When choosing a word, you should take into account not only its meaning, but also lexical compatibility. Not all words can be combined with each other. The boundaries of lexical compatibility are determined by the meaning of words, their stylistic affiliation, emotional connotation, grammatical properties and etc.
For example, the following phrase should be considered unsuccessful: Personal enmity gradually developed into strong enmity. Noun enmity can be combined with an adjective open, but not with an adjective - strong.
The following erroneous combinations have become very common in speech:
- keep your eyes open(Right: don't close eye );
- cozy experience(Right: pleasant impression; impression coziness );
- meeting called(Right: meeting took place );
- improve your horizons(Right: expand horizon).
Speech errors associated with word combinations often arise because several words may be used in the same situation. stable phrases. And the use of a component of one combination as part of another leads to semantic inaccuracy.
For example, the following error contains the phrase: Allow me raise a toast for our hero of the day. In a feast situation, we traditionally use two phrases: raise your glass And make a toast. IN in this case we are dealing with the unlawful replacement of one member of a combination with another.
Mixing seemingly similar phrases is one of the most common mistakes in speech.
So, an error like: The level of passenger service at our airport has improved. The level can increase, improve, and the quality can improve. Therefore, the correct phrase would be: Quality has improved (the level of) passenger service at our airport has increased.
note into the following pairs of phrases (in speech the frequency of their components is mixed):
- meet requirements - meet needs;
- compensate for damage - collect money, fine;
- take action - take steps;
- gain fame - earn respect;
- constant help - unflagging attention;
- to play a role - to matter.
When using words that have limited opportunities lexical connections, violation of compatibility often becomes the reason for the comic sound of speech.
For example, expanding compatibility verbal adjective dejected(in the language it is possible: grief-stricken) makes the following phrase absurd and comical: People came to us, dejected by the experience.
A deliberate combination of seemingly incompatible words should be distinguished from a speech error: living Dead, ordinary miracle . In this case, we have one of the types of tropes - oxymoron.
The Russian language very often imposes restrictions on the compatibility of even words with similar meanings, even synonyms. Therefore in difficult cases you should seek help explanatory dictionaries And special dictionaries compatibility.
Exercises
1.Compare the sentences in the left and right columns. Explain why there is a need for stylistic editing of the sentences in the left column.
| These functions are entrusted to advertising departments. | These functions are assigned to the advertising departments. |
| The museum displays relics presented by delegations. | The museum displays gifts presented by delegations. |
| Main strength Siberia - in its abundant mineral resource base. | The strength of Siberia lies in its rich mineral resource base. |
| They work like the most notorious specialists. | They work as the most experienced specialists. |
| The association “Zarya” donated five girls’ dresses for the exhibition. | The Zarya association presented five women's dresses of youth cut for the exhibition. |
| Wearing fur coats, felt boots, and warm mittens, our spectators did not perceive the frost. | Wearing fur coats, felt boots, and warm mittens, our spectators did not notice the frost. |
| Having won this match, Zenit took a step up one step on the podium. | Having won this match, Zenit moved up one step on the podium. |
| Now our children are beginning to experience their first school difficulties. | Now our children are beginning to overcome their first school difficulties. |
| Pensioners sat comfortably under the shady trees. | Pensioners sat comfortably under shady trees. |
| In this battle, shrapnel shot through both of his legs. | In this battle he was wounded by shrapnel in both legs. |
2. Combine words from the left and right columns into phrases, taking into account the peculiarities of their compatibility. Please indicate possible options.
