unit mentioned above, Englishmen use it to denote any
combination of words, but the usual term, which corresponds to our
approach to словосочетание,
is
collocation.

Word-combinations
— are the «building material» for syntax. Syntax as a
science of ordered speech deals with two basic problems:

the
first one -> what are those ultimate units that constitute
speech,

the
second one -> how these units are organized in actual speech.

To
understand the division of the sentence into the parts, it is
important to first see the syntagmatic relationships between the
elements. Word-combination is a unit of both, syntagmatics and
syntax.

Thus,
the interdependence between the syntactic and the syntagmatic
analysis is the main stumbling block for understanding. To fully
convey the purport of an utterance, it is necessary to penetrate into
the lexical-phraseological connections between the ultimate
meaningful units of the language.

The
difference between the syntagmatic and the syntactic analysis of
speech may be explained by means of the following example:

Simon
had become to look for himself at the family foto.

If
one analyses this sentence syntagmatically, it is clear that here to
become to look for oneself and
family
foto —
are word-combinations, functionally, they are equivalent to a word.
From the point of view of syntax, had
become is
a predicate, to
look for —
an adverb, foto
— an
object, family
— an
attribute.

The
unity of colligation and collocation which is so important for
syntactic study in general, has no less importance for the study of
word-combinations.

Syntactic
relationships may restrict the collocability of one word with
another. Thus, the word much
may
be used before prefer
in
a sentence like In
international political arena Mr. Bush much prefer the position of
power. But
it is a mistake if the word much
is
used at the end of the sentence. Colligation and collocation may put
intralinguistic restriction upon the freedom with which the speaker
chooses the combination of words. First of all, a speaker while
bringing words together should follow some grammatical rules. At the
same time the process of combining words is restricted by the
lexical-phraseological valences of the words.

The
difference between a word-combination and a combination of words is
the following: a combination of words presupposes the possibility of
combining words together in the process of speech production; f
word-combination should be regarded as a free equivalent of a
phraseological unit.

The
«building material» for the construction of sentences
consists of

1)
word,

2)
phraseological unit,

3)
word-combination.

Thus,
to
pay a call is
a phraseological unit, which is equivalent to the word to
visit. To go to see is
a word-combination, which is a free equivalent of the phraseological
unit and of the word to
visit.

There
are some types of word-combinations in the English language:

nominal
word-combinations:
adjective
+ noun: pretty
woman;

noun
+ preposition + noun: brick
at the top;

noun
+ preposition + adjective + noun: a
man with small nose;

noun
+ preposition + verbal -ing:
difficulty
in understanding;

noun
+ infinitive: a
book to read;

verbal
word-combinations:
verb
+ noun: to
give a speech;
verb
+ infinitive: to
forget to post;
verb
+ verbal -ing:
to
stop doing;

verb
+ preposition + verbal -ing:
to
insist on going;

adverb
+ verb: completely
forgot;

verb
+ adverb: to
forget completely;

adjectival
word-combinations:
adjective
+ infinitive: nice
to meet;
adjective
+ preposition + noun: full
of water;
adjective
+ preposition + verbal -ing:
fond
of reading.

All
the above-mentioned word-combinations function as global wholes, as
«the prefabricated units» in speech. The syntactic bond
that connects the elements of word-combinations is very tight,
usually it is the attributive bond or the closest types of the
completive bond. A very important parameter in the study of the
expression plane of word-combinations is prosody.

There
exist different methods of study of word-combinations, but bearing in
mind the idea of the unity of collocation and colligation, the
categorial method seems to be most fruitful. This method is based on
the opposition of the marked and unmarked element of the category.

There
exist five categories of word-combinations in English:

1) The
category of connotativeness.

The
opposition here is connotative word-combinations vs non-connotative
word-combinations. Connotative word-combinations fulfil the function
of impact, they possess expressive-emotional-evaluative connotations.
Non-connotative word-combinations are neutral, they fulfil the
function of message. Thus, in the sentence In
her tone, she made the understanding clear —
they
were of the same kind, he and she, a sort of diabolic free-masonry
subsisted between them the
word-combination diabolic
free-masonry is
connotative, while in the sentence He
speaks English fluently the
word-combination to
speak fluently is
non-connotative.

There
are two main parameters which help to understand the real meaning of
word-combinations — context and prosody. Thus, a word-combination
may be quite neutral, taken in isolation, for example, to
break the vessel. But
within a context it becomes connotative: He
knew how near to breaking was the vessel that held his life.
In connection with the category of connotativeness it is important to
note that connotations may be inherent.

In
oral speech, connotative word-combinations are usually determined by
prosody.

1. The
   category of reproducibility.
   (this category is also called the category of «clicheed
   expressions»)

The
opposition here is clicheed vs non-clicheed word-combinations or
usual vs occasional word-combinations. In ordinary speech people
hardly ever coin word-combinations of their own, usually they use the
already existing ones. For example, in the sentence: My
favourite book was written by the famous writer, the
word-combinations favourite
book and famous writer are
quite usual word-combinations for our speech.

