m2 Recherche Phraseology Gledhill PDF

Christopher Gledhill
(Professeur de linguistique anglaise, EILA, Paris-Diderot, sept. 2012)
M2 Recherche en Langues appliquées

‘Langues de Spécialité, Corpus et Traductologie’
Séminaire de Christopher Gledhill
INTRODUCTION
TO
PHRASEOLOGY
1. Phraseology
2. Collocation
3. Lexicogrammatical patterns
4. Context
5. Lexicalisation
6. Bibliography
1
Topic 1. Phraseology
1.1 Different perspectives on Phraseology1:
Phraseology Definition Examples

A) the study of idiomatic ...cela me fait une belle jambe ...
(in general linguistics) expressions,
‘phraseological units’ etc. ...to push the envelope...
B) the preferred way of ...all cancer cells express a gene which produces an
(in the general language) combining words into enzyme called CYP...
structures in order to ...this gene is expressed in a particular region of
convey meaning in a the brain...
particular discourse2 … In this study we examine gene expression ...
le gène exprimé dans une région du cerveau...

ce gène s'exprime lors du développement des
gonades...
un gène qui exprime une protéine...une panachure
etc.
C) the prescribed words > Speedbird 789, cleared to the Val d'Or
(in the terminology of and/or phrases to be used airport via flight plan route, maintain 3 000 feet,
Aviation) in ground-to-air depart runway 24L, flight runway heading,
communications. squawk 4203.
> We are cleared to the Val d'Or airport via
flight plan route, climbing 3 000 on runway
heading off 24L, squawk 4203.
NB: Definition C of Phraseology (aviat.) = the language of Air Traffic Control (ATC),
also called ‘Airspeak’ (controlled language):
13-1-2. PHRASEOLOGY: The annotation PHRASEOLOGY denotes the prescribed words

and/or phrases to be used in communications. NOTE- Specialists may, after first using the
prescribed phraseology for a specific procedure, rephrase the message to ensure the content is
understood. Good judgment must be exercised when using nonstandard phraseology.
13-1-3. WORDS AND PHRASES Use the words or phrases in broadcast, radiotelephone, and
interphone communications as contained in the Pilot/Controller Glossary.
(U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration.

Order JO 7110.10V: Effective Date: February 9, 2012, cited on
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/FSS/INDEX.HTM )
1 Based on Frath, Pierre & Christopher Gledhill. 2005. Qu’est-ce qu’une unité phraséologique ?
Cahiers de l’Institut de Linguistique de Louvain 31(2-4). 11-25.
2 Based on Gledhill, Christopher 2000. Collocations in Science Writing, Narr: Tübingen, p1
2
1.2 Different perspectives on Phraseological Units (PUs)
collocation, expression idiomatique, idioms, lexie (Pottier), Multi Word Unit (Moon), parémie,
phrasème, synapsie (Benveniste), synthème (Martinet), tournure (Québec), unité phraséologique...
Définitions du dictionnaire (Alain Rey (réd.) Le Petit Robert)

Phraséologie ‘Ensemble de constructions et expressions propres à une langue, un milieu,
une spécialité, une époque, un individu’.
Phrase ‘Unité élémentaire d’un énoncé, formée de plusieurs mots ou groupes de
mots (proposition) dont la construction présente un sens complet’.
Enoncé ‘Séquence de paroles émises par un locuteur délimitée par un silence ou
l’intervention d’un autre locuteur’.
Collocation ‘Association habituelle d’un mot à un autre au sein de l’énoncé’.
Idiotisme ‘Expression ou construction particulière à une langue donnée et qu’on ne
/ Idiome peut traduire littéralement (on parle de gallicisme, anglicisme…)’
Formule ‘Façon de parler, expression consacrée par l’usage, par ex. formule de
politesse.’
Locution ‘Groupe de mots figés constituant une unité sur le plan du sens. Locution
adverbiale (tout à fait), prépositive (jusqu’à), conjonctive (parce que, dans
la mesure où).’
1.3 Typology of Phraseological Units (PU):3
Expressions Idioms Il pleut des cordes. It’s raining cats and dogs.
(catchphrases, dead Heureux comme un roi. As happy as Larry.
Filer à l’anglaise Do a runner
metaphors, etc.)
Proverbs Pierre qui roule n’amasse pas A rolling stone gather no moss
mousse Let sleeping dogs lie
Ne pas réveiller le chat qui dort
Constructions Bound au fur et à mesure as you go along
collocations maudit soit le jour où... rue the day...
en guise de conclusion by way of conclusion
(also known as pour ainsi dire so to speak
lexical phrases,
locutions, etc.)
Free collocations un X aquilin ... an aquiline X...

