29. The problem of definition of free word-groups. Various approaches to the definition of the term "word-group". Structure of free word-groups.

Set expressions are contrasted to free phrases and semi-fixed combinations. All these are but different stages of restrictions imposed upon co-occurance of words, upon the lexical filling of structural patterns which are specific for every language. The restriction may be independent of the ties existing in extra-linguistic reality between the object spoken of and be conditioned by purely linguistic factors, or have extralinguistic causes in the history of the people. In free word-combination the linguistic factors are chiefly connected with grammatical properties of words.

Free word-groups of syntactically connected notional words within a sentence, which by itself is not a sentence. This definition is recognised more or less universally in this country and abroad. Though other linguistics define the term word-group differently - as any group of words connected semantically and grammatically which does not make up a sentence by itself.

Word-groups are classified according to their syntactic pattern into predicative and non-predicative groups. Such word-groups, e. g. John works, he went that have a syntactic structure similar to that of a sentence, are classified as predicative, and all others as non-predicative. Non-predicative word-groups may be subdivided according to the type of syntactic relation between the components into subordinative and coordinative. Such word-groups as red flower, a man of wisdom and the like are termed subordinative in which flower and man are head-words and red, of wisdomare subordinated to them respectively and function as their attributes. Such phrases as woman and child, day and night, do or die are classified as coordinative. Both members in these word-groups are functionally and semantically equal.Subordinative word-groups may be classified according to their head-words into nominal groups (red flower),adjectival groups (kind to people), verbal groups (to speak well), pronominal (all of them), statival (fast asleep). The head is not necessarily the component that occurs first in the word-group. In such nominal word-groups as, e. g. very great bravery, bravery in the struggle the noun bravery is the head whether followed or preceded by other words.

30.Meaning of free word-groups: lexical meaning, structural meaning. Interrelation of structural and lexical meanings in word-groups. Motivation in word-groups.

The meaning of word-groups may be defined as the combined lexical meaning of the components.

The lexical meaning of the word-group may be defined as the combined lexical meaning of the component words. Thus the lexical meaning of the word-group red flower may be described denotationally as the combined meaning of the words red and flower. It should be pointed out, however, that the term combined lexical meaning is not to imply that the meaning of the word-group is a mere additive result of all the lexical meaning of the component members. As a rule, the meaning of the component words are mutually dependant and the meaning of the word-group naturally predominates over the lexical meanings of its constituents.

Word-groups possess not only the lexical meaning, but also the meaning conveyed by the pattern of arrangement of their constituents. Such word-groups as school grammar and grammar school are semantically different because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the component words. It is assumed that the structural pattern of word-group is the carrier of a certain semantic component which does not necessarily depend on the actual lexical meaning of its members. In the example discussed above school grammar the structural meaning of the word-group may be abstracted from the group and described as "quality-substance" meaning. This is the meaning expressed by the pattern of the word-group but not by either the word school or the word grammar. It follows that we have to distinguish between the structural meaning of a given type of word-group as such and the lexical meaning of its constituents.

The lexical and structural components of meaning in word-groups are interdependent and inseparable. The inseparability of these two semantic components in word-groups can be illustrated by the semantic analysis of individual word-groups in which the norms of conventional collocability of words seem to be deliberately overstepped. For instance, in the word-group all the sun long we observe a departure from the norm of lexical valency represented by such word-groups as all the day long, all the night long, all the week long, and a few others. The structural pattern of these word-groups in ordinary usage and the word-group all the sun long is identical. The generalised meaning of the pattern may be described as "a unit of time". Replacing day, night, week by another noun the sun we do not find any change in the structural meaning of the pattern. The group all the sun long functions semantically as a unit of time. The noun sun, however, included in the group continues to carry its own lexical meaning (not "a unit of time") which violates the norms of collocability in this word-group. ft follows that the meaning of the word-group is derived from the combined lexical meanings of its constituents and is inseparable from the meaning of the pattern of their arrangement.