Word-groups lecture 12 Word-groups vs phraseological units

The range of the lexical valency of words is linguistically restricted by the inner structure of the English word-stock.

• The range of the lexical valency of words is linguistically restricted by the inner structure of the English word-stock.
• Though the verbs lift and raise are treated as synonyms, only raise is collocated with the noun question.
• The verb take may be interpreted as ‘grasp’, ’seize’, ‘catch’, etc. but
• only take is found in collocations with the nouns examination, measures, precautions, etc.,
• only catch in catch smb. napping
• and grasp in grasp the truth.

The restrictions of lexical valency of words may manifest themselves in the lexical meanings of the polysemantic members of word-groups.

• The restrictions 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 the same component of meaning can be combined with this adjective *heavy cheese or *heave sausage.
• The lexical valence of correlated words in different languages is different: pot flowers – комнатные цветы

Syntactic valency -

• the aptness of a word to appear in different syntactic structures.
• The minimal syntactic context in which words are used when brought together to form word-groups is described as the pattern of the word-groups.
• E.g., the verb to offer can be followed by the infinitive (to offer to do smth) and the noun (to offer a cup of tea).
• The verb to suggest can be followed by the gerund (to suggest doing smth) and the noun (to suggest an idea). The syntactic valency of these verbs is different.