(also known as les X ballants... with dangling X...
une X diluvienne … torrential X...
lexical patterns, essuyer un(e) X... to meet with X
etc.) intégrer un(e) X to join a X
3 Adapted from Gonzalez-Rey, Isabel. 2002. La Phraséologie du français. Toulouse : Presses

Universitaires du Mirail.
3
1.4 Expressions
• Lexically complex, Semantically simple
e.g. pull someone’s leg, a bee in X’s bonnet, pull a fast one,
hasn’t got a leg to stand on, let the cat out of the bag, when the chips are down.
• Idiom = Lexicalised construction
a. are grammatically and lexically unproductive

b. are semantically opaque, or unpredictable
c. are pragmatically, rhetorically or stylistically ‘marked’
‘We shall require two things of an idiom: first that it be lexically complex – i.e. it should
consist of more than one lexical constituent; second that it should be a single minimal
semantic constituent’ (Cruse 1986 :37)
‘The principle of idiom is that a language user has available to him or her a large number
of semi-preconstructed phrases that constitute single choices, even though they might
appear to be analysable into segments. To some extent, this may reflect the recurrence of
similar situations in human affairs; it may illustrate a natural tendency to economy of
effort or it may be motivated in part by the exigencies of real-time conversation. (Sinclair
1987: 320)
‘An idiom is a fixed phrase the meaning of which does not reflect the meanings of its
component parts.’ (Benson 1989 :84)
‘ [l’expression idiomatique est] par nature, une périphrase allusive, constituée d’une ou
de plusieurs figures de style. Par définition, le trope étant “une figure par laquelle le mot
ou une expression sont détournés de leur sens propre” (Le Robert), il constitue une
rupture de sens littéral et une incursion dans le sens poétique, c’est-à-dire un sens
volontairement obscurci dans le but d’obtenir des effets sémantiques puissants et
fascinants.’ [Rey, 2002: 203].
• Live metaphor / Dead metaphor
(English >) ce n’est pas à cet arbre là que vous devez aboyer
( French >) il était prêt à décrocher la lune pour elle.
mettre le loup dans la bergerie, un chien peut bien regarder un évêque,

ne pas réveller le chat qui dort, appeler un chat un chat, cele fera rire les pierres
(Cruse 1986 p40)
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1.5 Constructions / Collocations
• Lexically simple, Semantically complex
e.g.: fine weather, torrential rain, light drizzle, high winds,
• Collocation = grammaticalised construction
a) are grammatically and lexically productive

b) are semantically transparent, or predictable
c) are pragmatically, rhetorically or stylistically ‘unmarked’
Consider the very different perspectives on language in the following two quotes:
“A very basic fact of language is that speakers are constantly confronted with expressions
that they have never encountered in their previous linguistic experience, and that they
can nevertheless produce and understand with no effort.” (Noam Chomsky, 2002. On
nature and language. In A. Belletti and L. Rizzi (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, p2.)
[learning a language is] “... learning to say what the other fellow expects us to say under
the given circumstances… Once someone speaks to you, you are in a relatively
determined context and you are not free to say what you please.” (J. R. Firth 1935/1957
Papers in Linguistics, 1934-1951. London: Oxford University Press, p28.)
Firth referred to ‘idiomatic’ or ‘conventional’ patterns of language in terms of

‘Collocation’. Here is how he originally put it:
‘[a] word is characterised by the company it keeps… collocations of a given word are
statements of the habitual or customary places of the word (J. R. Firth 1935/1957 Papers
in Linguistics, London: Oxford University Press, p181)
General definition of collocation

(adapted from Gledhill, C. 2000 Collocations in Science Writing, Tübingen: Narr.)
Collocation is a process by which words combine into larger chunks of expression.

Some collocations involve words which seldom occur in other combinations (for
example: ‘auburn hair’, ‘rancid butter’, ‘ups and downs’). Others are turns of phrase
made up of words that commonly occur in many combinations (‘of course’, ‘so be it’,
‘as a matter of fact’). These expressions are all related in phraseology, roughly defined
here as ‘the preferred way of saying things in a particular discourse’ (a formula adapted
from Kennedy 1984).
Generally speaking, it is possible to distinguish between semantic collocation (which

involves a meaningful association of words, including pairs such as doctor + hospital,
nuclear + atom, etc.) and structural collocation (which involved a co-selection of words
within a particular structure, phrase or clause, as in ask a question, to curry favour etc.). The
notion of ‘semantic collocation’ originates in Halliday & Hasan’s landmark study
Cohesion in English, in which they claim that ‘collocation’ has an important role to play in
building chains of referential links within a text. Examples textual or semantic cohesion
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can be seen in such examples as climate + environment, recycle + paper cup, volcano + erupt,
etc. Within the category of ‘structural collocations’, it is also possible to make a further
distinction ‘free’ and ‘bound’ or collocations. Free collocations are more productive
than bound collocations, and it is usually possible to list several possible variant
collocates4 for any one construction (such as ask + a favour, a question, the way, make +
love, peace, sense, set + free, sail, store, etc.). Bound collocations are those sequences which
co-occur so predictably that they have become a fixed or ‘lexicalised’ as a single highly
predictable unit (such as nowadays, so to speak, curry favour etc.). In bound collocations, the
meanings of the different words often complement each other, with one word being the
main point of reference or ‘base’ (thus in auburn hair, rancid butter, torrential rain: hair,
butter and rain are the ‘bases’.) A number of bound collocations are also made up of
closed-class ‘grammatical’ words (of course, so be it, more or less, ups and downs, etc.). This
latter type of collocation is is known as a ‘lexical phrase’ and has an important role to
play in how texts are composed.
4 Note that when two (or more) items are used in a collocation, linguists sometimes say that they
‘collocate’ together (accent on the final syllable), and that the words involved are ‘collocates’ (accent
on the first syllable).
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Exercise 1a
Identify the Phraseological Units (PU) in the following examples (if just part of the PU is
involved, underline the relevant words).
a) Identify the type of PU (idiom, proverb, bound collocation, free collocation, etc.)
b) State whether the PU is variable or invariable (i.e. does it allow variations of words or
structure?)
c) State whether the PU is transparent or opaque (i.e. can its habitual meaning or use be
predicted from its component words?).
d) State whether the PU is marked or unmarked (i.e. is it associated with a particular
communicative function or context, e.g. How do you do, Yours sincerely... etc.)
e) Translate the example into another language (FR > EN, or EN > FR etc.). Does the
translation use an equivalent PU or some other construction?
Type of Lexicogrammar Semantics Pragmatics
PU (variable / (transparent / (marked /
invariable?) opaque?) unmarked?)
1. Come on, spill the beans!
2. Absence makes the heart grow

