5. Phraseological meaning

Question 1

The importance of ‘chunks’ – multiword units, lexical phrases – was discovered thanks to developments in computer science in the late 1980s by linguists working on the Cobuild Dictionary project, a collaboration between the publisher Collins and Birmingham University.
Name one of these linguist

Answer 1

John Sinclair

Question 2

John Sinclair identifies two principles at work when communicating in speech or writing:

Answer 2

open-choice principle
idiom principle

Question 3

G________ P________
manages structure

Answer 3

Grammar Processor
manages structure

Question 4

M_____ L______
stores information about single words and morphemes

Answer 4

Mental Lexicon
stores information about single words and morphemes

Question 5

M______ P________
stores information about lexical phrases

Answer 5

Mental Phraseicon
stores information about lexical phrases

Question 6

chunks, collocations, fixed expressions, idioms, formulae, multiword units, preassembled speech, prefabricated routines, unanalysed language and sentence builders;
……are what…?

Answer 6

Lexical phrases!

Question 7

What are some Typology of lexical phrases1 - Two-word combinations?

Answer 7

swine flu
bank holiday
jet lag
pigeon hole
glass ceiling
cherry tomato
redbrick university
Boxing Day
stocking filler
cream tea
job share

Question 8

What are some Typology of lexical phrases2 – Phrasal verbs?

Answer 8

live up
live down
live out
put across
put away
put up

Question 9

what is Typology of lexical phrases3 - Sentence patterns?

Answer 9

p + to be + N + ed + out
I’m chocolate-d out

Question 10

What are some Typology of lexical phrases4 - Fixed phrases?

Answer 10

meals on wheels
toad in the hole
www
Come off it!
For heaven’s sake!
Give me a break!
Go for it!
Make up your mind!
Pull the other one!
Pull yourself together!
I like it!

Question 11

what are some Typology of lexical phrases5 - Idioms ?

Answer 11

have a chip on your shoulder
spill the beans
hitting a high note
taking the pee
rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

Question 12

what are the Three axes of variationfor lexical phrases

Answer 12

axis of
-grammaticality (to spill the beans is grammatically ‘normal’ but not very transparent in meaning)

-transparency (happy go lucky or the long and the short of it are grammatically idiosyncratic but fairly transparent in meaning)

-variability (many idiomatic expressions cannot withstand lexical variation, e.g. She spilled the baked beans, there is light at the end of the underpass, to go peaches)