| Antique, classic. | Mythology, languages. |
| Innate, born. | Talent, intelligence. |
| Hospitable, welcoming, hospitable. | Welcome, owner, man. |
| Disastrous, harmful. | Influence, action. |
| One, one. | Moment, moment. |
| Long, long, long, lasting, long lasting. | Impact, period, path, fees, credit. |
| Nominate, express, correct, eliminate. | Hypothesis, guess, shortcomings, mistakes. |
| Find, find. | Support, support. |
| Discover, discover. | Law, regularity. |
| Prove, justify. | Theorem, theory. |
| To foretell, to predict. | Defeat, success. |
| Expand, increase, increase. | Opportunities, potential, level. |
3. Find errors in sentences caused by incorrect combinations of words.
1. Special attention The governor drew attention to the shortcomings achieved. 2. Serious problems hit young entrepreneurs by surprise. 3. We pay special attention to this problem. 4. Athletes from many countries will start in Tokyo. 5. Much attention was provided for the improvement of the city. 6. The premiere of the ballet was honored by the President and Prime Minister. 7. Leading value plays a role in the activities of the environmental commission educational work. 8. B last years There is a rapid growth in our cinematography. 9. Our greenhouse has been providing the city with young vegetables for several decades. 10. Already in his deep youth A.S. Pushkin began to write poetry. 11. Friendly matches of the national team with the teams of Ukraine and Slovenia played a major role in the preparation for the championship.
4. In the sentences below, find speech errors associated with a violation of lexical compatibility. Edit the sentences.
1. Now only hardcore fans of this sport remember the victories of our hockey players. 2. High school students have experienced a decline in academic performance this year. 3. Dog grazing is prohibited in the park. 4. The warehouse is closed for indefinite time due to the arrival of cockroaches. 5. Leading importance in the work of the committee is given moral education youth. 6. The records continue. 7. Children read the verse, standing scattered. 8. My body gave way on my legs from fatigue. 9. The guitar sobbed hysterically, the drum groaned. 10. You have to spend a lot of nerves reading letters from veterans. 11. There was a frost and the corn was severely affected. 12. By the time the apartment was exchanged, the wife, her mother and some things were registered in it. 13. The head of the district administration did not come empty-handed; he presented the school with a library. 14. There are still people who profess the opinion of communist leaders. 15. The experienced fraudster immediately suspected something was wrong and suddenly left the apartment. 16. Experts will not remember such a fruitful score in matches of this level. 17. Advanced technology helps improve many deficiencies. 18. Grandmother nods affectionately with her wrinkled face. 19. The rate of accidents in the mine has increased. 20. Nilovna appears as a woman beaten down from fear.
Answers to the exercises
Exercise 2
- Ancient mythology; classical languages.
- Innate talent, innate intelligence.
- A hospitable person, a warm welcome, a hospitable host.
- Detrimental effect, harmful influence.
- One moment, one moment.
- Long journey, long exposure, long fees, long period, long term loan.
- Put forward a hypothesis, make a guess, correct mistakes, eliminate shortcomings.
- Find support, find support.
- Discover a pattern, discover a law.
- Prove the theorem, justify the theory.
- Foretell defeat, predict success.
- Expand your capabilities, increase your potential, raise your level.
Exercise 3
1. ...available flaws. 2. Suddenly among young entrepreneurs arose serious problems. 3. ... we devote Special attention. 4. ... start athletes... 5. There was a lot of attention given... 6. ...honored presence... 7. Presenter role... plays... 8. ... rapid development cinematography. 9. ...provides the city early vegetables. 10. Already in early childhood ... 11. Large role... played...
Exercise 4
1. only avid fans. 2. High school performance has declined... 3. ...walking dogs. 4. ... due to the need to sanitize the premises. 5. Special attention in the work of the committee is given... 6. Our athletes continue to establish records. 7. Children read poetry, standing in a semicircle. 8. My legs were giving way from fatigue. 9. ...rumbled drum. 10. You read with great excitement letters from veterans. eleven. Unexpected frosts had a detrimental effect on corn crops. 12. By the time the apartment was exchanged, the wife and her mother were registered in it. 13. ...he gave books school library. 14. ...which share the same point of view communist leaders. 15. ...and fast left the apartment. 16. so big accounts... 17. Advanced technology eliminates many disadvantages. 18. ...nods. 19. The number has increased accidents... 20. Nilovna appears in front of us clogged, intimidated a woman.