fonder.
3. Bless you!
4. When will the decision be made?
5. I’m afraid you are barking up the

wrong tree
6. You have got to be pulling my
leg.
7. The manager doesn’t have a leg

to stand on
8. Pat thinks that the decision is
sheer lunacy
9. No steps were taken to ban
advertising at the Olympics
10. I am sad to announce that Dom
has kicked the bucket
11. Here is his will and testament.
12. Now it’s is all down to the

powers that be.
13. Pat wants things looking spick
and span.
14. A fat lot of good that will do
me!
15. Dom just shrugged his

shoulders.
16. The village was festooned with
flowers.
17. A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush.
18. Don’t you think you should
make amends?
19. A fat lot of good that’ll do me!
20. After that Dom took umbrage

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and left.
21. It looks like the team has made
a mess of things
22. I am beginning to see the
Olympics in a new light.
23. The negotiations have reached a
another stumbling block
24. Great minds think alike.
25. This is the last straw.
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Exercise 1b
Examinez les Unités phraséologiques (UP) dans le tableau suivant. Pour chaque
exemple :
a) Déterminez le type de l’expression (construction, locution, expression, proverbe, etc.)

b) Déterminez si l’UP est variable du point de vue lexical (*il faut appeler un tigre un tigre) ou
grammatical (*un chat doit être appelé un chat).
c) Déterminez si l’UP est transparente ou opaque du point de vue sémantique. Test :
pourrait-on prédire le sens de l’expression à partir de ses éléments?
d) Décidez si l’UP est ‘non-marquée’ sur le plan pragmatique (= une construction usuelle,
habituelle) ou ‘marquée’ (= une expression inhabituelle sur le plan stylistique, rhétorique).
e) Trouvez la traduction de chaque phrase dans une des langues que vous pratiquez.
Comment expliquer les cas où il n’y a pas d’équivalent?
Type Lexicogrammaire Sémantique Pragmatique

d’UP variable / invariable? transparente / marquée / non-
opaque ? marquée ?
1. Il faut appeler un chat
un chat.
2. Rira bien qui rira le
dernier.
3. Il vient de griller deux
feux rouges !
4. Le jeu en vaut la
chandelle.
5. Avez-vous saisi votre
identifiant ?
6. Vous allez reprendre
du poil de la bête.
7. Une fois n’est pas
coutume.
8. Le président essuya
un affront.
9. C’est le bouquet!
10. Alors là, vous me
posez une colle.
11. Elle va intégrer une
école de commerce.
12. Ça me fait une belle
jambe.
13. Il a avalé son bulletin
de naissance.
14. Travail le dimanche:
faut-il enterrer le projet de
loi?
15. Nous vous proposons
des idées nouvelles pour
enterrer votre vie de jeune
fille.
16. Ça y est, on a terminé
17. Nous avons eu vent
de ces nouvelles
18. Elle y met toujours
du sien
19. Quand y a en plus, y
en a encore
20. C’est-y pas gentil
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Exercise 1c
Identify at least five examples of Phraseological Units (PU) in each of the two
‘horoscopes’ below.
a) Identify the type of PU (idiom, proverb, bound collocation, free collocation, etc.)
b) State whether the PU is variable or invariable (i.e. does it allow variations of words or
structure?)
c) State whether the PU is transparent or opaque (i.e. can its habitual meaning or use be
predicted from its component words?).
d) State whether the PU is marked or unmarked (i.e. is it associated with a particular
communicative function or context, e.g. How do you do, Yours sincerely... etc.)
e) Translate the example into one of the languages you speak. Does the translation use an
equivalent PU or some other construction?
Text 1
Jusqu’au 22 juillet, Vénus vous boude et c’est votre chère et tendre moitié qui en fait les frais.
Vous oubliez une chose essentielle, c’est que l’amour doit s’entretenir. Rien n’est jamais acquis
d’avance, aussi évitez de vous endormir sur vos lauriers. Si vous ne voulez pas que votre
partenaire vous mette au pied du mur, consacrez-lui beaucoup plus de temps. Quoi qu’il en soit,
ses discours portent leurs fruits et à partir du 23 juillet, renversement complet de situation. Vous
mettez les petits plats dans les grands pour lui prouver que vous êtes tout à fait capable de gérer
vos priorités d’une manière différente. Vénus redevient très bien disposée à votre égard et
personne ne s’en plaint car tout va pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes entre vous deux.
Si la solitude vous pèse, c’est à partir du 23 juillet que vos chances sont accrues de croiser la
route d’une personne tout à fait exceptionnelle. Votre âme sœur n’attend que vous, alors ouvrez
l’œil et surtout les bras.
(« Votre Climat Astral : Vierge » par Auriane sur le site Internet de Femme actuelle, 27 mai 2008).
Text 2
Believe it or not, things are indeed falling into place. And in June, although others may seem
self-involved, you have a fair amount of support. Even if you feel tremors of change in the air,
if you maintain your position and don’t rock the boat, you will sail through this month like a
seasoned mariner. And just for the record, you’d have a more amusing time of it if you stopped
inspecting/ overanalyzing /dramatizing every word, offer or action and simply accepted the fact
that life is flowing your way. Over the weekend passionate Mars is encouraging you to become
more forward and open in expressing your feelings which is absolutely guaranteed to thrill the
object of your affection.
( « Aries » par Cheryl Lee Terry sur le site Internet de InStyle Magazine, 2-8 juin 2008).
Exercise 1d
Look at the following examples of free collocation. If you translate them into English,
what differences do you notice between both languages?
Subject + Predicate l'éléphant barrit, le rossignol gringote, la panthère rugit...

