E.G. To dine with Duke Humphrey

to cut off with a shilling

to accept the Chiltren Hundreds

to mind one's P's and Q's

передати куті меду; впіймати облизня; дурне сало без хліба

4) Typologically universal are also international idioms which are common, however, only in some groups of languages (Indo-European, South-Asian, etc). There exist no universal idioms of the same lexical meaning and component structure in all languages. This is the result of the historical development of languages which were exerted in different geographical / racial areas to different cultural, religious, etc. influences. Thus, all European nations and their languages have been influenced by Greek and Roman cultures and Christianity. As a result there are many words and idioms borrowed from Greek and Latin (cf. Pandora’s box, Herculian pillars, to cross the Rubicon etc.). these and many other international idioms are alien to Chinese, Japanese and other languages whose people have been brought up in other (Moslem, Buddhist, etc) historic and cultural/religious conditions. Consequently, there exist no universally equivalent idioms of identical semantic, componental or syntactic structure. Nevertheless, there are semantically correlating genuine and approximate analogies of some of these and other idioms in all languages. Therefore, typologicaly universals can be found only among the idiomatic analogies, i.e. lexical units having a similar/analogous meaning.

Lecture 9

Socially, stylistically and functionally distinguished classes of words

The term functional style is generally accepted in modern linguistics. Professor I. V. Arnold defines it as "a system of expressive means peculiar to a specific sphere of communication".

By the sphere of communication we mean the circumstances attending the process of speech in each particular case: professional communication, a lecture, an informal talk, a formal letter, an intimate letter, a speech in court, etc.

All these circumstances or situations can be roughly classified into two types: formal (a lecture, a speech in court, an official letter, professional communication) and informal (an informal talk, an intimate letter).

Accordingly, functional styles are classified into two groups, with further subdivisions depending on different situations.

Informal Style

Informal vocabulary is used in one's immediate circle: family, relatives or friends. One uses informal words when at home or when feeling at home.

Informal style is relaxed, free-and-easy, familiar and unpretentious. But it should be pointed out that the informal talk of well-educated people considerably differs from that of the illiterate or the semi-educated; the choice of words with adults is different from the vocabulary of teenagers; people living in the provinces use certain regional words and expressions. Consequently, the choice of words is determined in each particular case not only by an informal (or formal) situation, but also by the speaker's educational and cultural background, age group, and his occupational and regional characteristics.

Informal words and word-groups are traditionally divided into three types: colloquial, slang and dialect words and word-groups.