On The Status Of Collocations In English: Beyond “Word Combinations” And “Idioms”

Abstract

This paper addresses the long-standing problem of distinguishing collocations from other multiword units such as free word combinations and idioms in English. While these categories are frequently treated as overlapping or loosely defined, the study argues that collocations occupy a distinct structural–semantic position within the lexical system. Drawing on theoretical insights from collocation theory and corpus-oriented linguistics, the analysis demonstrates that collocations are structurally open but lexically restricted, semantically transparent yet conventionally constrained. The findings suggest that collocations should not be reduced either to free combinations or to idioms, but should be recognised as an independent type of lexical organisation in English