PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN ENGLISH Lecture # 12
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Transcript of PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN ENGLISH Lecture # 12
PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN ENGLISHLecture # 12
Grigoryeva M.
PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS
Phraseology as the branch of Linguistics. The problem of terminology
Definition of phraseological units. Criteria for phraseologacal units
Three approaches towards the study of phraseological units
Classification of phraseological units
Phraseology
is the branch of Linguistics
appeared in the 1940s
studies phraseological units of the language
Object of Phraseology
phraseological units,
their nature,
the way they function in speech
Problem of terminology
set expression idiom set phrase fixed word-groups word-equivalent phraseological unit
Phraseological Units
Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be
made in the process of speech, they exist in the language
as ready-made units (idioms).
They are compiled in special dictionaries.
Phraseological Units
non-motivated word-groups cannot be freely made up in speech reproduced as ready-made units structurally stable possess stability of lexical components reproduced as single unchangeable collocations
Criteria to distinguish free-word groups from phraseological units
semantic criterion
structural criterion
syntactic criterion
Semantic criterion
free word-roups
each meaningful
component stands for a
separate concept
a red flower
phraseological units
convey a single concept
red tape
Semantic criterion
Phraseological units are characterized by different degrees of semantic change:
1. semantic change may affect the whole word-group (“complete transferred meaning”)
to skate on thin ice (to take risks),
to have one’s heart in one’s boots (to be anxious
about smth.)
Semantic criterion
2. semantic change may affect only one of the
components of a word-group
(“partially transferred meaning”)
to fall in love, small talk
Structural Criterion: restriction in substitution free word-groups –
components may be changed
The cargo ship/vessel is
carrying coal to
Liverpool/ Manchester
phraseological units – no word can be replaced without destroying the sense
to carry coals to
Newcastle
Structural Criterion: introducing additional components free word-groups –
change can be made without affecting the general meaning
The big ship is carrying
a large cargo of coal to the port of Liverpool
phraseological units – no additional components can be introduced
the white elephant –
NOT
the big white elephant
Structural Criterion: grammatical invariability free word-groups –
red flower – red flowers
phraseological units
to find fault with smb. NOT
to find faults with smb.
Approaches to the Study of Phraseological Units Semantic
functional
contextual
Semantic Approach
phraseological units are non-motivated (idiomacity)
phraseological units are opposed to free-word combinations which are completely motivated
Functional Approach
phraseological units are specific word-groups functioning like word-equivalents
like words they possess structural and semantic inseparability
Contextual Approach
phraseological units are used in specific contexts – non-variable, or “fixed”
non-variability is a stability of the lexical components within the semantic structure
Phraseological transference Based on Simile (intensification of some feature of an object by bringing it
into contact with another object)
As pretty as a picture
To fight as a lion
Based on metaphor(likening of one object to another)
Flog a dead horse
Join the majority
Phraseological transference Based on metonymy (transfer of a name-перенос наименования from one object to another
based on the contiguity of their properties, action)
A silk stocking –a rich well-dressed man
Synecdoche (a variety of metonymy- the replacement of the common by the private)
The flesh and blood
To hold one’s tongue
Classification of phraseological units Phraseological fusions (completely non-motivated)White elephant
“expensive but useless thing”
Phraseological unities (partially non-motivated)To wash one’s dirty linen in public
To discuss or make public one’s quarrels
Phraseological unities (are motivated and contain one component in its direct meaning)
To meet the necessity
Ways of forming phraseological units
By A.V. Koonin –the way they are formed
Primary ways (when a unit is formed on the basis of a free word-group)
Secondary ways (when a unit is formed on the basis of another phraseological unit)
Primary ways Transferring the meaning of terminological word-groupsTo link up Стыковать космические корабли знакомиться
b) Transferring the meaning of free word-groupsGranny farm Пансионат для престарелыхAs old as the hillsСтарый как мир
c) By means of alliterationsad sackНесчастный случайCulture vultureЧеловек, увлекающийся искусством
d) By means of rhymingBy hook or by crook By any possible means
High and dry Left without help
By means of expressiveness
My aunt!