le chien clatit, la cigogne claquette, la souris chicote...
Subject + Predicate l'étalon monte, les oiseaux s’apparient, le lapin bouquine...
Predicate + Complement toucher + indemnités, prime, salaire…,

poser + colle, problème, question, …
essuyer + affront, crise, défaite …
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Topic 2: Collocation
2.1 Types of Collocation
Lexical collocation Firth strong tea / powerful car

prendre un café, prendre une habitude
Bound collocation Benson et al. auburn hair
pierre d’achoppement
Lexical phrase Nattinger & I kid you not / Je t’explique pas
DeCarrico in fact, indeed / au fait, en fait, en effet
Lexicalisation / Hunston & take / make a decision

Delexicalisation Francis, Brinton mettre une gifle / avoir faim
m’as-tu vu / aujourd’hui
& Traugott
Frameworks Sinclair & Renouf not only ... but also...,
a {time period} ago...
Semantic prosody Louw {rot, gangrene, fog} sets in
essuyer {un affront, une défaite, une crise}
Lexical function Mel’čuk sheer _ lunacy, utter _ foolishness
fieffé _ menteur, sacré _ veinard
Colligation Firth The idea that / L’idéé que...
(+) fact, certainty, conviction, demonstration, hypothesis,

idea, notion, possibility, proof
(-) case, evidence, grounds, lesson, news, point, principle,
requirement, rule, theory, thought...
2.2 Three-dimensional perspective on collocation
Discourse / Rhetorical.
Expressions
Lexical / Grammatical Constructions
Statistical / Textual Co-occurrences
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2.3 Statistical-textual perspective (‘co-occurrence’)

‘The collocation of a word or a ‘piece’ is not to be regarded as mere juxtaposition, it is an
order of mutual expectancy. The words are mutually expectant and mutually prehended.’
(Firth 1957:181).
‘[a] word is characterised by the company it keeps… collocations of a given word are
statements of the habitual or customary places of the word (Firth 1957, 181)
‘Collocation is the syntagmatic association of lexical items, quantifiable, textually, as the

probability that there will occur at n removes (a distance of n lexical items) from an item
x, the items a, b, c .... Any given item thus enters into a range of collocation, the items
with which it is collocated being ranged from more to less probable’ (Halliday 1961:276).
‘Collocations… are fixed, recurrent combinations of words in which each word basically
retains its meaning’ (Benson 1989 :85)
‘Collocation is the occurrence of two or more words within a short space of each other
in a text.’ (Sinclair 1991)
‘Collocation has long been the name given to the relationship of a lexical item with items
that appear with greater than random probability in its (textual) context’ (Hoey 1991)
2.4 Lexico-grammatical perspective (‘construction’)

‘[the] Collocative meaning of a word consists of the associations a word acquires on
account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment.’ (Leech 1974)
‘Highly distinctive collocations behave in important respects like one-word lexemes.

They are often semantically identical or almost identical, with single words’ (Kjellmer
1984)
‘sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, but which are nonetheless fully
transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a semantic constituent’.
(Cruse 1986)
« L’ association habituelle d’un morphème lexical avec d’autres au sein de l’énoncé »

(Dubois et al. 1994 :91)
‘...the concept of collocation is independent of grammatical categories: the relationship

which holds between the verb argue and the adverb strongly is the same as that holding
between the noun argument and the adjective strong.’ (Fontenelle 1994:43).
‘... you cannot predict that the meaning of sleep like a log will denote an intense form of
sleeping, but after you have learned what it means, you see that like a log is an intensifier.
The essence of collocation is that the assignment of like a log to the meaning ‘very’ does
not feed other combinations. So even though we have a meaning for it, that meaning is
only valid in a certain collocation...’ (van der Wouden 1997:54-55).
‘...sense and pattern tend to be associated with each other, such that a particular sense of
a verb may be identified by its pattern. The verb recover has two main senses: ‘to get
better’ following an illness or period of unhappiness, and ‘to get back’ something that
was lost. The first of these senses has the pattern ‘V from n’ (e.g. He is recovering from a knee
12
injury) [...] and ‘V’ (e.g. It took her three days to recover), whilst the second has the pattern ‘V
n’ (e.g. Police... recovered stolen goods).’ (Hunston and Francis 1998:51).
‘…nous pouvons décrire la collocation […] comme la combinaison phraséologique

