A Data-Driven Approach to Idiomaticity Based on Experts' Criteria in Theoretical Linguistics
For theoretical linguists, this provides empirical validation of idiomaticity criteria, though the findings are incremental.
The study analyzed 286 multi-word expressions using 16 linguistic criteria from theoretical literature, finding that no expressions are absolutely idiomatic and that lexical criteria are most influential.
The article observes data analysis of 286 multi-word expressions (MWEs) based on 16 lexical, grammatical and other criteria described in theoretical books and papers on the notion of idiomaticity. MWEs were collected from the same theoretical sources, and a set of experts in linguistics annotated them with these categories. The distribution of categories shows that there are no absolutely idiomatic expressions. Lexical criteria seem to be the most influential; grammatical criteria are bound to certain conditions; presence of obsolete words and grammar influence ability of an MWE to be replaced with one word.