Seminar 5. Phraseology

Task 1. Explain the meaning of the following terms:

1.phraseologism

2. collocation

3.phrasal scheme

4.stable combination of words

5.cliché phrase

Task 2. Explain the difference:

1.”method of semantic identification” vs. “contextual method”

2.”pattens of likeness” vs. “patterns of degree”

3.”phraseological unity” vs. “phraseological fusion”

4.“morphological classification of phraseologisms” vs. “syntactic classification of phraseologisms”

Task 3. Answer the questions:

1.Who initiated the study of phraseology?

2.What are the main criteria of determining a phraseologism?

3.What is the essence of the method of surrounding? Give illustrations.

4.What are the 3 classes of semantic phraseologisms?

5. What other classifications of phraseologisms are there?

Task 4. Prepare a brief report / presentation on one of the topics:

1.Genetic classification of phraseological units.

2.Ways of forming phraseologisms in English.

Lecture 5. English phraseology

1. Phraseological tradition of studying language.

2. Methods of phraseological investigation.

3. Semantic classification of phraseological units.

5.1. Phraseological Tradition of Studying Language

The object of phraseology (Lat. phrasis “expression” + logos “study, learning”) is to study the nature of stable phrases, their syntactic structure, semantic meaning, and functioning in speech. This branch of linguistics is also preoccupied with sources of origin of stable phrases, their semantic classes, and stylistic characteristics. Phraseologists develop principles of differentiation of phrases and methods of their classification.

The vocabulary of any language is enriched not only by words but also by phraseological units, i.e. word-groups that cannot be coined in the process of speech but those existing in the language as ready-made units. The same as a word a phraseological unit expresses a single notion and is used as a particular sentence member. Scholars consider phraseological units as signs of secondary nomination in the process of rethinking and forming new meaning of the already existing words. The term phraseology is used to describe various structural and semantic types of phrases with different degrees of stability and transperance.

Investigations in phraseology were initiated by Swiss scholar Charle Balli in his Brief Essays on Stylistics (1905), further developed by V. V. Vinogradov in Русский язык. Грамматическое учение о слове (1947), then by A. V. Koonin in his doctorate thesis Основные понятия английской фразеологии как лингвистической дисциплины (1964) and two monographs: Фразеология современного английского языка: Опыт системного описания (1972), Английская фразеология: Теоретический курс (1970). He also compiled a phraseological dictionary in two volumes Англо-русский фразеологический словарь (1967).

In Ukrainian lingustic tradition theoretical problems of phraseology have been considered by prof. B. M. Аzhnyuk in Англійська фразеологія у культурно-етнічному висвітленні (1989), prof. L. G. Verba in Синтаксическая идиоматика в современном английском языке (1975), N. I. Аndrеichuk in Соотношение семантики фразеологических единиц и свободных словосочетаний (1987); Y. A. Barantsev et al. in Фразеологія: знакові величини (2008); practical application of theoretical studies was conducted by B. Barantsev in The Anglo-Ukrainian Dictionary of Idioms and Phrases (1970).

In English lingustic tradition problems of phraseology have been studied by L. P. Smith in Words and Idioms (1933), V. H. Collins in A Book of English Idioms (1958), U. Weinreich in Problems in the Analysis of Idioms (1969), L. Lipka in An Outline of English Lexicology (1998), A. P. Cowie in Phraseology: Theory, Analysis, and Applications (1998), F. Meunier & S. Granger in Phraseology (2008), Phraseology in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (2008).

English idiomatic / phraseological dictionaries include a vast collection of stable and idiomatic expressions, proverbs, sayings, clichйs, and linguistic anomalies. The phraseological units in dictionaries are usually differentiated according to their usage (formal, informal, old-fashioned, taboo, humorous, literary, euphemisms) and arranged according to heterogenuos topics, like: agreeing and disagreeing; anger, happiness and sadness; conversation, work and business; friends and family [CIDI, 2010]. The activities of the European Society of Phraseology (EUROPHRAS) and the European Association for Lexicography (EURALEX) with their regular conventions and publications attest to the prolific European interest in phraseology.

The most well-known English dictionaries of idioms and phrases are: CIDI / The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms / Ed. by M.P.Wilson (2010), Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English (2001), Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms / Ed. by J.Ayto, 3^rd ed. (2009); Longman Dictionary of English Idioms (1996), Brewer’s 20^th c. Phrases and Fable (1991), Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms / Ed. by J.Slefring (2004), McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs (2005).