5. Word-group vs. Phraseological unit: structure and semantics

Phraseological unit (idiom, set expression) - a non-motivated word-group that cannot be freely made up in speech, but is reproduced as ready-made units. a white elephant - обуза, подарок, от которого не знаешь как избавиться

Distinctive features: meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of the constituents;

stable lexical components (statistical probability of co-occurrence for the member words); are reproduced in speech, but not constructed in the process of communication; the denotational meaning belongs to the word group; constituents don’t preserve their denotational meaning; components of a phraseological unit very often have just one form of all the forms of their paradigms; often possess expressiveness or emotional colouring.

Semantic classification of phraseological units (V.V. Vinogradov): 1) According to the degree of motivation: phraseological fusions are units the meaning of which cannot be deduced from the meanings of their component parts (unmotivated units) red tape - bureaucratic methods phraseological unities are expressions in which the meaning of the whole is based on the metaphorically/metonimically transferred meanings of the componentsto show one's teeth (to be unfriendly), phraseological combinations are traditional word groups. The components are limited in the ability to combine with other words by some linguistic factors. to break news, to meet the demands, to take a liking to smth

Structural classification of phraseological units (A.I. Smirnitsky): one-top (one-summit) phraseological units (≈ derived words) verb-adverb phraseological units of 'to give up‘ type: to bring up, to try out, to look up, to break up, to come up; phraseological units of 'to be tired‘ type: to be surprised, to be up to; prepositional-substantative units: by heart; two-top phraseological units (≈ compound words). attributive-nominal: brains trust, white elephant, blind alley; verb-nominal phrases: to know the ropes, to take place; phraseological repetitions: ups and downs, rough and ready, flat as a pancake;

Functional, semantic and structural classification (A.V. Kunin):

Phraseology is an independent branch of linguistics. Phraseology studies stable lexical units.

Types of stability: Stability of usage: units are reproduced ready-made, but not created in speech; Lexical stability: the components are either irreplaceable (tit for tat, mare's nest) or partly replaceable within the certain limits: lexical (a skeleton in the cupboard - a skeleton in the closet), grammatical (to be in deep water - to be in deep waters), quantitative (Tom, Dick and Harry - every Tom, Dick and Harry), mixed variants (raise/stir up a hornets' nest about one's ears - to arouse/stir up the nest of hornets) Semantic stability: meaning of a phraseological unit is preserved. It may only be specified by the changes.

Word group a combination of two or more notional words serving to express one concept. It is produced in speech

Motivation is the relationship between the phonemic or morphemic composition and structural pattern of the word and its meaning. 1) Phonetical - similarity between the sounds that make up the word and those referred to by the sense bang, buzz, cuckoo, giggle, gurgle, hiss, purr, 2) Morphological - reflects the type of nomination process chosen by the creator of the new word.

re-think, detainee, manoeuvrable, prefabricated, self-propelling, 3) Semantic - co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same word within the same synchronous system. the mouth of a river, of a cave 4) Non-mоtivated - no perceptible reason for the word having this particular phonemic and morphemic composition