Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’ Lexicon

In grammatical context the grammatical (syntactic) structure of the context serves to determine the meanings of a polysemantic word, e.g. 1) She will make a good teacher. 2) She will make some tea. 3) She will make him obey.

33. Lexical syntagmatics. Free word-groups vs phraseological units.

A word-group is a combination of at least two meaningful words joined together according to the rules of a particular language.

Words in word-groups are not “free” because their syntagmatic relationships are governed, restricted and regulated, on the one hand, by requirements of logic and common sense and, on the other, by the rules of grammar and combinability.

Distribution is the range of positions in which a linguistic unit can occur, e.g. the noun issue can appear in various combinations:

Adj. + issue: burning, central, critical, crucial, key, vital; controversial, difficult, thorny; economic, moral, political, social, technical, theoretical;

V. + issue: raise; debate, discuss; decide, settle; address, consider, deal with, examine; clarify; focus on; highlight; avoid, evade.