Free collocation is ... Definition, features and examples

The collocation as a component of the language allows you to create a large number of compositions from several words, interconnected by grammatical signs and meaning. It is believed that this component is a standard grammatical basis, consisting of a subject and a predicate, but this is far from the case.

What is a phrase?

According to modern linguists, word combinations should include word combinations in which one of them plays the role of the main and the other the role of the dependent, while they both can simultaneously fulfill the duties of completely different members of the sentence. In modern Russian, there are three types of communication between the components of phrases: coordination, control and adjacency.

All phrases are also divided into three types according to the main word: verbal, nominal and adverbial. From the point of view of the structure, all combinations are divided into simple (consist of two elements) and complex (of three or more). There are a large number of classifications of these components of the language, one of them according to the degree of compatibility of the components, which divides them into free and not free phrases.

What is not a phrase?

Before trying to distinguish between free and non-free phrases, you must learn to distinguish them from similar constructions that do not apply to this unit of language at all. First of all, we are talking about the construction “subject and predicate”, homogeneous terms of the sentence and degrees of comparison, it is with them that the most confusion usually arises.

Separately, it is necessary to distinguish impersonal and passive verbs that are combined with nouns in the form of instrumental case, denoting the subject, for example, “completed by employees”. Also, the verbs in the future tense and the imperative mood, the link “word and the separate member of the sentence”, the link “official and significant word”, the combination “verb + verb”, where both words have the same morphological features, as well as phraseological units, should not be classified as collocations.

The “cohesion” of words and their role in the formation of a combination

A free phrase is the result of combining a couple or more words, each of which has its own full lexical meaning. Its distinctive feature is that the main word is such in its meaning and grammatical features, while the dependent has his own goal - to clarify the lexical meaning of the main, using similar morphological features.

All the components that make up the free phrase are separate members of the sentence, and each of them has its own syntactic function. For example, in the combination “round ball” the main word “ball” is a noun, and in the sentence it will fulfill the function of the subject, and the dependent word “round” is the adjective, in the sentence it will perform the function of determining and clarifies the meaning of the main. Before us is a free nominal definitive phrase of a simple type.

Examples

The key difference between free phrases is that their elements can be replaced by words of the same morphological category. For example, the adjective in combination “red autumn” can be replaced by another - “yellow”, “warm”, “cold”. In this case, the phrase is not lexically limited, so the replacement made according to the communicative requirement does not cause any difficulties.

There are also lexically limited free phrases - these are compositions of two or more elements, where the replacement of words may not always be performed. In this case, the main or dependent word cannot be replaced by similar morphological features, the new element of the phrase must necessarily be “soldered” with the old one according to certain semantic values.

Some lexically unlimited combinations include “watch a program”, “watch a video”, “look at the sky”, etc. Any component here can be replaced. Lexically limited combinations suggest that one of its two components is “soldered” with a limited number of words in meaning, for example, the verb “spy.” It cannot be used in the phrase “spy on a video”, but in the composition “spy on someone”, it looks quite appropriate.

Proprietary Combinations: Syntactically Proprietary

Syntactically free phrases, unlike non-free ones, can be found in almost any sentence, for this it is enough just to remember constructions that do not fit this definition. Non-free word combinations are understood to mean those in which both components are non-independent lexical units. If we consider such constructions as part of a larger unit of text, then, as a rule, they are not dismembered and function in the position of the same sentence member.

Such phrases can be divided into two groups - syntactically non-free and non-free phraseologically. The former are combinations of words that are closely related to each other from a lexical point of view; they cannot be divided in the context of the proposal under consideration. For example, in the sentence “A man of short stature approached me”, the combination of “short stature” is not free and defines a noun. It is impossible to remove one component from the combination, however, if you construct the sentence in a different context (for example, “Small stature distinguished a man from the crowd”), both words will have full lexical meanings.

Proprietary combinations: phraseologically proprietary

Free and phraseological phrases radically differ from each other in terms of lexical independence. The latter are completely non-independent and, regardless of context, are always permanent and indivisible. As an example, we can cite the well-known combination - “beat the buck”, the lexical meaning of the noun has become so impoverished that it cannot exist without an additional verb.

A distinctive feature of the combination is that grammatically the word “buckthorn” directly depends on the verb “beat,” and from the point of view of vocabulary it comes to the fore. Such phrases are more carefully studied by phraseology, and in modern Russian they are considered only as an integral part of the sentence. Such language elements can be built not only on the algorithms of modern free combinations, but also on those that have long been lost. In particular, the combination “and the entire short-term” has no comparable contemporary analogue, therefore, there is a very small number of language units with which it can be “soldered”.

