2. MULTI-WORD ITEMS: TERMS AND
CATEGORIES
multi-word item : is a vocabulary item
which consist of a sequence of two or more
words.
Multi word items are the result of lexical
(and semantic) processes of fossilisation
and word-formation. Rather than the
results of the operation of grammatical
rules
3. THERE ARE 3 IMPORTANT CRITERIA WHICH HELP
DISTINGUISH HOLISTIC MULTI-WORD ITEMS FROM
OTHER KINDS OF STRINGS.
• Is the degree to which a multi-
Institutionalisation
word item is conventionalised in
the language.
• Is the degree to which a multi-
Fixedness word is frozen as a sequence of
words.
• Is the degree to which a multi-
Non-
word item cannot be interpreted
compositionality
on a word-by-word basis.
4. TYPES OF MULTI-WORD ITEM :
• Coumpounds as Nouns: Prime Minister, crystal
ball, etc…
• Compound Verbs: are typically hyphenated (freeze-
dry) . Others are verbal uses of compound nouns;
(short-circuit, rubber-stamp).
• Compound Adjectives: are often hyphenated. It
Compounds could be formed by an adejective and a participle
(long-haiired). Or a modifier and superordinate
adjective(navy blue, powder blue).
• Are combinations of verbs and adverbial
or prepositional particles (up , out , off ,
Phrasal in , on and down)
Verbs • The verbs are typically monosyllabic.
5. • They have holistic meanings which cannot be
retrieved from the individual meanings of
component words.
• They are typically metaphorical in historical or
etymological terms.
Idioms • Idioms are rate highly in terms of non-
compositionality.
• They include items such as: of course, at least,
in fact and by far. As well as greetings such as:
good morning, how do yo do, etc…
Fixed • They are very high frequency items (strongly
Phrases institutionalised) , and many are strongly fixed.
6. • Prefabs are preconstructed
phrases, phraseological chunks, stereotyped
collocations or semi-fixed strings which are tied to
Prefabs discoursal situations and which form structuring
devices.
• Thay are institutionalised.
7. MODELS OF MULTI-WORD ITEMS
Semantics- Syntax-
based based
Models models
-They are the most traditional. -They take grammatical well-
formedness as their starting-point.
- They attempt to differentiate
- Multi-word items, and in particular
between categories of multi-word idioms and fixed phrases, are often
items. non-compositional.
8. MULTI-WORD ITEMS AND CORPUS EVIDENCE.
Corpus linguistics over recent years has made it
possible to examine lexis in a more scientific and
objective way.
First Generation corpora of up to 1
million words showed limited
evidence for many multi-word items:
they proved simply too rare and too
genre-specific to show up.
Second Generation corpora of
aroun 20 million words were able
to improve on this sitation.
9. VARIABILITY IN MULTI-WORD ITEMS
Lexical Phrases and Prefabs are often fluid, of course, but Idioms
also show remarkable degrees of variation.
Varying Lexical Transformation:
British/ American
Component:
Variations : Break the ice/ ice-
Burn your boats breaker/ ice-
Hold the fort(British)
/bridges
Hold down the breaking
Throw in the
fort(American)
towel/sponge
Unstable Verbs: Truncation:
Show/declare/rev Silver lining/ every
eal your true cloud has a silver
colours lining
10. MULTI-WORD ITEMS IN TEXT AND DISCOURSE
Let’s explore multi-word items, text and genre by looking three types
of extracts.
A handbook on The opening of a A short extract
painting: report on a soccer from a screenplay:
match:
• It is a technical • There is
piece of writing. • It is highly emotive compounds, infor
and evaluative text. mal phrasal verbs,
• Includes a lot of
compound words. • Use of • This attempts to
adjectives, Idioms, c replicate natural
• A common multi- ompound adjectives
word item is “in speech patterns.
(Multi.word), Phrasal
contrast” verbs,etc…
11. SECOND-LANGUAGE LEARNING PERSPECTIVES.
Multi-word items are
Their non- typically presented as Multi-word
compositionalit a problem in teaching a items may be
y, wheter foreign language. thaught
syntactic, sem sparingly as
antic or receptive
pragmatic in vocabulary
nature, means The phenomena of multi- items because
that they must word items and they’re
be learned as idiomaticity are generally generally
holistic units. held to be universals in considered
natural languages. difficult.