By using synonyms
Really and truly quite honestly
By means of distorting (искажение)
Odd ends Odds and ends
By using a sentence in different sphere of life
That cock won’t fight (metaphor) cock fighting sport
Using some unreal image
To have butterflies in the stomach
To have green fingers
By using archaism
In brown study in gloomy meditation
By using expressions of writers or politicians in everyday life
American dream (Alby)
The winds of change (Mc Millan)
Secondary ways Conversion
To vote with one’s feet vote with one’s feet
(expressing a protest by going away)
Analogy
Curiosity killed the cat Care killed the cat
Contrast
Thin cat (a poor person) Fat cat (a rich person)
Shortening of proverbs by clipping the middle
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear to make a sow’s ear
(To make a mistake)
Semantic classification V.V. Vinogradov
According to the degree of motivation of the meaning
Fusions (highly idiomatic – can’t be translated word by word)
At sixes and sevens (in a mess)
Unities (can be guessed from the meaning of the components but it is transferred - metaphor or metonymy)
To play the first fiddle
Collocations (words are combined in their original meaning but the combination is different )
Cash and carry (self-service shop)
Structural classification
A.I.Smirnitsky comparing with the words
One top unit (comparison with affixed words --have only one root morpheme)
Two-top unit (comparison with compound words –usually have two root morpheme)
One-top unit verb +post position type “to give up”
To art up
приукрашать
To nose up
Разнюхивать
To sandwich in
Втискиваться
Passive type structures “to be tired”
To be interested in
Prepositional- nominal (the semantic centre is in the nominal part)
On the doorstep quite near
Two-top units Attributive-nominal
A month of Sundays - целая вечность
Verb-nominal
To read between the lines – понимать скрытый смысл
Phraseological repetitions
Now and never
теперь или никогда
Ups and downs (antonyms)
взлеты и падения
Cakes and ale (alliteration)
удовольствия жизни
Cool as cucumber (partly or perfectly idiomatic)
Хладнокровный
Syntactical classification I.V.Arnold based on parts of speech
Noun phraseologisms
verb phraseologisms
adjective phraseologisms
adverb phraseologisms
preposition phraseologisms
interjection phraseologism
Noun phraseologisms N+N
maiden name
N’s +N
ladies’ man
N+prep+N
skeleton in the cupboard
N+A
knight errant
A+N
high tea
N+subordinate clause
Ships that pass in the night ( chance acquaintances)
verb phraseologisms V+N
To take advantage
V+V
To pick and choose (быть разборчивым)
V + one’s +N +prep
To pick and choose
Пренебрежительно относиться
V+one+N
To give one the bird
Уволить
V+subordinate clause
To see how the land lies
Понимать суть дела
Аdjective phraseologisms A+and +A
High and mighty
Могущественный
(as)+A+as +A
As loose as a goose
неуклюжий
Adverb phraseologisms Adv+prep +N
Once in a blue moon
Очень редко
Preposition phraseologismsPrep +N+prep
In course of
Interjection phraseologismCatch me!
Ни за что!
Well, I never!
Вот уж не ожидал!
God bless me!
The main sources of native phraseological units Terminological and professional lexics
Center of gravity (physics) British literature
Green-eyed moster
Jelousy
W. Shakespeare British traditions and customs
Baker’s dozen Superstition and legends
Black sheep Historical facts and events
To do a Thatcher Facts of everyday life
A carry coal to Newcastle
The main sources of borrowed phraseological units The Holy Script
The kiss of Judas (Matthew XXVI:49)
Ancient legends belonging to different culture
To cut the Gordian knot
Facts and events of the world history
To cross the Rubicon
From other languages
Tilt at windmills (acometer molinos de viente – Spanish)
Proverb (пословица)
sum up the collective wisdom of the community, a popular truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginative way
are metaphorical
Proverbs moralize
Hell is paved with good intentions admonish
If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night
criticize
Everyone calls his own geese swans
give advice
Don’t judge a tree by its bark
Proverbs
lexical components are stable meaning is figurative are ready-made units are easily transformed into phraseological units
don’t cast pearls before swine –
to cast pearls before swine
Saying (поговорка)
are non-metaphorical, not figurative
grammatically they are finished sentences
Where there is a way, there is a will
Familiar Quotations (крылатые выражения)
come from literature
in contrast to proverbs, they do not express finished judgment
To err (ошибаться) is human.
Practice!Give the translation and explain the associations To rain cats and dogs
To rain very hard
Cats and dogs fighting fiercely
To show one’s teeth
Use power in aggressive way
Animals behaviour
To mend one’s manners
Become more refined in behaviour
Repairing
To catch someone red-handed
To catch in the act of crime
Blood on hands
Diamond cut diamond
A contest between the equal people
The stronger sex, as cool as a cucumber, blood and thunder, hot under the collar, as green as grass, to hold one’s horses, to cross hands
1. She was naïve when she was 16.
2. We must unite with them.
3. I thought she would cry but she stayed calm.
4. He got very angry when he knew all the truth.
5. There were in that violent story
6. You shouldn’t exaggerate her attraction for men
7. All of them were told to wait.
Give the meaning and state the type of transferencesEx in the flower of one’s agethe best period of life----------- metaphor
To go through fire and water To fit like a glove A big wig To lick one’s wound To lie on one’s shoulders As gentle as a lamb
Metaphor –two opposite nature phenomenon Simile Metonymy + metaphor Metaphor Metaphor +synecdoche similie
Dark horse, to work like a dog , to lord over, to put one’s cards on the table, red tape, fat cats, to see smb in flesh
1. Some people are loosing their jobs while the … are getting richer.
2. He is …. I’ve never known that he is married
3. There is so much … involved in getting a visa.
4. It was … and she told him that she had no intension to marry him.
5. He .. all day to finish the wallpapering.
6. I knew his face so well from the pics that it felt a bit strange when I finally …
7. He likes …. the more junior staff in the office
Fat cats Dark horse Red tape To put her card on the table Was working like a dog Saw him in flesh To lord over