1. A lot of errors are associated with incorrect control of a verb or noun, placing the wrong case of a noun after a preposition, using an incorrect preposition after a verb or noun: “In the letter, the mother describes a journey” instead of “describes a journey”, “We act according to the director’s orders” instead “according to the order”, “The warehouse manager gave the order” instead of “the warehouse manager”, “The schedule was violated contrary to the director’s instructions” instead of “contrary to the instructions”, “Paul came from the army” instead of “from the army”.
2. Often a sentence uses a general complement with two control words. The error appears if the verbs control different cases: “To love and enjoy nature” (to love nature and enjoy it), “To look and admire the picture” (to look at the picture and admire it), “To care for and support the daughter” (to look after daughter and support her).
3. It is erroneous to pile up (string together) within a sentence the same case forms: “To solve the problem of accelerating the rise in the level of agriculture, investments in agricultural production should be increased”; “The Steppe” is the result of Chekhov’s complex quest for his creative style.” Such stringing of genitive cases is characteristic of the clerical style.
4. Incorrect connection as homogeneous members sentences of words expressing materially heterogeneous concepts: “Study management and pickling of cucumbers.” Sometimes this technique is deliberately used to create a comic effect: “Lev Savvich Turmanov, a common man with a capital, a young wife and a significant bald spot...” (A. Chekhov).
Words from different parts of speech cannot always form a series of homogeneous members, for example, nouns and the indefinite form of the verb do not combine: “I love playing the piano and singing in the choir,” “He asked for tea and to spend the night in the house.” The mistake is to combine a sentence member and a subordinate clause as homogeneous syntactic constructions: “He watched a film that was sensational in cinematic circles and which had just been released.”
5. Sometimes ambiguity arises as a result of erroneous sentence construction. In the following sentence, for example, the ambiguity is due to the fact that the control word can be correlated with different homogeneous members included in the coordinating series: “The people demanded the elimination of crime and wages.”
An erroneous semantic connection between words can arise as a result of the fact that the pronoun which usually formally refers to the nearest antecedent noun: “They drove the peasants’ cows from the field, which urgently needed to be milked.”
6. A syntactic error is the incorrect order of words in a sentence: “Raskolnikov not only killed the old money-lender, but also her sister”; “The students attended a special course on phonetics by Professor Ivanov” (what, I wonder, was his phonetics?); “A new hotel for business travelers with all amenities has been opened.” A violation of word order can also occur in a participial phrase: “The facts given in the newspaper indicate corruption of officials.”
7. Often the cause of an error is incorrect coordination (coordination) of the subject with the predicate: “A number of proposals remained unconsidered” (the sentence needs: formal agreement – a row...remained), “A number of desks were moved to the wall” (need: – row... was pushed forward), “Thirty-one delegations took part in the meeting” (needed: accepted), “Women, including Anna Petrovna, expressed their indignation” (needed: women...expressed), “Everyone who saw the sea does not forget it "(needed: everyone...don’t forget).
8. Errors appear when mixing straight and indirect speech: “Petya introduced me to his girlfriend and said that I would soon marry her” (need: that he would soon marry her); “Svetlana told her brother that you won’t come on time” (need: that he won’t come on time). In indirect speech, personal and possessive pronouns and verb persons are used from the point of view of the author, and not from the person of the speaker.
9. Often verbally, and sometimes verbally writing after the subject-noun, the irregular third-person pronoun OH, THEY appears, secondarily denoting the subject: “Larins, They were representatives of the local nobility", "Chernyshevsky, He was a revolutionary commoner.”
10. Errors related to misuse participle turnover. General rule requires that the action denoted by the gerund relate to the subject of the sentence, therefore the following examples are erroneous: “Returning home, Boris was caught in the rain”; “While in Moscow, I was invited to visit friends.”
Participial phrases are not used in impersonal sentences such as “After running to the outskirts, I felt hot.” While there is a logical subject ME in this case, there is no grammatical subject to which the action expressed by the gerund could be attributed. It is possible to use the participial phrase only in an impersonal sentence with an indefinite form of the verb: “When inserting the missing letters, you need to remember the corresponding rules.”