(codée en langue) d’une base (examen, célibataire, blessé, colère) et d’un collocatif (passer,
endurci, grièvement, bouffée)’ (Hausmann & Blumenthal, 2006,4)
(Quasi - / Semi - / Phrasème) ‘un phrasème AB qui signifie ABC … qui inclut les
signifiés des deux constituants et un surplus imprévisible’ (Mel’čuk, Clas, Polguère, 2006,
54)
2.5 Discourse-rhetorical perspective (‘expression’)

‘[collocation is] that linguistic phenomenon whereby a given vocabulary item prefers the
company of another item rather than its ‘synonyms’ because of constraints which are not
on the level of syntax or conceptual meaning but on that of usage’. (van Roey 1990:46).
‘In general, studies of fixed expressions [...] concentrate on their typological and
syntagmatic properties. Attention is given to such things as the degree of their lexical and
syntactic frozenness, or their transformation potential: and even the primary
characteristic of idioms, their non-compositionality as lexical units, may be seen as a
matter of the interpretation of a syntagm. However, it is their paradigmatic properties
which are of importance in relation to interaction. Fixed expressions represent
meaningful choices on the part of the speaker / writer.’ (Moon 1994:117).
‘Le jeu entre les deux aspects du fonctionnement lexical (signification et désignation) est
donc constitutive du sens d’un discours donné. Par conséquent, reconnaître l’existence
de ce ‘jeu’ entre deux principes d’organisation du sens des mots, l’un sémiotique (dans le
lexique de la langue) l’autre référentiel (dans les vocabulaires des discours) paraît aussi
nécessaire à la description des vocabulaires qu’à l’élaboration du lexique…’ (M-F
Mortureux, La Lexicologie, entre langue et discours, 1997 : 100)
‘I intend to use the term ‘phraseology’ to refer specifically to the rhetorical or pragmatic
use of an expression. The term then stands in contrast to Halliday’s ‘lexico-grammar’
which refers strictly to the cline between lexis on the one hand and grammatical systems
on the other (Halliday 1985). The term also contrasts with the notion of ‘collocational
continuum’ in lexicology (Howarth 1996), which refers to collocations as they become
less like phrases and more like words. The ‘discoursal / rhetorical’ approach claims that
the pragmatic value of a particular expression constitutes an important aspect of a theory
of phraseology.’ (Gledhill 2000a :17)
‘These terms [collocation / colligation, synthème / phrasème] do not in fact help us to

deal with the problem of phraseological innovation. So, we turn instead to the semiotic
notion of denomination, defined as the potential for a sign to refer globally within a given
discourse. This approach avoids the traditional debate about whether expressions are
syntactically fixed or semantically opaque. Rather, the main defining criterion which is of
interest to us is the moment when a construction becomes independent of the discourse in
which it is formulated in order to be assimilated as an expression by the speech
community.’ (Frath & Gledhill 2005b:63).
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Topic 3: Lexicogrammatical patterns
3.1 Lexicogrammatical patterns
‘Collocational cascades’, ‘Collocational frameworks’, ‘Lexical patterns’ (Stubbs 1995,

Gledhill 1996, Hunston & Francis 1998, Tucker 1998, Legallois & François 2006)
Lexicogrammatical patterns have the following properties: 5
1. LG pattern is a predictable but also productive sequence of signs, which as a

whole shares a stable, coherent frame of reference,
2. LG pattern can be composed of lexical signs, or more abstract signs, including
grammatical morphemes and constructions,
3. LG pattern is composed of permanent ‘pivotal’ signs and a more productive
‘paradigm’, a feature which allows the pattern to be reformulated and integrated
into other patterns and thus into on-going discourse,
4. LG pattern may extend over a long stretch of text, it may be discontinuous
and it may or may not be a syntactic constituent or phrase.
3.2 Examining concordances for LG patterns
• What is the ‘phraseology’ of pousser un rire ?