Types of Proprietary Combinations

Most often in modern Russian there are non-free combinations of words that are called quantitatively named - “five pencils”, “many people”, “two books”, etc. In such compositions, the dependent word always means an object and is in the form of a genitive and most importantly - volume, number or quantity.

Selective combinations are distinguished by the fact that the numeral or pronoun always acts as the main word. The dependent word here can be a pronoun or a noun that answers the questions of the genitive case - “one of the teachers”, “one of the parents”. An additional element of the construction is the preposition “from”, which is combined with the dependent word.

Rarely encountered proprietary collocations

There are also combinations with a metaphorical meaning - “mirror of water”, “flame of mountain ash”, etc. The dependent word here refers to an object, and most importantly is used in a figurative meaning, its purpose is to formulate what resembles an object. Often there are compositions with the meaning of uncertainty - “someone is invisible”, “something unfamiliar”, compiled according to the formula “indefinite pronoun + adjective”. If you want to get a free phrase from such a composition, simply replace the pronoun with a noun and change the word order - “an unfamiliar phenomenon”.

Combinations like “Masha and her friend”, “me and my friends”, “uncle and aunt” have a lexical meaning of compatibility. Their distinctive feature is that they are not free only in those cases when they play the role of the subject, and the predicate is in the plural, for example, "Masha and her friend went to the movies." If you reformulate the sentence - “Masha and her friend went to the cinema”, then the phrase becomes free and the additional element “with a girlfriend” can be removed from the sentence without losing the lexical meaning.

The category of non-free phrases also includes contextually integral phrases and combinations with verbs that play the role of an auxiliary component. The first type includes compositions like this - “a girl with blonde hair”, and the second - like “We plan to help him”.

How is this taught at school?

To perfect an understanding of the lexical meanings of word combinations in modern schools very often use various tasks. For example, the phrase "free language" is given, and it is proposed to determine its meaning. At first glance, it might seem that we are talking about a nonfree combination with a metaphorical meaning, but this is not so, since the main word here is a noun that names an object. Thus, we get a standard free collocation.

In some cases, students are offered exercises where the phrases “free people”, “free morning”, “free dress”, “free vacancy”, etc. are given. It is proposed to determine the type of phrase and also find a composition where the word “free” is used redundantly, i.e., a noun can do without it.

The study of phraseological units

Phraseologisms and free phrases are always studied together, since the main goal that teachers pursue is to teach students to distinguish between these two completely different components of the language. As a rule, an exercise is proposed with sentences in which the same verb with the same morphological characteristics is present, acting in the position of the main word.

The dependent ones are either phraseological units or words that are dependent on the meaning. For example, when comparing the two sentences “He loves to drive a tram” and “He loves to drive by a nose”, the phrase “drive by nose” acts as a single member of a sentence - circumstances, and it will not be possible to break it without losing its general meaning.

How to analyze phrases?

Free and non-free phrases, examples of which can be found in almost every text, can be parsed. For this, it is necessary to write out any of them from the sentence, then mark the main and dependent word, and then formulate their partial affiliation. For example, in the phrase “old column” the main word is “column” (expressed by a noun), and the dependent word is “old” (expressed by an adjective).

The next stage is the definition of a grammatical connection (coordination, control, adjacency). In the first case, the dependent word has the same morphological features with the main (gender, number, case), in the second - a subordinate connection is formed, where the main word subordinates a pronoun with a preposition or a noun. The third case assumes that the main word governs an unchanging word or a form of a variable word that is not able to be coordinated by its morphological characteristics. In this case, the connection between the two words is only semantic. The final stage is the determination of the grammatical meaning of the combination.

Conclusion

Still, it is easiest to find free phrases; there are a lot of examples of these structural elements of the language. As a rule, in them both words are consistent with each other, and replacing one of them with a synonym with the same grammatical forms may not affect the overall composition of the combination. For example, in the combination “cool car”, the adjective can be replaced by “cool” or “cool”, while the morphological categories of these words are the same, and the lexical meaning is not lost.

When studying the material, you must first remember that a free phrase is not always a grammatical basis, it is this issue that often leads to a dead end for both schoolchildren and philological students. Phrases are studied in detail in the courses of phraseology and syntax, therefore, when studying this topic, it is recommended that you pay attention to these sections of the modern Russian language on your own.