Collocate: meaning, definitions and examples
📚
collocate
[ˈkōləˌkāt ]
Definition
word usage
To collocate means to arrange or place words or phrases together in a way that is typically used in a language. This often involves pairing words that commonly appear together, such as 'strong coffee' rather than 'powerful coffee'. Understanding collocations can greatly enhance one's fluency and naturalness in speech and writing. It also plays a crucial role in language learning, as it helps learners to produce language that sounds idiomatic and appropriate.
Synonyms
cluster, combine, place together.
Examples of usage
- Do these words collocate naturally?
- He often collocates adjectives with nouns.
- In academic writing, it's important to collocate terms correctly.
Interesting Facts
Etymology
- The term comes from the Latin word 'collocare', meaning 'to place together'.
- It first appeared in the early 20th century, influenced by the development of modern linguistics.
- Related terms include 'collocation', which describes how words commonly pair up.
Linguistics
- Common examples include phrases like 'make a decision' or 'fast food', which sound natural together.
- In learning a new language, understanding common word pairs can enhance fluency and comprehension.
- Collocates can change based on regional dialects, illustrating how language evolves in different cultures.
Education
- Teachers encourage students to learn collocations to improve their writing and speaking skills.
- Vocabulary instruction often includes collocations to help students remember words together more effectively.
- Test results show that students using collocated phrases in writing can achieve higher scores.
Computational Linguistics
- Natural language processing models often use collocations to enhance text understanding and generation.
- Search engines utilize collocation data to improve the relevance of search results.
- Machine learning algorithms analyze collocations to assist in predictive text and language translation.
Cultural Context
- Certain collocations can reflect cultural nuances, like 'public holiday' in English versus 'national holiday' in other languages.
- Idiomatic expressions often arise from collocations, making them rich for cultural exploration.
- Understanding collocations aids in navigating socially accepted phrases in different cultures.
Translations
Translations of the word "collocate" in other languages:
🇵🇹 colocar em colocation
🇮🇳 सामंजस्य स्थापित करना
🇩🇪 zusammenstellen
🇮🇩 mengkolokasi
🇺🇦 колокувати
🇵🇱 kolokować
🇯🇵 コロケーションする
🇫🇷 collocaliser
🇪🇸 colocar en colocación
🇹🇷 bir araya getirmek
🇰🇷 동시 배치하다
🇸🇦 تجميع
🇨🇿 kolokovat
🇸🇰 kolokovať
🇨🇳 搭配
🇸🇮 kolokacija
🇮🇸 setja saman
🇰🇿 құрастыру
🇬🇪 კოლოკაცია
🇦🇿 kolokasiya
🇲🇽 colocar en colocación