ABSTRACT
Linguists are increasingly interested in the study of collocations because these are a key issue in second language learning, fi rst language acquisition, translation, lexicography, text revision and correction, as well as in theoretical and applied studies in lexical representation. Obviously, most studies focus on general collocations, i.e. collocations with a general meaning used in all genres; some Spanish examples of collocations are the following: encajar una derrota ‘accept a defeat’, proferir un insulto ‘hurl an insult’, amante despechado ‘angry lover’. 2
This chapter will seek to address some questions about collocations in specialized discourse. These questions are: do specialized collocations exist? Are specialized collocations different from general collocations? How is a specialized collocation like? What relationship exists between a specialized collocation and a terminological unit? What classes of specialized collocations can be identifi ed? Should terminological resources include collocations? If so, what kind of collocations should be included in specialized dictionaries? And how could specialized collocations be represented and indexed in dictionaries?
