8.5 Classification of phraseologisms

V.V. Vinogradov proposes a semantic approach to the classification of phraseological units, which is also supported by R. Ginzburg:

• phraseological fusions (also called idioms)

• phraseological unities

• phraseological combinations.

This classification is based on the degree of motivation. The first subcategory, phraseological fusions, is made up of unmotivated units whose meanings cannot be drawn from the meanings of their individual components. This definition can be attributed to the definition of idioms, given by scholars in Europe and the United States (Cowie, 1988, 1994; Crystal, 1995, 1996, 2003; Lipka, 2002; Jackson & Zé Amvela, 2007). Some examples of phraseological fusions are add fuel to the fire/flames, a skeleton in the cupboard/closet, skid row, knock somebody for six, cut somebody down to size, turn on the waterworks, catch the wave, cut somebody some slack, chase rainbows, smell a rat, and go into raptures. They are both grammatically and lexically fixed. The second subcategory is made up of phraseological unities that are partially motivated, whose sense can be perceived as metaphoric and metonymic extension of the whole phrase. Phraseological unities are marked by a comparatively high degree of stability of the lexical components (Ginzburg, Khidekel, Knyazeva, & Sankin, 1979, p.75). Some examples of phraseological unities would include under lock and key, a lone wolf, living on borrowed time, a law into oneself, take the law unto/into one’s own hands, shake like a leaf, bury the hatchet, make hay while the sun shines, and foaming at the mouth. Cowie notes that the “boundary between ‘fusions’ and ‘unities’ is not clear-cut” (2001, p.214). He calls this category “a figurative idiom” to this category and states that such expressions as to do a U-turn and to blow off steam have undergone metaphorical changes from a still active technical sense (p. 214). We agree that some may not see the phrase, wash one’s dirty linen in public, as a unity and a metaphoric extension of the phrase; however, if we combine the lexical meanings of the components, we can perceive the metaphoric meaning of the phrase, which is to ‘make public one’s quarrels.’ The third subcategory is phraseological combinations (or collocations). They are motivated and “reveal a change of meaning only in one of the components, and this semantic shift does not result in enhancing expressiveness” (Arnold, 1986, p.171). Some examples of this category are meet/see somebody in the flesh, drink like a fish, watch somebody or something with eagle eyes, be as dull as dishwater/ditchwater, be quick on the draw, a double entendre, fish for compliments, live in cloud-cuckoo land, and many others. Arnold clarifies that “phraseological combinations are not only motivated but contain one component used in its direct meaning while the other is used figuratively: meet the demand, meet the necessity, and meet the requirements” (1986, p. 170). The verb meet is used in its transferred meaning, and the direct objects demand, necessity, and requirements are used in their direct meanings.

For Amosova, phraseological units are units of fixed context. “Fixed context is defined as a context characterized by a specific and unchanging sequence of definite lexical components and a peculiar semantic relationship between them” (Arnold, 1986, p. 171). Amosova divides units of fixed context into phrasemes and idioms. She believes that a word is a “system of free, socially established semantic forces, and only contextual and situational indications actualize one of its meanings” (1963). Phrasemes are always binary: “one component has a phraseologically bound meaning, and the other serves as the determining context” (Arnold, p. 171). In the examples of a black eye, a black market, the black sheep (of a family), a black box, a black day, and a black mark, the words eye, market, sheep, box, day, and mark actualize the specific meanings of the word black.

Idioms are distinguished from phrasemes by the “idiomaticity of the whole word-group” (Ginzburg et al., 1979, p. 83). In idioms “the new meaning is created by the whole, though every element may have its original meaning weakened or even completely lost” (Arnold, p. 171). Some examples of idioms are clip someone’s wings, clutch at straws, climb on the bandwagon, behind the eight ball, and some other PUs. Like Vinogradov, Amosova also recognizes that idioms may be motivated or unmotivated. However, unlike Kunin and Arnold, Amosova believes that proverbs should not be included in phraseology because “they are independent units of communication” (as cited in Arnold, p. 179). Nevertheless, proverbs are included in phraseology because they are not seen as regular sentences, and their meanings cannot be deduced from the meanings of their components.

A.V. Kunin (1996) applies a functional approach to the classification of PUs. He divides them into the following four classes according to their function in the communication determined by their structural-semantic characteristics:

• Nominative phraseological units are represented by word-groups, including the ones with one meaningful word, and coordinative phrases of the type wear and tear and well and good. This type can be subdivided into substantive, or nominal (ways and means, warts and all, the salt of the earth, and skeleton in the closet/cupboard), adjectival (weak as a kitten, sadder but wiser, safe and sound, and red in the face), adverbial (to and fro, all at once, and all over the place), and verbal (wash dirty linen in public, screw up one’s courage, and walk the plank).

• Nominative-communicative phraseological units include word-groups of the type to break the law– the law is broken, i.e., verbal word-groups which are transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the passive voice.

• Phraseological units which are neither nominative nor communicative include interjectional word-groups. Some examples are Alas, poor souls! Holy mackerel! My word!

• Communicative phraseological units are represented by proverbs and sayings. Some examples of proverbs are the following: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. After the feast comes the reckoning. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Clothes do not make the man. Familiarity breeds contempt. Haste makes waste.

Irina Arnold agrees with Kunin’s classification; however, she believes “within each of these classes a further subdivision is necessary” (1986, p. 172); therefore, she offers a part-of-speech classification:

• Set expressions functioning like nouns: ways and means (N + N), clear sailing (A + N), the sky’s limit (N’s + N), (N + prep + N + N), (N + sub. clause).

• Set expressions functioning like verbs: blow off steam (V + Prep + N) and chase rainbows (V + N).

• Set expressions functioning like adjectives: fine and dandy (Adj +conj +Adj),

• Set expressions functioning like adverbs: at a (single) glance (Prp + [Adj] + N), by degrees (Prp + N), year after year (N + Prp +N), and on balance (Prep + N).

• Set expressions functioning like interjections: Alas, poor souls! Holy mackerel! My word! (pp.172-173)