Problems of English Phraseology

*Vinogradov- introduced the term “phraseological unit (PU); western scholars - “idiom”= set-expressions, set-phrases, fixed word-groups, collocations.

*PU possess semantic unity! PU-word-groups conveying a single concept; in free word-groups - each mngful component stands for a separate concept (each time built up anew in the speech process). PU – stable combination of words, not created in speech, used as a ready made formations. PU differs from free word groups in formal stability, reproductive character and integrity of a notion.

*Koonin: PU- is a stable word-group characterized by a completely or partially transferred mng.

*Structural invariability!-essential feature of PU: no word can be substituted for any mngful component of a PU without destroying its sense. PU- one set with the same mng, stable on the morphological level as well as on the lexical; must be limited by linguistic realization; have distinctive notional character.

*Smith’s classification (traditional and oldest principle=etymological principle=based on original content=thematic): idioms used by sailors, fishermen, soldiers, and hunters (associated with phenomena & conditions of their occupations); associated with domestic animals and birds, agriculture and cooking; from sports, arts : to be all at sea – to be unable to understand; in deep water – in trouble or danger. Thematic principle - does not take into consideration the linguistic characteristic features.

*Vinogradov’s classification (semantic principle=semantic cohesion b/w the components): phraseological combinations, unities and fusions: combinations - w.-groups with a partially changed mng, the mng of the unit can be easily deduced from the mngs of its constituents ( to be good at something,bosom friends); unities-w.-groups with a completely changed mng, mng of the unit does not correspond to the mngs of its constituent parts (to lose one’s head = to be at a loss what to do); fusions- w.-groups with a completely changed meaning but they are demotivated, their mng cannot be deduced from the mngs of the constituent parts (to come a cropper = to come to disaster).

*structural principle=based on ability to perform the same syntactical functions as words: verbal (to run for one’s life, to make a song and dance about smth), substantive (dog’s life, white lie); adjectival(cool as a cucumber, weak as a kitten); adverbial(by hook or by crook, for love or money); interjectional(my God! Good Heavens!)

*Smirnitsky: (combine the structural and the semantic principles). Idioms (acc. to the number and semantic significance of their constituent parts): one-summit units (one mngful constituent: to give up, to be tired); two-summit and multi-summit units (two/more mngful constituents: first night, common sense). One-summit units: a) verbal-adverbial - equivalent to verbs, sem. and gram. centers coincide in the first constituent (to give up); b) units equivalent to verbs – sem. centre in the second constituent, gram. centre in the first (to be tired) c) prepositional-substantive - equivalent to adverbs, sem. centre in the substantive constituent, no gram. centre (by heart, by means of). Two-summit and multi-summit: a) attributive-substantive - equivalent to nouns (black art), b) verbal-substantive - equivalent to verbs (to take the floor), c) phraseological repetitions - equivalent to adverbs (now and never), d) adverbial (every other day) .

*Smirnitsky: proper PU(units with non-figurative mngs) and idioms (units with transferred mngs based on a metaphor).

*Koonin (structural-semantic principle) 4 classes: nominative - word-groups with the mngful word, and coordinative phrases of the type wear and tear, well and good; nominative-communicative (to break the ice – the ice is broken = verbal word-groups transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive voice); interjectional (neither nominative nor communicative My God); communicative (proverbs and sayings Can the leopard change his spots?).

4. Semantic changes of the word’s notional structure.

Sem. change (S.ch.) - a source of qualitative and quantitative development of the vocabulary -depend upon comparison b/w the earlier and the new mng of the given w.

*Paul Breal - first diachronic clas-tion of various types of S.ch. (passing from general usage into some special sphere of com-tion a w. undergoes some sort of specialization of its mng: case=1)circumstances 2) in law (=lawsuit) 3) in grammar (=Possessive case) 4) in medicine (=illness) }form the semantic paradigm of the word case.

*specialization=narrowing of the mng=reduction of mng=narrower scope (deer: any beast-a certain kind of beast, meat: any food-a certain food product); + formation of proper nouns from common nouns - in toponymics: the City - the business part of London (ch. of mng occurred without ch. of sound form and without any intervention of morphological processes); semantic + morphological pr.: when suffix –ist is added to the N. stem art- mean any person occupied in art, but usage specializes the mng of the word artist and restricts it to a synonym of painter.

*generalization or widening of meaning - the scope of the new notion is wider than that of the original one (pipe:earliest mng-musical instrument, now-any hollow oblong cylindrical body (water pipes)); thing = 1)cause, object, decision, meeting (original mng) 2) = any noun, receives an almost pronominal force (now).

*metaphor - transference is based on the association of two physical objects: cunning person= fox, woman=peach. Star=1)heavenly body 2)famous actor or actress (widened, also to sportsmen, singers): informal speech, slang.

*metonymy – association is based upon subtle psychological links b/w dif. objects and phenomena (transference is based upon the association of contiguity): hand in the context hand of a clock originates from the main mng of this noun part of human body, it developed due to the association of the common function: the hand of a clock points to the figures on the face of the clock, and one of the functions of human hand is also that of pointing to things.

*amelioration/elevation is a semantic shift undergone by words due to their referents coming up the social scale (Knight: noble, courageous man).

*pejoration/degradation - lowering in social scale (knave: boy> swindler, scoundrel)

+ hyperbole, litotes, irony, euphemism

Causes:

*historical/extra-linguistic: changes in social life, technology lead to gaps in voc-ry, newly created objects must be named by applying some old word to a new objects: when the first textile factories appeared in England, the old word mill (original mng - a blinding in which corn is ground into flour) added a new mng - textile factory.

*linguistic factors (through the influence of other words) 1) synonyms: to starve=to perish (OE), when the verb to die was borrowed from the Scandinavian, these two synonyms close in their mng collided, result - to starve (now) = to die from hunger 2) ellipsis:propose for to propose marriage.

*Shortening (contraction) = clipping or curtailment: reduction of a word to one of its parts whether or not this part has previously been a morpheme. Neologisms: mike-microphone; telly-TV;

The correlation of the curtailed word with its prototype may be: 1.shortened form – dif. from prototype quantitatively, stylistically and sometimes emotionally, prototype-stylistically and emotionally neutral (doc-doctor, exam-examination); 2.connection b/w shortened form and the prototype can be established only etymologically (denotative/lexico-gram. mng changed so much: chap – chapman, fan – fantastic).

*classification of shortened words (position of the clipped part: final, initial, middle): final clipping (ad=advertisement), initial clipping (story=history) and medial clipping (maths=mathematics).

*blendings/fusions=telescoping (words slide into one another) Lewis Carrol: mimsy=miserable+flimsy, brunch=breakfast+lunch.

*graphical abbreviations (colloquial speech, professional slang): achieved by omission of letters from one part of the whole (dz=dozen, Xmas=Christmas); Uno – United Nations Organization (read as an ordinary w.), BBC-British Broadcasting Corporation (alphabetic reading);initial abbreviations(A-bomb=atomic bomb)

*acronyms-words formed from the initial letters of each of the major parts of a compound term.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1851