pousser un rire
1. L’infortuné poussa un rire convulsif quand il tint une poignée de pièces d’or,…
2. Et ainsi, il se dirige vers la grande porte, en poussant un rire cynique.
3. Yoshio hurlait en l’implorant de le pardonner et Ryu poussa un rire diabolique…
4. Il poussa un rire démoniaque, un rire qui se répercuta dans les entrailles…
5. la fumée semble tournoyer entre eux poussant un rire maléfique…
6. Et il poussa un rire machiavélique…
7. Marine poussa un rire de victoire sadique…
8. Il fila sans demander son reste, tandis que son maître poussait un rire sardonique à en pétrifier les
morts…
• What is the difference between finir / mettre fin and en finir avec ?
finir
1. Permettez-moi de vous donner quelques instructions pour vous aider à finir le duel sans témoins dans
lequel vous succomberiez infailli
2. j'ai le coeur si serré qu'il faut finir cette lettre.
3. Que ne puis-je aller finir mes jours dans cette île chérie sans en ressortir jamais,
4. ait en passant : "Venez demander à Charlus où Odette est allée finir la soirée avec son camarade, il a été
avec elle autrefois et
5. vous avez fait trois mois et un jour, vous avez donc fini votre temps.
mettre fin
6. les Haïtiens attendent toujours le calendrier des élections qui devaient mettre fin à la chaotique et
sanglante " transition démocratique " ouverte par le départ du dictateur Jean-Claude Duvalier en
février 1986.
7. La " méthode Genscher " s'est révélée payante pour mettre fin à une crise qui menaçait gravement la
poursuite du dialogue avec Berlin-Est.
5 From: Gledhill, Christopher. 2011b. The lexicogrammar approach to analysing phraseology and
collocation in ESP texts. Anglais de Spécialité 59: 5-23.
14
8. Mais ce jugement sur l'être aimé, jugement qui a tant varié, tantôt torturant de ses clairvoyances notre
coeur aveugle, tantôt s'aveuglant aussi pour mettre fin à ce désaccord cruel, doit accomplir une
oscillation dernière.
9. le gouvernement va plus loin et met fin à une situation stupide,
10. Ce tir met fin à sept ans de malheurs terrestres pour "la Rolls des sondes interplanétaires", comme l'ont
surnommée ses constructeurs.
en finir avec
11. En l'épousant, elle était heureuse, espérant en finir avec l'autre.
12. Il lâcha le poignet de Gonzague, qui recula aussitôt de plusieurs pas. Lagardère en avait fini avec lui.
13. La deuxième urgence, c'est d'en finir avec la monarchie républicaine, en établissant un véritable jeu de
contre-pouvoirs.
14. Il faut en finir avec le mythe de la France unie et cette conception de la politique du juste milieu qui
prétend satisfaire le plus grand nombre.
15. Aussi Mr Rubio a-t-il finalement jugé que seule une accélération du processus de fusion était
réellement à même d'en finir avec un tel état d'esprit.
• What is the ‘phraseology’ of show / indicate / demonstrate (Pharmaceutical sciences

corpus) compared with montrer / indiquer / demonstrate (Corpus de l’Institut pasteur)?
PSC show
1a The studies reproducing elevated TNFa induction showed no correlation
1b These results show a dramatically reduced resistance to N,N-dimethylated antracyklines
1c HPC was shown to be topically active
1d It was shown to inhibit 12-0-tetrachloryl… compounds
1e PHEPC does not show any get-to-liquid planar transition about 0 degrees C.
CIP montrer
1f nos résultats montrent l’importance de la structure …de la régulation
1g cette observation montre l’importance de pax-6 dans la formation des yeux
1h des recherches en région endémique montrent un polymorphisme important dans les …parasites
1i l’analyse génétique montre que sap1 est essentiel à la vie de la cellule
1j ces résultats… montrent de plus qu’il devrait être possible de vacciner contre le choléra
PSC indicate
2a This result may indicate that AJ-1 is a very distant exon
2b Combined with present data, this would indicate that about 50% of the compound is present
2c these findings indicate that it is extremely difficult to immobilize named human cells
2d these results indicate that distinct metastasis is significantly associated
2e Data from other investigators… may also indicate the occurrence of some microciculatory events
CIP indiquer
2f l’ensemble des données cliniques indique qu’il s’agit d’une anomalie
2g l’ensemble de ces données indique donc qu’il existe une régulation.
2h l’ensemble des données dont nous disposons indique que l’anticorps sélectionne un confomère
2i les données épidémiologiques indiquent que ce type de cancer est très fréquent
2j la comparaison de ces données génétiques … a indiqué qu’un gène unique devrait être en cause
PSC demonstrate
3a the fact that we cannot demonstrate this change might be due to insufficient sensitivity of our method
3b the present study failed to demonstrate a sustained cell proliferation
3c we could in no case demonstrate expression of the papillomavirus
3d the high optical absorption spectra demonstrated that HUM does not directly decay
3e we have been unable to demonstrate methylene chloride adduction to heptocyte DNA
CIP démontrer
3f nous avons pu démontrer l’existence d’autoanticorps
3g ces résultats démontrent l’existence de compétition cellulaire
3h sa découverte a permis de démontrer l’existence d’une nouvelle famille de gènes
3i nos expériences ont démontré que plusieurs mutations de cx32… entraînent une perte totale de fonction
3j les résultats de cette étude ont permis de démontrer les propriétés hypolipidémiaires des huiles
15
Topic 4: The contextualist approach to collocation

4.1 The scale of idiomaticity
Lexicalist tradition : Combinations > Collocations > Phrasemes
Contextual tradition : Co-occurrences > Constructions > Phrasemes
‘collocation, n. A term used in lexicology by some (especially Firthian linguists) to refer

