Lexical combinability

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Abstract
Of the various types of lexical combinations, collocations have been the most difficult for the lexicographer to identify and treat in the dictionary. Future dictionaries of English will be improved if they systematically enter key lexical collocations. Noun entries, for example, should include the most important verb plus noun combinations. Thus, the entry for embargo should show the collocation impose an embargo. Entries for polysemous nouns should indicate which verb collocates with which sense: form a line ('queue up'), drop somebody a line ('write somebody a letter'), etc. The inclusion of such collocations in dictionaries would provide vital material for the teaching of English as a second or foreign language.

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