Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14

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Terminology

Problematic

No generally agreed common vocabulary

Different terms used to describe identicalor very similar kinds of unit or a single

term used to denote very different

phenomena

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Definition

Idioms – multi-word phrases whose overall

meanings are idionsyncratic and largely

unpredictable, reflecting speaker

meanings that are not derivable by

combining the literal senses of the

individual words in each phrase according

to the regular semantic rules of thelanguage.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Meanings od idioms

The typical meanings of idioms are not

fully compositional.

However – most idioms also have

possible, though unlikely, literal

compositional interpretations along with

their idiomatic senses. Which meaning is

intended usually depends on the context inwhich the expression is used.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Examples

Let the cat out of the bag = reveal a secret

Take the bull by the horns = take charge of a

situation

These are commonly used idioms whose usualmeanings are not fully compositional, but have

to be learned as a whole.

However, these idioms also have possible,though rarely intended, literal compositional

meaning.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Fixed expressions

There are various groups of lexical combinations on the basis of

their degree of cohesion:

1. Free combinations: their components are the freest in regard to

combining with other lexical items, NOUN murder + to analyse ,

boast of , condemn , descr ibe …

2. Idioms: are relatively frozen expressions whose meanings do not

reflect the meanings of their component parts. Proverbs and sayings

differ from idioms in that they convey folk wisdom or an alleged

general truth, and they are usually more frozen than idioms.

3. Collocations: are loosely fixed combinations, e.g. to comm itmurder .

(Benson et al . Lexicographic Description of English, Amsterdam:

John Benjamins, 1986)

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Fixed expression

Covers several kinds of multi-word lexical item or

phraseological unit, i.e. holistic units of two or more words:

frozen collocations (e.g. in retrospect , k i th and k in ; a foregoneconc lus ion , in effect , beg the question )

grammatically ill-formed collocations (break the conventional grammaticalrules of English, e.g. by and large , stay pu t )

proverbs (e.g. every clo ud h as a si lver l in ing ; f i rs t com e f irst served )routine formulae (e.g. al ive and well , pick and ch oose , you know )

sayings (include formulae such as quotations, catch-phrases, and truisms,e.g. an eye for an eye , don’t let the bastards grind you down)

similes (e.g. as good as gold , l ike lambs to the slaughter )

Fixed expression also subsumes idioms.Idioms - used to refer loosely to semi-transparent and opaque metaphorical

expressions, e.g. spi l l the beans , burn one’s candle at both ends.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Idioms

Narrower uses of idiom: idiom is a unit thatis fixed and semantically opaque ormetaphorical, or not the sum of its parts

(e.g. kick the bucket , sp i l l the beans ).Broader uses of idiom: idiom is a generalterm for many kinds of multi-word item,whether semantically opaque or not (inthis use the term idiom is equivalent to theterm fixed expression)

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Idioms

Idiom – an ambiguous term

In lay or general use – idiom has two main

meanings:

1. Idiom is a particular manner of expressingsomething in language, music, art, etc., which

characterizes a person or a group

Ex.: …the most fantastic (performance) I haveseen in the strict id iom of the music hall

comedian.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Idioms

2. Idiom is a particular lexical collocation

or phrasal lexeme, peculiar to a language:

Ex.: The French translations, however, of

my English speeches were superb (except

for rare instances where the translator was

unfamiliar with some out-of-the-way

English id iom I had used).

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Main factors in defining FEIs

Idiomaticity is a universal linguistic phenomenon in naturallanguages

The fundamental question - whether a string of words can beconsidered a unit (i.e. free combination) or FEI

3 principal factors in trying to define fixed expressions:

1. INSTITUTIONALIZATION: the process by which a string orformulation becomes recognized and accepted as a lexical item ofthe language. The main criterion is the frequency with which thestring recurs.

Problems: most fixed expressions occur infrequently; FEIs may belocalized within certain sections of a language community, andpeculiar to certain varieties or domains; some FEIs are no longercurrent in the lexicon, but were institutionalized in former times(e.g. put one’s eyes together , sw im between tw o w aters ).

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14



2. LEXICOGRAMMATICAL FIXEDNESS: implies

some degree of lexical and grammatical

defectiveness in units, f.e. with preferred lexical

realizations and often restrictions on aspect,mood, or voice (e.g. cal l the sho ts , ki th and

k in , shoo t the breeze ).

Problems: by no means all FEIs are fully frozen

strings. Institutionalization and fixedness are notsufficient criteria by themselves.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14



3. NON-COMPOSITIONALITY*: is a semantic criterion. The meaningarising from word-by-word interpretation of the string does not yieldthe institutionalized, accepted, unitary meaning of the string (typicalcases are metaphorical FEIs). To sum up, institutionalized stringswhich are grammatically ill-formed or which contain words unique tothe combination may also be considered non-compositional.

There are also cases where the string is decodable compositionally, butthe unit has a special function in discourse, f.e. proverbs, similes,sayings. This is called pragmatic non-compositionality.

Problems: apparently holistic FEIs (spi l l the beans , rock the boat )may be partly compositional in relation to syntactic structure andmetaphoricity, i.e. we understand the pertinence of the image. Thus,

non-compositionality should be intepreted as indicating that thecomponent lexical items may have special meanings within thecontext of the FEIs, not that the meanings can never berationalized, nor that they are never found in other FEIs.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14



* COMPOSITIONALITY of meaning (term

from semantics) = the meaning of any

expression is a function of the meanings of

the parts of which it is composed.

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


Other criteria in defining FEIs

1. Ortography: FEIs should consist of, or be written as, 2or more words

2. Syntactic integrity: FEIs form syntactic orgrammatical units in their own right: adjuncts (e.g.

through thick and thin), complements (e.g. long in thetooth), nominal groups (e.g. a flash in the pan),sentence adverbial (e.g. by and large), clauses (e.g.don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched ).

3. Phonological criterion: where strings are ambiguous

between compositional and non-compositonalinterpretation, intonation may distinguish: interwordpauses and word durations are longer in literalreadings, shorter in idiomatic readings.

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Criteria are variables

Institutionalization, fixedness and non-compositionality distinguish FEIs from other strings,but they are not present to an equal extent in all items.

Degrees of institutionalization (e.g. from very frequent of

course to fairly rare cannot cut the mus tard ), offixedness (e.g. from the completely frozen ki th and kin to the relatively flexible and variable take st ick from

someone , get a lot of st ick from someone , givesomeone st ick ), and of non-compositionality (from the

opaque bite the bu l let to the transparent enough isenough ).

8/11/2019 Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14


HOMEWORK

kith and kin

a foregone conclusion

beg the question

by and large

stay put

every cloud has a silver lining

pick and choosespill the beans

burn one’s/the candle at both ends

call the shots

shoot the breeze

through thick and thin

long in the tooth

a flash in the pandon’t count your chicken before they’re hatched

cannot cut the mustard

take stick from someone/ get a lot of stick from someone/ give someone stick

bite the bullet

Idiomi, Lecture 01, 13_14

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