On the Functions of Lexical Collocation in English Texts

XIAO Fuliang

【Abstract】Lexical collocation ， as a cohesive device of an English text， is helpful to make up a cohesive and coherent text. Therefore， to better comprehend English text， different patterns and functions of lexical collocation should be guided in detail.

【Key words】lexical collocation； function； English text

Although lexical collocation is a cohesive device of an English text， its different patterns and functions are often neglected， therefore there exist some problems of lexical collocation in English textual learning. Therefore， one of the efficient solutions to the problems is to learn the functions of different lexical collocation.

1. Definition of Lexical Collocation

Different linguists have different expounding on collocation. J.R. Firth refers to collocation as a kind of co-occurrence. According to G. Leech （1983）， collocation means what is communicated through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word. The following definition is cited from Halliday and Hasan（1976：287）. “....all lexical cohesion that is not covered by what we have called ‘reiteration and treat it under the general heading of COLLOCATION. ” It mainly contains the subcategories as the following： same series， part to whole/part to part/ co-hyponyms， registral collocation.

2. Functions of Lexical Collocation

2.1 Functions of Same Series

In the practice of language， there are certain rules in the arrangement of some words， such as numbers first， second， third… months January ， February， March…， directions， ranks， etc. These words， which belong to the same sequence， of course， have the function of cohesion when used in a text.

Example 1：

The next morning it is Christmas. The children wake up with shouts of “Hes come！” and immediately start opening all their parcels. …

In the afternoon many families listen to the Queen broadcasting to the Commonwealth. In the evening， after a huge tea， often including a big Christmas cake …

This text is about Christmas and the author talks about it in the sequence of time. It is quite natural for the author to describe what happens in the morning first， then in the afternoon， and finally what in the evening. Morning， afternoon and evening are in the same sequence of a day， so they have the cohesive force. Therefore different parts in the text are integrated and coherent.

Example 2：

But my father did not return at 7. Seven-fifteen. Seven-thirty. I could hardly stand the suspense. I admired my father. He was head of Paramount Studios in Hollywood but…

7， Seven-fifteen and Seven-thirty belongs to the same sequence indicating time. They occur together in the same paragraph， thus having the function of cohesion. They also forcefully express the boys anxious and uneasy feeling when waiting for his father to come back. It is quite natural for readers to follow the authors description in such a way.

2.2 Functions of Part to Whole， Part to Part

Part to whole， actually means A is a part of B. It embodies the “inclusive” relation. For instance， the relationship between head， neck， trunk， arm， leg and human body belongs to the kind “part to whole”（meronymy） and the relationship between themselves belongs to the kind of part to part. As a result， we can avoid unnecessary repetitions and dullness with the acquirement of tactfulness and consistence. To illustrate it， we will cite a few examples below.

Example 1：

No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons， the collar， even a sleeve sometimes！

Example 2：

They are seated with their guests — officers and their wives， and a visiting American naturalist—in their spacious dining room， which has a bare marble floor， open rafters and wide doors onto a veranda.

In Example1， buttons， collar and sleeve are just parts of a shirt， so the relationship between them and the shirt is part to whole and the relationship between themselves are part to part. The cohesive relation between them promotes the coherence of the text， enforcing its expressiveness and appeal. In Example 2， the lexical cohesion is more complicated： firstly the relationship between floor， rafters and doors is part to part. Secondly， the relationship between them and dining room belongs to the type of part to whole. Lastly， there is another one： dining room and veranda are both parts of a house， so the relationship between them is， once again， part to part. These words cohere the text into an integral whole and lay a good foundation for the latter description of the risky matter that will happen.

2.3 Functions of Registral Collocation

In the collocation that we have mentioned above， there exist systematic semantic relationships between lexical items. The famous modern linguist De Saussure thinks there is an associative field except certain especially technical words. For example， when people speak of school， it reminds us a series of related concepts such as teacher， student， classroom， playground， and book. The relationship between them is registral collocation， which exists at least two functions： Firstly， it can eliminate the ambiguity a polysemous word may cause； secondly， it can make different parts cohere through meanings.

Example 1：

As Christmas draws near， the big shops stay open long after dark， and get more and more crowded…

The home is decorated with colorful paper chains， leaves of holly and mistletoe， and attractive greeting cards received through the post from friends. In the corner there may be a Christmas tree with its branches decorated with shining ornaments such as colored lights and glass balls， and sometimes hung with gifts.

In the example above， if colorful paper chains， leaves of holly and mistletoe， attractive greeting cards， Christmas tree， colored lights， glass balls， and gift are used separately， they have nothing to do with each other， but in this paragraph they are all related to Christmas， which belong to the same associative field， forming the registral collocation. These words make the whole description cohere quite closely， giving the readers a beautiful， attractive， happy and cheerful festival atmosphere. At the same time， it is very easy for readers to follow the description.

Example 2：

The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady stopped to pick it up.

In our daily life， when we speak of bird， the wing will appear in our minds naturally and approximately. The words bird and wing in the example form the combinatory collocation， producing the coherence inside the sentences.

3. Conclusion

All the examples above demonstrate how a particular type of lexical collocation works. Text does not wander at random from one topic to another but runs on reasonably systematic lines with a certain consistency of topic and predictability of development. As compared with other cohesive devices， collocation， which is frequently employed with outstanding characteristic： relatively loose in form， plays a unique role in expressing and understanding linguistic information. Compared with reiteration， collocation is characterized with covertness or implicitness； therefore， it may not be perceived at a glance. However， lexical items in collocation are closely related to each other in meaning， which produce strong cohesive force. Rather than that， collocation provides readers with contextual information for better interpretation of text thanks to the concentration of words linked by meaning. Furthermore， their function in the text through “open words”， which implies that certain difficulty， arises out of the research into its functional law in text. Study in this respect is of practical significance to the improved comprehension of texts.

Through collocation， text， to readers， operates like a “net”. Between its internal meanings， notions and topics form an integral part， which is as delicate as the parallel on the terrestrial globe. To be exact， the more probable the co-occurrence tendency， the stronger the cohesive force of collocations， and vice verse.

References：

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About the author： Xiao Fuliang（1971--）， Associate Professor， Vice Dean of Foreign Languages Department of Loudi Vocational and Technical College. Main field of research is Applied Linguistics and Business English.