1. The problem of definition of phraseological units: the main criteria of phraseological units.

PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Contents

1. The problem of definition of phraseological units: the main criteria of phraseological units.

2. Different approaches to the classification of phraseological units: semantic, functional (according to their grammatical structure), contextual.

2.1. V.V. Vinogradov’s classification of phraseological units.

2.2. The structural principle of classifying phraseological units.

2.3. A.I. Smirnitsky’s classification system of English praseological units.

2.4. N.N. Amosova’s concept of contextual analysis.

2.5. A.V. Koonin’s concept of phraseological units.

1. The problem of definition of phraseological units: the main criteria of phraseological units

The task of distinguishing between free word-groups and phraseological units is further complicated by the existence of a great number of marginal cases, the so-called seme-fixed or semi-free word-groups, also called non-phraseological word-groups which share with phraseological units their structural stability but lack their semantic unity and figurativeness, cf.: to go to school, to go by bus, to commit suicide.

There are two major criteria for distinguishing between phraseological units and free word-group: semantic and structural.

In the traditional approach, phraseological units have been defined as word-groups conveying a single concept (whereas in free word-groups each meaningful component stands for a separate concept).

It is this feature that makes phraseological units similar to words: both words and phraseological units possess semantic unity. Yet, words are also characterized by structural unity which phraseological units very obviously lack being combinations of words.

Most scholars today accept the semantic criterion of distinguishing phraseological units from free word-groups as the major one and base their research work in the field of phraseology on the definition of a phraseological unit offered by Professor Олександр Володимирович Кунін, the leading authority on problems of English phraseology.

A phraseological unit is a stable word-group characterized by a completely or partially transferred meaning.

The above-mentioned definition of a phraseological unit clearly suggests that the degree of semantic change in a phraseological unit may vary (completely or partially transferred meaning). In actual fact the semantic change may affect either the whole- word-group or only one of its components. The following phraseological units represent the first case:

To skate on thin ice – to put oneself in a dangerous position; to take risks.

To have one’s heart in one’s boots – to be deeply depressed

The second type is represented by phraseological units in which one of the components preserves its current meaning and the other is used in a transferred meaning: To fall ill, to lose one’s temper

The term idiom, both in our country and abroad, is mostly applied to phraseological units with completely transferred meanings, that is, to the ones in which the meaning of the whole unit does not correspond to the current meanings of the components.

The structural criterion also brings forth pronounced distinctive features characterizing phraseological units and contrasting them to free word-groups.

Structural invariability is an essential feature of phraseological units finds expression in a number of restrictions.

First of all, restriction in substitution: to carry coals to Newcastle → to carry coals to Manchester ↔ У Харьків зі своїм самоваром.

The second type of restriction is the restriction in introducing any additional components into the structure of a phraseological unit.

In Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray the idiom to build a castle in the air is used in this way: “While dressing for dinner, she built for herself a most magnificent castle in the air of which she was the mestress…”

As you see the words a most magnificent were added to the known phraseological unit.

The third type of structural restrictions in phraseological units is grammatical invariability, e.g.: a skeleton/skeletons in the cupboard; a black sheep of a family/the blackest sheep of the family

2.1. V.V. Vinogradov’s classification of phraseological units

According to the V.V. Vinogradov’s classificationbased on the semantic principle English phraseological units fall into the following classes:

1. Phraseological fusions (зрощення) − completely non-motivated idiomatic word-groups, represent as their name suggests the highest stage of blending together. The meaning of components is completely absorbed by the meaning of the whole, by its expressiveness and emotional properties, e.g. to bell the cat ("to take a risk for the good of others"), a white elephant ("a present one can't get rid of (избавиться) – when the king of Siamm wanted to ruin somebody he always presented a white elephant which was considered as a sacred animal in that culture and keeping it was very expensive).

2. Phraseological half-fusions − stable word-groups in which the leading component is literal, while the rest of the group is idiomaticaly fused, e.g. to rain cats and dogs ("to rain heavily" – presently this expression is not used in social English), to talk through one's hat ("to talk foolishly"), to work double tides ("to work very hard"), to buy smth. for a song ("to buy smth. very cheaply"), to pay through the nose ("to pay unreasonably much"), etc.

3. Phraseological unities (єдність) − metaphorically motivated idioms, e.g. to wash one's dirty linen in public ("to tell people about one's hidden sins and faults"), a snake in the grass ("a person harmful intentions"; "a hidden enemy"), to lose one’s heart to smb. (“to fall in love”etc.