Test tasks related to determining the norms of word combinations include examples with speech errors of two types: firstly, word combinations in which the norms are violatedlexicalcompatibility (you cannot combine words with a specific meaning); secondly, phrases in which norms are violatedgrammaticalcompatibility of words. These are, first of all, examples of incorrect verbal and nominal control, i.e. nouns after verbs or nouns in examples with speech errors are in the wrong case, one or another preposition is used incorrectly. Carefully analyze examples with speech errors, divided into two groups depending on the nature of the errors.
NORMS OF LEXICAL COMBINATION OF WORDS
Exercise 90 . Find lexical collocation errors in the collocations below. Correct any mistakes you made.
Improve the level of service, came out to the subbotnik in full numbers, the standard of living has decreased, raise a toast, win the championship, mutual respect for each other, take the title of champion, intolerant life, writer of Russian classics, sink into history, grow in the eyes of others, cause harm, genius virtuoso of music, turn a dream into reality, write a theme of nature, achieve success, pour out a lot of words, give privileges to someone, play paramount importance, express your answer, go one by one, hotel for business travelers, unsightly darkness, thanks to injury, look into eyes of facts, base your position or concept, take the point of view of a subordinate, provide benefit, patience is overflowing, in the month of April, provide an impression, clear explanation, master a bad habit, more than two days of time, more half, making sacrifices, making contacts with partners, rising prices, teenagers committing crimes, giving resistance, realistic approach.
Please watch the video and try to answer the question: what unites these fragments?
Yes, indeed, we are again faced with a fairly common speech error- violation of lexical compatibility of words.
Take action. What's wrong with this phrase? Why can't you say that? After all, we understood the essence of the information encrypted in it. It turns out that this is not enough to be considered speech phenomenon, not going beyond the boundaries language norm. We shouldn't cross crosswalk during a red traffic light just because there is not a single car in sight. The language also has its own clearly defined norms, which are not inferior in their severity to traffic rules.
Word undertake goes with words steps, attempts. And the word measures requires placing a verb next to it accept.
Take steps, take action - only in such variants the combination of two words does not contradict the norms of the Russian language. IN otherwise we are dealing with a speech error.
Lexical compatibility- this is the ability of a word to be used together with another word in a speech segment. Let's explore this together linguistic phenomenon take a closer look, and at the end, as usual, an attentiveness test awaits you.
At first glance, it may seem that the consolidation of one or another norm of lexical compatibility occurs spontaneously and has no logical explanation. This is especially true for synonymous words, as in our example. In fact, this single example confirms a very interesting and important idea that language is living matter.
A word lives in an abstract linguistic field, and then we insert it into the context, and amazing metamorphoses happen to it: it comes to life and begins to show its character and personality traits behavior like any living creature.
It’s not for nothing that we grouped videos with errors on similar topics. The difficult relationships between people and animals described in news texts are quite consistent with the problems of lexical compatibility of some words in the language stream.
Well, some words don’t want to stand next to each other in a phrase or sentence, and we can’t do anything about them - the language took into account their wishes and established this as the norm.
Want an explanation? There is only one thing: this is the linguistic tradition.
Amazing, right? So we are all forced to try to take these “whims” into account, so as not to be branded as ignoramuses.
Here are examples of the most common errors:
play meaning, pay attention, pay attention
no role no role
acquire skills acquire skills
increase your horizons expand your horizons
raise a toast make a toast, raise a glass to...
give support provide support
to win, to win, to win
listen closely listen closely
be in the field of attention be in the field of view
rapidly creeping up/down rapidly rising/falling
cheap prices low prices
pay the fine pay, pay the fine
increasing image increasing prestige, creating a positive image
increase production output increase production output
improve the level of well-being increase the level of well-being
economic growth growth economic indicators
take care show care
the level of service has improved the quality of service has improved
to be defeated to be defeated
gain respect earn respect
deep spring late spring
make an impression make an impression
How do we know about the ability of a word to be combined? In science it's called valence(from Latin valentia - strength, ability). The word "brown", for example, can only be combined with the noun "eyes", and "bosom" can only be a friend.