to the habitual co-occurrence of individual lexical items […] Some words have no
specific collocational restrictions – grammatical words such as the, of, after, in […] Another
important feature of collocations is that they are formal (not semantic) statements of co-
occurrence […]’ (Crystal, 2008:86-87)
‘[…] a ‘scale of idiomaticity’, ranging from the most freely co-occurring lexical items
and transparent combinations to […] the most cast-iron and opaque idiomatic
expressions […] Idioms are easily recognized and not a serious problem for description,
though they have received considerable attention from lexicologists and lexicographers.
At the other extreme [of the continuum] it is desirable for purposes of efficiency to
eliminate from the description those combinations whose co-occurrence can be
accounted for by normal grammatical and syntactic processes.’ (Howarth 1996:32-47).
‘… want can be combined with a great number of nouns (want toys, a child, a drink, a car,
truth) and there are no arbitrary constraints on its combinability … perform (as in to perform
a task) on the other hand, would be considered as having restricted senses, because […]
some nouns that seem possible from a semantic point of view are not possible (e.g.
*perform a survey, cf Cowie 1994: 3169)’ (Nesselhauf, 2003: 225-226).
(a) Free combination (b) restricted collocation (c) fixed expression
a Il aurait fallu nous mettre la ceinture. Paul Baraka : un coma a fait de lui un
musicien.
b A-t-on le droit de mettre une gifle à son enfant ? Bouclier antimissile: Obama a fait une offre à
Moscou.
c Carla s'est mise sur son trente et un pour Quand on a une partenaire de la classe
rencontrer la reine des vaches: Camilla. d'Emma Thompson, on est toujours prêt à
faire le beau.
4.2 Semantic prosody
[N] set in / sets in

build up [N] vs. [N] build up
essuyer [N]
‘habitual collocates of the form set in are capable of colouring it, so that it can no
longer be seen in isolation from its semantic prosody, which is established through
the semantic conistency of its subjects.’ (Louw 1991)
16
4.3 Colligation
For the reason that … (that not obligatory)

For the simple reason that… (that obligatory)
With the proviso that…
With the added complication that…
Due to / Inspite of / In view of the fact that…
‘If we take any one of a huge range of the most frequent words in English, and
examine its citations en masse, it will emerge that it, too, has a unique grammatical
profile, which certainly cannot be encapsulated by calling the word in question an
adjective or a preposition’ (Francis 1991 :147)
4.4 Lexical phrases
• Formulaic Sequences
‘A lexicalized sentence stem is a unit of clause length or longer whose

grammatical form or lexical context is wholly or largely fixed; its elements form a
standard label for a culturally recognized concept, a term in the language. Although
lexicalized in this sense, most such units are not true idioms but rather are regular
form-meaning pairings’ (Pawley and Syder 1983:191-192).
‘…phenomena larger than words, which are like words in that they have to be
learned separately as individual facts about pieces of the language, but which also
have grammatical structure [and] interact in important ways with the rest of the
language.’ (Fillmore, Kay and O’Connor 1988:501)
• Lexical Phrases
‘[the lexical phrase] indicates the speaker’s / writer’s ideological stance by virtue of
his / her selection of an expression that involves a whole cultural schema – shared
attitudes, beliefs and experiences – of what happens when literal ‘boats are rocked’
(Moon 1992)
‘Lexical phrases are parts of language that often have clearly defined roles in guiding
the overall discourse. In particular, they are the primary marker which signal the
direction of discourse, whether spoken or written. When they serve as discourse
devices, their function is to signal, for instance, whether the information to follow is
in contrast to, in addition to or is an example of, information that is to proceed’.
(Nattinger & DeCarrico 1992)
1. INVARIABLE A. Polywords C: for the most part

NC: as it were
B. Institutionalized phrases C: how are you?
NC: what, me worry?
2. VARIABLE A. Phrasal constraints C: a [NP] ago
NC: off with his head
B. Sentence builders C: I think that [S]
NC: the X-er, the Y-er
17
Organisation lexical phrases in terms of Halliday’s ‘Metafunctions’:
1) Ideational
A) Rub shoulders with, catch sight of, in the running, for sale
2) Interpersonal
B) kid’s stuff, fine kettle of fish, near the knuckle, at a snail’s pace
C) excuse me, talk of the devil, long time no see,
D) I kid you not, as it were, you know what I mean, might as well, by and large
3) Textual
E) Global: topic markers (let’s look at), topic shifters (Ok, now..), summarizers (so
then…)
F) Local: exemplifiers (how about X?), relators (however, it has to do with X),
evaluators (I think that X), qualifiers (the catch is that…), asides (Where was I?)
18
Topic 5: Lexicalisation and the Lexicogrammar
1. Systemic Functional Grammar (Michael Halliday)
The Principle of stratification
Ranks of the phenomenal Ranks of semiotics Ranks of language

world
Semiotics Content Context
Meaning (Semantics)
Expression Wording (Lexicogrammar)
Signing (Phonology, Graphology...)
Society
Biology
Physics
‘The sentence should be treated as a part grammatical, part textual phenomenon and the
morpheme as part grammatical, part lexical pehnomenon’ (Hoey 1991:215)
‘… In fact lexis and grammar are not different phenomena; they are the same
phenomenon looked at from different ends. There is no reason therefore to reject the
concept of the overall probability of terms in grammatical systems, on the grounds of
register variation. On the contrary; it is the probabilistic model of lexicogrammar that
enables us to explain register variation. Register variation can be defined as the skewing
of (some of) thse overall probabilities, in the environment of some specific configuration
of field, tenor and mode. It is variation in the tendency to select certain meanings than
others, realizing variation in the situation type.’ (Halliday 1991 :57)
‘There is in every language a level of organization – a single level – which is referred to in

everyday speech as the ‘wording’; technically it is a lexicogrammar, the combination of
grammar and vocabulary. … The point is that grammar and vocabulary are not two
different things; they are the same thing seen by different observers. There is one
phenomenon here not two. But it is spread along a continuum. At one end are small,
closed, often binary systems, of very general application, intersecting with each other but
each having in principle, its own distinct realization. So for example all clauses are either
positive or negative, either indicative or imperative, either transitive or intransitive… At
the other end are more specific, looser, more shifting sets of features, realized not
discretely, but in bundles called ‘words’… the system networks formed by these features
are local and transitory rather than being global and persistent.’ (Halliday 1992:63)
19
2. Lexicalisation and Grammaticalisation

