Lexis Flashcards
Who invented the recent concept of ‘collocation’?
In the 1950’s the linguist JK Firth coined the concept.
What is ‘collocation’?
Words which sound natural to a native speaker.
‘Tea’ is a weak collocation as many words can follow.
‘Black’ is a strong collocation, ‘board’ and ‘hole’.
How else can an ‘idiom’ be referred to?
Fixed expression.
‘Prime and proper’, ‘spick and span’ and ‘(it’s) raining cats and dogs’.
What falls under ‘lexical collocations’?
Natural and unnatural English.
Natural English is phrases like ‘a fast train’, ‘fast food’ and ‘a quick shower’. As opposed to unnatural English, ‘a quick train’ and ‘quick food’.
Where does collocation occur?
Brand names, advertising and tabloids; people who aren’t from a certain area wouldn’t understand.
‘Soap and glory’ and ‘drip, drip, hooray’.
Contractions are?
Shortened terms ‘I’m’, ‘don’t’ and ‘dunno’.
What are ‘metaphors’?
They are comparatives, something not possible.
‘The sun’s rays beat through my eyes’.
What are ‘similes’?
They use the word ‘like’ to compare.
‘The sun is like a ball of fire’.
Slang can be colloquial, but why?
Slang is known to a location and social class.
‘Proper sick’ and ‘deek’.
Taboos are things that shouldn’t often happen. They are the uncommon things in society, usually leaving awkwardness. Give examples.
‘Swearing in church’ and ‘dancing on the motorway’.
We change how we speak in what we write and what we say, but how?
In written text we tend to use Latinate and literate words as apposed to spoken language, where we use everyday speech.
What is ‘hyperbole’?
Exaggeration.