For example, we say: a herd of cows, a herd of horses, a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves, a caravan of camels. These are low valence words. Why can you say "deep autumn", and here "deep spring"- is this already a mistake? The reasons go back to the distant past.
All information about valency, in addition to the lexical meaning, is inherent in each word initially. In fact, every word in the language has its own programmed individual code of lexical compatibility. Some words have high combinability, while others have minimal compatibility.
Native speakers read this information intuitively. Age and level speech culture They move us further and further away from lexical errors. This has been developed over the years, which is why media workers must closely monitor their speech, since they are responsible for the formation and consolidation speech norms from their listeners and viewers.
IN school essays Sometimes you can find such “pearls”:
- Katerina, having married Tikhon, became an unhappy girl.
- The Battle of Borodino revealed the best that was in Prince Andrei.
- Tears silently flowed from Sonya's eyes.
- He was already marking time: he could not take off.
- Tolstoy’s favorite heroes are far from ideal, they fall into their own crises...
By the way, violation of lexical compatibility is a scourge not only for children. This linguistic subtlety is literally the bane of those who study foreign languages. Can you imagine how long it would take for a foreigner to learn that travel can be paid, but a fine cannot? The fine can be paid.
Here we are faced with paronyms. It makes sense to talk about them in detail in the next article.
If you want to see clearly how foreign students literally drowning in lexical errors when writing essays and presentations in Russian, we recommend reading the works of the now truly legendary Vietnamese student Li Von Yan.
Violation of lexical compatibility is often explained by the combination (contamination) similar phrases. Here are the most common pairs:
- meet requirements - meet needs
- the conversation was held - the lecture was given
- compensate for damage - collect money, fine
- take action - take steps
- increase the level - improve the quality
- gain fame - earn respect
- play a role - make a difference
Are there cases when semantic or lexical compatibility is justified? Certainly. Any exception to the rules in the hands of a true master of words turns into a real pearl. Judge for yourself.
Polykhaev’s creative thought was not, of course, limited exclusively to the administrative side of the matter. As a man of broad views, he could not ignore the issues of current politics. And he ordered a wonderful universal stamp, the text of which he worked on for several days. It was wonderful rubber thought, which Polykhaev could adapt to any occasion. In addition to the fact that it made it possible to immediately respond to events, it also freed me from the need to think painfully every time. The stamp was constructed so conveniently that it was enough just to fill the gap left in it to get a topical resolution.
And in the novel “12 Chairs” Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov use an expression marvelous in its imagery "herd of girls":
The circulation operations for that day were completed. The spectators took place on the coastal slopes and, beyond all expectations, noisily expressed their approval of the pharmacy-Negro ensemble. Galkin, Palkin, Malkin, Chalkin and Zalkind looked proudly, as if saying: “You see! And you argued that the broad masses would not get it. Art, it always gets there!” Then, on an improvised stage, the Columbus members performed a light vaudeville with singing and dancing, the content of which boiled down to how Vavila won fifty thousand rubles and what came of it. The artists, who had thrown off the shackles of Nixestrian constructivism, played cheerfully, danced energetically and sang in sweet voices. The shore was quite satisfied. The second act was a virtuoso balalaika player. The shore was covered with smiles.
“Lady, lady,” the virtuoso elaborated, “madam, lady.”
The balalaika began to move. She flew behind the artist, and from behind he heard: “If the master is wearing a chain, then the master is without a watch!” She took off into the air and during her short flight produced many difficult variations.
It was the turn of Georgette Tiraspolsky. She brought with her a herd of girls in sundresses. The concert ended with Russian dances.
Lexical combinability of words plays a special role important role V artistic speech. Both in prose and poetry. By studying draft manuscripts, one can clearly see this. In 1961, Mosnauchfilm produced an amazing documentary called “Pushkin’s Manuscripts.” It clearly demonstrates how a poet, when creating a poem, “ Bronze Horseman“chose every word.