'Lexicalisation is the change whereby in certain linguistic contexts speakers use a syntactic
construction or word formation as a new contentful form with formal and semantic
properties that are not completely derivable from the constituents of the construction or
the word formation pattern. Over time there may be further loss of internal consistency
and the item may become more lexical.' (Brinton & Traugott, 2005, 96)
LEVEL +L +G
Semantics Contentful / Referential Functional / Relational
(increase in semantic specificity, (shift to metaphor, greater bleaching
semantic and / or pragmatic and subjectification)
idiomatization)
Syntax Free Obligatory
Lexis +Lexical +Grammatical
(new lexical form, adoption into (new grammatical form with wider
the lexical inventory, often with set of grammatical functions, leading
phonological coalescence) often to new paradigm)
Category Open / Major Closed / Minor
Morphology Non-productive Productive
(decrease in type productivity, (increase in type productivity,
decrease in token productivity) increase in token productivity)
L3 L2 L1 G1 G2 G3
desk desktop knowing be going to 'll -ed
over-the-hill unhappy 's -s
nostril look after sb pick sb up frankly -wise
barn lose sight of have a drink must
handicap I think let's perhaps
drink / drench instead of of
Simplexes Compounds Fixed Grammatical Function Inflections
/ Phrases Constructions words
Derived /
Forms Clitics
20
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23

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Christopher Gledhill

(Professeur de linguistique anglaise, EILA, Paris-Diderot, sept. 2012)

M2 Recherche en Langues appliquées

1.1 Different perspectives on Phraseology1:

Phraseology Definition Examples

le gène exprimé dans une région du cerveau...

13-1-2. PHRASEOLOGY: The annotation PHRASEOLOGY denotes the prescribed words

(U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration.

1.2 Different perspectives on Phraseological Units (PUs)

Définitions du dictionnaire (Alain Rey (réd.) Le Petit Robert)

1.3 Typology of Phraseological Units (PU):3

Free collocations un X aquilin ... an aquiline X...

3 Adapted from Gonzalez-Rey, Isabel. 2002. La Phraséologie du français. Toulouse : Presses

• Lexically complex, Semantically simple

• Idiom = Lexicalised construction

a. are grammatically and lexically unproductive

• Live metaphor / Dead metaphor

mettre le loup dans la bergerie, un chien peut bien regarder un évêque,

1.5 Constructions / Collocations

• Lexically simple, Semantically complex

e.g.: fine weather, torrential rain, light drizzle, high winds,

• Collocation = grammaticalised construction

a) are grammatically and lexically productive

Firth referred to ‘idiomatic’ or ‘conventional’ patterns of language in terms of

General definition of collocation

Collocation is a process by which words combine into larger chunks of expression.

Generally speaking, it is possible to distinguish between semantic collocation (which

2. Absence makes the heart grow

4. When will the decision be made?

5. I’m afraid you are barking up the

7. The manager doesn’t have a leg

12. Now it’s is all down to the

15. Dom just shrugged his

20. After that Dom took umbrage

25. This is the last straw.

a) Déterminez le type de l’expression (construction, locution, expression, proverbe, etc.)

Type Lexicogrammaire Sémantique Pragmatique

Subject + Predicate l'éléphant barrit, le rossignol gringote, la panthère rugit...

Subject + Predicate l'étalon monte, les oiseaux s’apparient, le lapin bouquine...

Predicate + Complement toucher + indemnités, prime, salaire…,

2.1 Types of Collocation

Lexical collocation Firth strong tea / powerful car

Lexicalisation / Hunston & take / make a decision

Colligation Firth The idea that / L’idéé que...

(+) fact, certainty, conviction, demonstration, hypothesis,

2.2 Three-dimensional perspective on collocation

Lexical / Grammatical Constructions

Statistical / Textual Co-occurrences

2.3 Statistical-textual perspective (‘co-occurrence’)

‘Collocation is the syntagmatic association of lexical items, quantifiable, textually, as the

2.4 Lexico-grammatical perspective (‘construction’)

‘Highly distinctive collocations behave in important respects like one-word lexemes.

« L’ association habituelle d’un morphème lexical avec d’autres au sein de l’énoncé »

‘...the concept of collocation is independent of grammatical categories: the relationship

‘…nous pouvons décrire la collocation […] comme la combinaison phraséologique

2.5 Discourse-rhetorical perspective (‘expression’)

‘These terms [collocation / colligation, synthème / phrasème] do not in fact help us to

Topic 3: Lexicogrammatical patterns

3.1 Lexicogrammatical patterns

‘Collocational cascades’, ‘Collocational frameworks’, ‘Lexical patterns’ (Stubbs 1995,

Lexicogrammatical patterns have the following properties: 5

1. LG pattern is a predictable but also productive sequence of signs, which as a

3.2 Examining concordances for LG patterns