◄ Collocations | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |

Search the corpus:

[Collocations #8]

Task (1): Search for melted and molten in the corpus; which of the two forms is more commonly used?
Task (2): As participles/adjectives, melted and molten are variant spellings of the same word; give an example where they are used in similar contexts.
Task (3): Have a closer look at the collocations of melted and molten when used as adjectives; are the two words interchangeable?
Task (4): Has molten been used as a verb in the corpus at all?



Suggested answer:
(1) Melted is the more commononly used form in the corpus.

(2) Examples of melted and molten used in similar contexts:
All that luck-junk, peace-signs of melted lead, love beads...
His fingers feather, the matrices rattle on high, the molten lead comfortably steams at his side.

(3) In some cases, as in the example just cited, the two words are interchangeable. However, the collocations suggest that melted is a more general word, collocating with a variety of different nouns, while molten prefers collocates that refer to a particular substance or element, e.g. brass, gold, granite.

(4) Yes, one of the occurrences shows molten as a participle:
...the children watched with joy as the metal sank suddenly molten...

Read about collocations here
Terminology: adjective, collocation, participle

Last updated 4 October 2023, SOE
© 2004, 2005, 2006-2022 ILOS, University of Oslo