This black and white film, without any complex animation or special effects, allows you to literally follow the hand of Alexander Sergeevich. It is with such a scrupulous analysis that it becomes obvious how important the lexical compatibility of words is in the context of artistic creativity.
Great masters artistic word is able to expand the usual boundaries of compatibility, but this work is truly exquisite, otherwise there is a great risk of slipping into a banal speech error. You have to be a real professional for such experiments to generate vivid metaphors, unexpected images and express the necessary expression.
At the end of the conversation, according to tradition, we will test ourselves using a test for attentiveness and speech literacy. Watch the video and try to find errors:
If the number of correct answers is rapidly creeping up and increasing, it means that we will continue to expand our horizons and talk substantively about speech errors.
If the author does not strive to achieve a certain stylistic goal, a violation of lexical compatibility becomes a speech error. This reflects characteristic feature dialectical nature of language: in one case, a phenomenon that represents a deviation from the linguistic norm turns out to be an effective means of creating speech expression, in another - evidence of the author’s negligence and inattentive attitude to the word. Involuntary violation of lexical compatibility is a very common speech error.
“Although our favorite skaters were defeated in these competitions, the spectators greet them standing,” says the sports commentator (but: they win, they lose). “Perhaps insomnia has come to you, and you are lying without closing your blue gaze,” the poet writes (but: you can close your eyes, not your gaze). In the essay, the journalist notes: “The hollow made a cozy impression” (you can make a pleasant impression, not a cozy one). Some words are often used in speech in incorrect combinations (meeting convened, conversation read, increase attention, give meaning, increase horizons, etc.).
Violation of lexical compatibility can be caused by contamination of outwardly similar phrases. For example, they say: satisfy modern needs, mixing combinations to satisfy requirements and meet needs; They recovered material damages from him in favor of the victims (material damage can be compensated; money can be recovered); Improved the artistic level of the exhibitions folk museums(the level can increase, improve; the quality can be improved). More examples of contamination of phrases: take measures (take measures - take steps); earned fame (gained fame - earned respect); unrelenting help (constant help - unremitting attention); doesn't matter (doesn't matter - doesn't matter). The mixture of phrases gave rise to a joke:
Tastes could not be discussed:
Some people respect apricots in brine,
Others like jam with mustard.
But none of this matters
And besides, it doesn’t matter.
(E. Svistunov)
When using words that have extremely limited possibilities for lexical connections, a violation of lexical compatibility often becomes the reason for the comic sound of speech. For example: Serious problems attacked young entrepreneurs by surprise; The leaders paid serious attention to the shortcomings achieved; They worked like the most notorious specialists; People came to us, dejected by the experience. The comedy in such cases arises because words that have limited lexical compatibility suggest variants of phrases with often directly opposite meaning(cf.: achievements achieved, notorious swindlers, overwhelmed with grief).
Let's look at examples of stylistic editing of sentences in which lexical compatibility is violated:
2. The museum displays relics presented by delegations. - The museum displays gifts presented by delegations.
3. The main strength of Siberia is its abundant mineral resource base. - The strength of Siberia lies in its rich mineral resource base.
As you can see, stylistic editing mainly comes down to replacing words, the use of which led to a violation of lexical compatibility.
Golub I.B. Stylistics of the Russian language - M., 1997
For correct use words in speech are not enough to know them exact value, it is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of lexical compatibility of words, i.e. their ability to connect with each other. Thus, “similar” adjectives long, long, long, long-term, long are “attracted” to nouns in different ways: a long period, long period (but not long, long, long-term period); long haul, a long way; long fees, long-term loan. Often words with the same value may have different lexical compatibility (cf.: a true friend - a genuine document).
The doctrine of lexical compatibility is based on the position of Acad. V.V. Vinogradov about phraseologically related meanings of words that have a single combinability (bosom friend) or limited possibilities of compatibility (stale bread, loaf; callous person, but you cannot say “stale candy” (chocolate), “callous comrade” (father, son).
