The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the differences between ‘fast and quick’, ‘high and tall’, ‘big and large’ in meanings and usages and the major features of the nouns which collocate with them; it covers the ‘adjective + noun’ type collocations. This thesis was done based on data from The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).
The results are as follows.
First, the word fast focuses on ‘speed.’ It is used when a thing is ‘moving at high speed’ with the ‘continuity of speed.’ Nouns which collocate with fast can ‘produce speed’: such concrete things as runner, boat, and computer, and such abstract things as company, music, and talk can do so. However, there are cases where things can be the base of speed but cannot actually produce speed themselves: they are such nouns as lane, film, and track. On the other hand, the word quick focuses on ‘time.’ It is used when a thing is ‘moving or doing something in a short time or immediately.’ Nouns which collocate with quick have ‘duration’: succession, look, and tip and ‘reactivity’: reaction, fix, and results. tabulates the collocations of ‘fast vs. quick.’
Secondly, high corresponds with a ‘position in a long vertical-upward distance from the ground, the sea level, or some reference point.’ It can also be described as a ‘long vertical-upward length from the bottom of a thing up to its top.’ Nouns which collocate with high are things that ‘have vertical positions.’ This means that the things are graded or situated in a high position; the things may be concrete having spatial vertical position as in such nouns as ground, sea(s), and ceiling, and they may be abstract having non-spatial vertical positions as in school, level, and priority. In addition, the word high collocates with things whose horizontal lengths excess vertical lengths as in mountain, fence, and bank, and describes they are long in vertical-upward length. There are also cases where high collocate with things that can ‘vertically express the quantity and the intensity in figures’ as in price, percentage, and heat. In contrast, tall implements only things that have ‘long vertical-upward length from the bottom of a thing up to its top’ and restricts to things whose vertical lengths excess far more horizontal lengths. Humans and trees are the typical forms of tall things, and the fixed tall things such as pylon and silo stand out, forming discontinuum. There are non-spatial vertical things that tall can collocate with, such as tale and order. tabulates the collocations of ‘high vs. tall.’
Finally, big and large are interchangeable when they describe physical size; however, they are used differently when big is used metaphorically, meaning ‘important’, ‘successful’, ‘powerful’, ‘popular’, etc. big often forms fixed phrases and idioms that cannot be replaced by large as in big deal, big fish, big bang, big picture, big mouth, etc. The size described by big is unclear but that described by large is measurable and clear. big features ‘concreteness’ while large features ‘abstractness.’ The nouns that collocate with big are ‘popular things’: star, band, and show; ‘things composed of multifarious factors’: government, city, and bank. In addition, ‘things having effects’ (impact, change, and fan) and ‘people needed to be mature’(brother, boy, and girl), and ‘things at the center of discussion’(issue, question, and mistake) can collocate with big too. On the other hand, nouns that collocate with large are ‘standard-sized things’(bowl, skillet, and onion), ‘things that represent amounts’(amount, number, and measure), and ‘things composed of multiple identical factors’(group, population, and family). tabulates the collocations of ‘big vs. large.’
Collocations allow one to speak languages fluently and naturally. Accordingly, it can be said that linguistic competence is collocational competence. The meanings of collocations can be derived from individual words which compose them because collocational combinations are created based on meanings. So, it would be effective to preferentially understand the semantic features of words which compose collocations in order to acquire collocational competence.
