Free-word combinations

Non-predicative and endocentric word-groups

• coordinative – elements of a word-group are coordinated with each other
• e.g. day and night, do or die

• subordinative – one member of a word-group is subordinated to the central element
• e.g. red flower, a man of wisdom

Meaning of Word-Groups

• lexical meaning
• structural meaning

Lexical meaning

• the combined lexical meaning of the component words
• BUT the meaning of the word-group predominates over the lexical meanings of its components
• e.g. atomic weight, atomic warfare

Lexical meaning

• polysemantic words are used only in one of their meanings
• e.g. man and wife, blind man
• stylistic reference of a word-group may be different from that of its components
• e.g. old, boy, bags, fun – old boy (дружище), bags of fun

Structural meaning

• meaning conveyed by the arrangement of components of a word-group
• e.g. school grammar – grammar school

Structural meaning

• structural and lexical meanings are interdependent and inseparable
• e.g. school children – to school children
• all the sun long – all the night long, all the week long

Motivation in Word-groups

• lexically motivated - the combined lexical meaning of a group is deducible from the meanings of its components

• lexically non-motivated – the meaning of the whole is not seen through the meanings of the elements

Motivation in Word-groups

• lexically motivated
• e.g. red flower

• lexically non-motivated
• e.g. red tape – ‘official bureaucratic methods’

Motivation in Word-groups

• e.g. apple sauce – ‘a sauce made of apples’
• apple sauce – ‘nonsense’

Motivation in Word-groups

• Non-motivated word-groups are called phraseological units or idioms