Do collocational frameworks have local grammars?

Abstract

This study extends the theory of local grammars by making the case that local grammars can also be employed to better and more fully describe the patterns of co-selection found in collocational frameworks (Renouf & Sinclair 1991). The term collocational framework was originally used to describe the co-selection of two grammatical words which frame an intervening lexical word. In the present study a more inclusive definition is adopted and the number of intervening words is not limited. While there have been a small number of studies related to collocational frameworks there has been no attempt so far to see whether it is possible to describe their local grammars. To illustrate the feasibility of identifying the local grammars of collocational frameworks, four collocational frameworks are studied here: any … may, may … any, any … shall, and shall … any and their local grammars are identified and discussed.