To develop a theory of lexical compatibility great importance had Vinogradov’s identification of phraseological combinations and the establishment of basic types lexical meanings words in Russian. Phraseological combinations deals with phraseology, subject lexical stylistics is the study of the combination in speech of words that have free meanings, and the determination of the restrictions that language imposes on their lexical compatibility.
Many linguists emphasize that the lexical compatibility of a word is inseparable from its meaning. Some scientists, studying the problems of lexical compatibility, come to the conclusion that there are no absolutely free combinations of lexemes in the language, there are only groups of words with different combinability capabilities. With this formulation of the question, the distinction between free combinations and phraseologically related ones is destroyed.
Combining words into phrases may come across various kinds restrictions. Firstly, words may not be combined due to their semantic incompatibility (purple orange, leaning back, water is burning); secondly, combining words into a phrase can be excluded due to their grammatical nature (mine - swim, close - cheerful); thirdly, combining words can be hindered by their lexical features(words that seem to mean connectable concepts, do not combine; they say to cause grief and trouble, but one cannot say to cause joy and pleasure).
Depending on the restrictions governing the combination of words, three types of compatibility are distinguished: semantic (from the term “semantics” - the meaning of a word), grammatical (more precisely, syntactic) and lexical.
Semantic compatibility is broken, for example, in the following cases: As of today, there is no information yet; There is a need to speed up the resolution of the bloodshed; Maiden name my father Sobakin; After Lensky's death, without a duel, Olga married a hussar... Funny combinations of words, isn't it? But if you think about it, in other cases a very undesirable hidden meaning arises: not to stop, but only to regulate the bloodshed?..
A parodic example of a violation of grammatical compatibility is known: My yours does not understand ( possessive adjectives cannot be combined with verbs in personal form). More examples: Our leader is healthy inside and out; Deputies spend most of their time on discussions.
The most dramatic violation of the laws of “word attraction” is lexical incompatibility: The voice of numbers is not comforting; In the recent past, we all had our tongues held. Comedians play up the vivid effect of “deceived expectations” in caustic jokes: We have won and have no right to hesitate any longer; We reached the yawning peaks.
Violation of lexical compatibility is often explained by incorrect use polysemantic words. Thus, in its basic meaning, the word deep can be freely combined with any other that is suitable in meaning: deep (that is, having great depth) well, bay, reservoir, lake, river. However, in the meaning of “reached the limit, complete, perfect,” this word is combined with few (deep autumn, winter, but not summer, not spring, deep night, silence, but not morning, not day, not noise; extreme old age, but not youth). Therefore, the statement makes us laugh: In deep childhood he looked like his mother.
The word take place is interpreted in dictionaries through the synonyms happen, come true, but unlike them, this verb is appropriate if the planned events were prepared and planned (A meeting was held; A meeting of a candidate for Duma deputy with voters took place). And if a correspondent writes: Armed clashes took place on the streets of the city, you might think that armed clashes were being prepared or planned by someone. As we can see, a violation of lexical compatibility can lead to a distortion of the meaning of the statement.
Lexical stylistics should focus on assessing lexical compatibility. However, the boundaries between various types compatibility is very unclear, so when stylistic analysis text, we have to talk not only about “pure” lexical compatibility, but also take into account various transitional cases.
All significant words that have free meanings can be divided into two groups. Some are characterized by compatibility, practically unlimited within the limits of their subject-logical connections; these are, for example, adjectives characterizing physical properties objects - color, volume, weight, temperature (red, black, big, small, light, heavy, hot, cold), many nouns (table, house, person, tree), verbs (live, see, work, know). Another group is formed by words that have limited lexical compatibility (and in the case of polysemous words, this restriction can only apply to individual meanings). This group of words is of particular interest.
Limitations of lexical compatibility are usually characteristic of words that are rarely found in speech. Words that have the maximum frequency of use (they are included in the 2500 most frequent words in the Russian language) easily enter into lexical connections. For example, when comparing the compatibility of the words fear and fear, it turned out that they are more actively combined with different verbs the word fear.