基于语料库的颜色词RED搭配行为研究

A Corpus-based Study of Collocation Behavior of RED

中国传统认为红色是吉祥喜庆的颜色,而国内现有的权威英语词典对RED一词虽有给出相应解释或搭配,但限于篇幅等原因,对其全方位解析不够,导致英语学习者在实际应用中很难正确把握该词的用法。基于英语本族语语料库,描述常用颜色词RED的类联接、搭配词以及搭配词的语义韵等搭配行为,以期对英语学习及词典编撰提供有益借鉴。研究表明,RED有三类基本用法:名词、形容词、首字母大写。通过详尽分析其搭配词,证实RED的不同意义与其所用结构之间有很密切的关系,并发现英语RED一词具有强烈消极语义韵。此外,RED经常用作构成专门术语或者专有名词,并且通常用于比喻性意义。

RED has been a representative auspicious festive color in China. The present authoritative English dictionary has also offered a corresponding explanation or collocation for RED, which, however, is not comprehensive enough due to space limitation, causing that not a few English learners failed to fully grasp the usage of this word. Adopting the corpus - based approach, this paper describes the collocation behavior of the commonly used word RED, including its colligation, collocates and semantic prosody, in order to provide reference for English learners and lexicographers. The present study indicates that there are three basic uses of RED ： the noun, the adjective and words that start with capital letters. Through a detailed account of collocates, a fact is established that there is a close correlation between the different senses of RED and the structures in which it occurs. Also a conclusion is drawn that the English word RED has a negative semantic prosody. Besides, RED is usually used to form technical terms and proper nouns with metaphorical meanings.