Question

Which statement defines collocation?

o collocation is a phenomenon in which words tend to occur in particular grammatical patterns.
o collocation is a phenomenon where certain words tend to occur with certain other words.
o collocation is a type of multi word where the meaning is not clear from the individual words.
o collocations consist of two or more words which act together as a unit.

Answer 1

Collocation in linguistics is the regular occurrence of certain words with specific other words, forming recognizable expressions that are commonly used together in a language.

Step-by-step explanation:

A collocation is a linguistic phenomenon where certain words naturally tend to occur together with other specific words to create fixed, conventional expressions. This tends to occur based on common usage rather than grammatical rules. For example, we say 'heavy rain' rather than 'strong rain', illustrating how 'heavy' and 'rain' co-occur with higher frequency in English; this pairing is an example of a collocation.

Another instance of collocation is the phrase 'commit a crime', where 'commit' and 'crime' are frequently paired together and this pairing is recognized and understood by native speakers. Collocations are critical for language fluency, influence word choice, and contribute significantly to the subtleties of meaning within a language.