A Corpus-Based Investigation of Formulaic Expressions in Everyday Conversational English

Abdulkhakova Dilafruz Shamsiddinovna

Authors

Abdulkhakova Dilafruz Shamsiddinovna PhD student, Uzbekistan state university of world languages Tashkent, Uzbekistan E-mail: abdulkhakovadilafruz@gmail.com Phone number: +998330517077 Author

Keywords:

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Abstract

Formulaic expressions, such as idioms, collocations, and fixed phrases, are central to conversational English, yet their role in natural speech often remains underestimated. This study employs a corpus-based approach to analyze the use of formulaic expressions in spoken English using data from the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Focusing on conversational texts, the research investigates their frequency, distribution, and pragmatic functions. Results reveal that formulaic expressions constitute over 30% of conversational discourse, playing key roles in facilitating fluency, fostering social bonds, and mitigating face-threatening acts. This research contributes to understanding formulaic language in natural conversation and has implications for language teaching, sociolinguistics, and computational linguistics.

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