As
for the non-clicheed word-combinations — they should be created
anew or for the nonce, usually they are not reproducible. For
example, in the sentence Nurse
placed her in my lap, a squiggling bundle of life the
word-combination a
squiggling bundle of life is
a creation of the writer of the book. This kind of word-combinations
is usually very connotative.

Word-combinations
that belong to this category are characterised by the non-idiomatic
globality. These word-combinations may be segmented into separate
words, but depending on the reproducibility they tend to fuse into a
global concept.

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The phrase is traditionally considered an independent syntactic unit, fundamentally different from the sentence. It appears in the language for nominative purposes. A complex name bearing in itself the same nominative function that a word has, is a phrase.

The sentence and the phrase — how to distinguish them?

The difference between the word-combination and the word does not need an explanation. The very name of the term indicates it. And how does the phrase differ from the sentence? First of all, it is a combination of word and word form, the implementation of the obligatory and typically optional faculties. In «Russian grammar-80» the phrase is understood as a semantic-grammatical model of word spreading.

The proposal is an extremely complex and multifaceted unit. Behind each of them are 3 samples: formal, semantic and communicative (pragmatic). The main grammatical meaning of the sentence is predicativity, which makes it possible to correlate information about extralinguistic reality (the fact of communication) with that speech situation in which the utterance is generated (with the act of communication). This is how the phrase differs from the sentence, briefly.

In the syntax, only free phrases are studied, that is, in which the independent lexical meanings of the words included in it are fully preserved. If they are lost, we are dealing with phraseological units that are no longer the subject of grammar.

Construction of word combinations

Phrases are built on a certain historically formed in the language model, that is, reproduced in speech. They have a system of forms of change, a paradigm that completely coincides with the paradigm of the main word (here is another difference of the phrase from the sentence).

They can include not only two components: the main and the dependent (a simple phrase). In a sentence, several components (more than two) can be combined in meaning and grammatically, between which there are different kinds of syntactic dependence.

Types of multicomponent word combinations

They may be:

— combined (consistent submission): buy a desk, my father’s friend;

— complex (parallel submission): widely known in the city, give a friend a book;

— common (with heterogeneous definitions at the main): an antique crystal vase, a juicy uncoated grass;

— merged (formed when the proposal is formed): bought newspapers and magazines, woolen and silk fabrics.

Analysis of word combinations

The first procedure of analysis is to extract a whole word-block from the sentence, define its type and divide it into simple (two-component) blocks.

The second step is the analysis of a simple phrase combination, taking into account many parameters characterizing it according to the following scheme:

1) the initial form;

2) spurious ownership of the main word;

3) the type of syntactic connection and means of expression;

4) the type of syntactic relations;

5) conditionality of the form of the dependent word;

6) model (structural diagram).

Conditionality of the form of the dependent word

The conditional nature of the form of the dependent word can be determined by the grammatical properties of the principal, for example, belonging to a certain class of words (part of speech) or to a particular grammatical category. Thus, the ability to determine with the help of an adjective is inherent in nouns: a cheerful milkman, an old book.

Verbs as a grammatical class of words are determined by qualitative adverbs: work hard, speak loudly. All these phrases are grammatically conditioned. The presence of a dependent form in the accusative case without a preposition is determined by lexico-grammatical properties, the transitivity of the main verb: read the book, drink milk.

The form of the dependent word can be determined by the belonging of the principal to a certain semantic class or lexical-semantic group (LSG). Thus, all words with the meaning of verbal communication form word combinations with a dependent noun in the form of an instrumental with the preposition «c»: to talk with someone, to discuss with someone. Lexems of different parts of speech, including the modal component (possibility, desire, necessity, etc.) in their meaning, have the infinitive of the verb as dependent: to want to learn, we must learn, the desire to learn, ready to learn. All these phrases are semantically conditioned.

Finally, the form of the dependent word can be determined by the individual lexical meaning of the principal. In this case, even representatives of one LSG can form different phrases: selling fruits — selling fruit; Pay for travel — pay for travel; To be proud of another is to bow before a friend. In this case, they speak of lexically conditioned phrases.

The difference from other combinations of words

Knowing how the phrase differs from the sentence, it is necessary to distinguish it from other combinations of words.

As a special syntactic unit with a number of properties and having a language model (structural scheme), it must be distinguished from the following combinations of words in the sentence:

1) from predicative combinations (subject + predicate): the boy runs;

2) from semi-predictive: and he, rebellious, asks for storms;

3) from the co-authors: trees and shrubs grew in the clearing;

4) from the apposition combinations (combination of the application and the word being defined): the student Ivanov went out;

5) from combinations that arise only in the sentence: father and son were very similar.

Knowing how the phrase differs from the sentence and other combinations of words in it, you will intelligently parse and not allow grammatical errors. This is an important point in the study of the «syntax» section, since the above elements are basic in it, and they need to be delimited. We hope, we have explained clearly in this article how to distinguish the word combination from the sentence.