1、English Lexicology English Idioms,Week 14 Instructor: Liu Hongyong,verbsintransitive transitive ditransitiveunergative unaccusative middleunergative:非作格动词 middle: 中间动词 ergative:作格动词 unaccusative:非宾格动词,Review: different types of verbs,Warming-up,till the cows come home a feather in ones cap the apple
2、 of ones eye kick the bucket bury the hatchet put up with watch out throw cold water on turn on/off put all ones eggs in one basket,Is each of the following items a lexeme, a phrase, or a clause?,How many words does each of these chunks contain?,The Lexicon,root,derivational affix,idiom,functional a
3、ffix,Morphological Processes,Inflection,Derivation,Compounding,Overview,Characteristics of idioms Classification of idioms Use of idioms,1. Semantic unity Each idiom is a single semantic unity. The meaning of an idiom is opaque; i.e. the meaning of an idiom is not the total sum of the meaning of its
4、 constituents. till the cows come home: The idiom functions as one wordan adverb meaning “forever.”,Characteristics of idioms,2. Structural stability The structure of an idiom usually remains unchangeable. In other words, the constituent components of an idiom can not, generally speaking, be changed
5、 or replaced by other words.bury the hatchet *bury the ax in (*the) question out of (the) question,Characteristics of idioms,2. Structural stability Many idioms are grammatically wrong, but idiomatically accepted. Long time no see. Like cures like. Go great guns.,Characteristics of idioms,Gradable i
6、diomaticity,Notice the idiomaticity of idioms is gradable and may best be thought as a continuum.,idioms,semi-idioms,loosely idiomatic expressions (the meaning can be understood from the literal meaning of the constituents),make friends with sb.,rain cats and dogs,as cool as a cucumber,The more idio
7、matic the idioms, the more fixed the structure.,More examples,According to grammatical function, idioms can be divided into 5 types: 1) Nominal idiomssubject and objects 2) Adjectival idiomscomplements 3) Verbal idiomspredicates 4) Adverbial idiomsadverbials 5) Sentence idioms,Classification of idio
8、ms,They function as the subject or the object in a sentence: a white elephant (沉重的负担, 无用的累赘东西) brain trust apple of discord (祸根) the salt of the earth What is the apple of discord for this disaster?,Idioms nominal in nature,They function as complements or modifiers in a sentence. cut and dried (dete
9、rmined) wide of the mark (irrelevant) up in the air (uncertain) The plan is still up in the air. The plan is cut and dried. He is as poor as a church mouse.,Idioms adjectival in nature,They function as predicate verbs in a sentence. Phrasal verb: verb + particlelook up put off turn on put on b) Prep
10、ositional verb: verb + prepositionlook after look intodig into pick up,Idioms verbal in nature,a) Phrasal verb: verb + particle b) Prepositional verb: verb + preposition c) Prepositional phrasal verb: V + particle + preposition,Idioms verbal in nature,Diagnostics to different them: Turn it off. *Tur
11、n off it. Turn the radio off. Turn off the radio.,Diagnostics to different them: *Look him after. Look after him. Look after the baby. *Look the baby after.,Verbal idioms may also function as predicates.keep the pot boiling （维持生活） bite the hand that feeds one （恩将仇报） give sb. the bag (解雇某人）,Idioms ve
12、rbal in nature,John ate an apple. Predicate verb: ate Predicate: ate an apple,They function as adverbials in a sentence:tooth and nail: We will work tooth and nail. heart and soul: We will serve people heart and soul. in nothing flat: I will go there in nothing flat. through thick and thin: We made
13、it through thick and thin.,Idioms Adverbial in nature,Such idioms are usually in complete sentential form. They are usually proverbs or sayings. Never do things by halves. All is not gold that glitters. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. One swallow does not make a summer.,Sentence idioms,In order to
14、 use the idioms appropriately, one should be aware of the following features of idioms: (1) stylistic features, (2) rhetorical features, and (3) structural variations of idioms. Stylistic featuresDifferent idioms show different stylistic meanings. Some are casual, others formal or neural in style.,U
15、se of idioms,1) Colloquialism带口语色彩的习语 big wheel: Chomksy is a big wheel in linguistics.2) Slang俚语 cancer stick hit the sack in the soup: I am deep in the soup now. 3) Literary expressions 带书面语色彩的习语 come to pass: take place; happen bear witness to: prove, showHis action bore witness to his kindness.,
16、Apart from the stylistic features, idioms can bring about certain rhetorical effects in terms of sound and meaning. (1) Phonetic manipulation 音韵手段a. alliteration such as “part and parcel”押头韵b. rhyme such as “toil and moil”押尾韵,Rhetorical features,(2) Lexical manipulation词语手段 a. Reiteration, which mea
17、ns the duplication of synonyms such as “pick and choose”. 同义词迭用b. Repetition, which means the repetition of the same word, such as “by and by”. 词语重复c. Juxtapostion, which means the combination of two antonyms such as “day and night”. 并置对举,(3) Figurative manipulation 修辞手段 a. Simile as proud as a peac
18、ock as mute as a fish b. Metaphor a white elephant a black sheep c. Metonymy from cradle to grave live by ones pen d. Personification Failure is the mother of success. Actions speak louder than words. e. Hhyperbole a world of troubles a flood of tears,Despite the property of structural stability, id
19、ioms occasionally do show structural changes in terms of Addition Deletion Replacement Position-shifting Dismembering,Structural Variations,3. Variations of idioms,1) Addition:增加 “in good condition” from “in condition” 2) Deletion: 减少 “the last straw” from “It is the last straw that breaks the camel
20、s back.” 3) Position-shifting: 位置替换day and night = night and day 4) Replacement:替换 “lose heart” vs. “take heart” “break ones word” vs. “keep ones word”,Summary,kick the bucket (= die) Here we have a single unit of meaning, which happens to consist of three “words”. The idiom thus is a multi-word lexeme. Classification of idioms Use of idioms,
