8.4. Phraseological units & idioms

That’s where the shoe pinches, what will Mrs Grundy say?, the cat is out of the bag. Proverbs, sayings & quotations exist as ready-made expressions with a specialised meaning of their own which cannot be inferred from the meaning of their components. The criterion of idiomaticity → proverbs & sayings are PhUs.

The functional criterion: proverbs & sayings lie outside phraseology. 1) The lack of motivation is of an essentially different nature. Idioms are based on metaphors → the transferred meaning of the whole expression is more / less transparent: to carry coals to Newcastle, to fall between two stools, fine feathers make fine birds.

2) Idioms never function in speech as W-equivalents.

Idioms have very much in common with quotations. Quotations which have acquired specialised meaning & idiomatic value (to be / not to be (Shakespeare), to cleanse the Augean stables (mythology), a voice crying out in the wilderness (the Bible)) differ little from proverbs & sayings which may also be regarded as quotations from English folklore.

8.5. Phraseology as a subsystem of language

The 3 approaches (semantic, functional, contextual) have very much in common: the main criteria of PhUs = stability & idiomaticity / lack of motivation.

Another approach to the problem of phraseology more / less universally accepted by the home linguists.

1. Phraseology = a self-contained branch of linguistics, not a part of lexicology.

2. Phraseology deals with a phraseological subsystem of language, not with isolated PhUs.

3. Phraseology is concerned with all types of set expressions.

4. Set expressions → into 3 classes: PhUs (red tape), phraseomatic units (win a victory, launch a campaign) & border-line cases belonging to the mixed class. The main distinction between the 1^st & the 2^nd classes is semantic: PhUs have fully / partially transferred meanings, components of phraseomatic units are used in literal meanings.

5. Phraseological & phraseomatic units ≠ W-equivalents but some of them are W correlates.

6. Phraseological & phraseomatic units are set expressions & their phraseological stability distinguishes them from free phrases & CWs.

7. Phraseological & phraseomatic units are made up of Ws of different degree of Wness depending on the type of set expressions they are used in. Their structural separateness distinguishes them from CWs (blackbird & black market). Other aspects of their stability: stability of use, lexical & semantic stability.

8. Stability of use: set expressions are reproduced ready-made. They are not elements of individual style of speech but language units.

9. Lexical stability: components of set expressions are either irreplaceable / partly replaceable within the bounds of phraseological / phraseomatic variance: lexical (a skeleton in the cupboard – a skeleton in the closet), grammatical (to be in deep water – to be in deep waters), positional (head over ears – over head & ears), quantitative (to lead smb a dance – to lead smb a pretty dance), mixed variants (raise (stir up) a hornets’ nest about one’s ears – arouse (stir up) the nest of hornets).

10. Semantic stability is based on the lexical stability of set expressions. When occasional changes are introduced the meaning of set expression is preserved. It may only be specified, weakened / strengthened. In spite of all occasional changes phraseological & phraseomatic units, as distinguished from free phrases, remain semantically invariant / are destroyed.

Questions

1. Why are free word-groups regarded as only relatively free?

2. What are the essential features of phraseological units?

3. What is non-variability of phraseological units confined to?

4. How are completely non-motivated word-groups termed?

5. What is the difference between phraseological collocations & free word-groups?

6. What linguistic phenomena can the term ‘ready-made units’ be applied to?

7. Why is the criterion of idiomaticity considered inadequate for singling out phraseological units?

8. Should the approach to defining the degree of idiomaticity be interlingual / intralingual?

9. Why is the criterion of stability considered inadequate for singling out phraseological units?

10. What is the main criterion of singling out phraseological units in the functional approach?

11. What is the main criterion of singling out phraseological units in the contextual approach?

12. Which classes are set-expressions divided into?

Literature

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