4. Phraseological half-unities − binary word-groups in which one of the component literal, while the other is phraseologically bound (the so-termed phrasemes), small talk ("polite talk about unimportant things"), a tall story ("a lie"), husband's tea ("very weak tea"),etc.

5. Phraseological collocations/combinations (standardized phrases) − word-groups with the components whose combinative power (valency) is strictly limited, they contain one component used in its direct meaning while the other is used figuratively, e.g. to be good at something, to be a good hand at something, etc.

6. Phraseological expressions − proverbs, sayings and aphoristic familiar quotations, e.g. Still water runs deep – тиха вода греблі рве, у тихому болоті чорти водяться.

2.2. The structural principle of classifying phraseological units

The structural principle of classifying phraseological units is based on their ability to perform the same syntactical function as notional or functional parts of speech. In the traditional structural approach, the following principal groups of phraseological units are distinguishable:

1. Verbal, e.g.: to get (win) the upper hand, to take a fancy (полюбити), etc.

2. Substantive, e.g.: dog’s life, the apple of discord, etc.

3. Adjectival, e.g.: as busy as a bee, (as) pretty as a picture, as large as life, etc.

4. Adverbial, e.g.: from head to foot,

by hook or by crook (правдами и неправдами) → She decided that, by hook or by crook, she must marry him, etc.

5. Prepositional, e.g.: in the course of, etc.

6. Conjunctional, e.g.: as long as, on the other hand, etc.

7. Interjectional, e.g. Good Heavens! My Good!

2.3. A.I. Smirnitsky’s classification system of English praseological units

Professor A.I. Smirnitsky offered a classification system for English phraseological units which is interesting as an attempt to combine the structural and the semantic principles. Phraseological units in this classification system are grouped according to the number and semantic significance of their constituent parts.

Accordingly two large groups are established:

A. one –top units, which have one meaningful constituent: to give up, to make out, to pull out, to be surprised;

B. two/multi-top units, which have two or more meaningful constituents: black art, first night, to fish in troubled waters.

Among one-top units A.I. Smirnitsky points out three structural types:

a) verb + post­position type, e.g. to art up − прикрашати,' to back up − підтримувати,

b) to be + Past Participle type. Some of these units remind the Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositions with them, while in the Passive Voice we can have only prepositions by or with, e.g. to be tired of, to be interested in, to be surprised at, etc.;

c) prepositional-nominal type. These units are equivalents of unchangeable words: prepositions, conjunc­tions, adverbs, that is why they have no gram­mar centre, their semantic centre is the nomi­nal part, e.g. on the doorstep - quite near, on the nose - exactly, etc.

Among two-top units A.I. Smirnitsky points out the following structural types:

a) attributive-nominal type: a month Sundays – ціла вічність, grey matter − розум;

b) verb-nominal type: read between the lines – розуміти прихований смисл, to speak BBC − говорити правильною англійською мовою.

c) phraseological repetitions: now or, part and parcel –невід’ємна частина. Such units can be built on antonyms: ups and downs — злети й падіння, or by means of alliteration, e.g. a sad sack − нещасний випадок, culture vulture − людина, яка цікавиться мистецтвом;

2.4. N.N. Amosova’s concept of contextual analysis

N.N. Amosova's approach is contextological. She defines phraseological units as units of fixed context. Fixed context is defined as a context characterized by a specific and unchaging sequence of definite lexical components and a peculiar semantic relationship between them.

Units of fixed context are subdivided into phrasemes and idioms.

Phrasemes are always binary: one component has a phraseologically bound meaning, the other serves as the determining context (small talk, small hours, small change). In idioms the new meaning is created by the whole, though every element may have its original meaning weakened or even completely lost: in the nick of time (at the exact moment).

Idioms may be motivated or demotivated. A motivated idiom is homonymous to a free phrase, but this phrase is used figuratively: take the bull by the horns (to face dangers without fear), in the nick of time is demotivated, because the word nick is obsolete. Both phrasemes and idioms may be movable (changeable) or immovable.

2.5. A.V. Koonin’s concept of phraseological units

According to A.V. Koonin phraseological units differ in their functions in the acts of communication and therefore fall into four classes:

1. Nominative phraseological units of various patterns which correlate with words belonging to different parts of speech, e.g. a dark horse, at the back one's mind, when pigs fly, etc.

2. Communicative phraseological units represented by proverbs and sayings e.g. the pot cannot call the kettle black; the race is got by running; all one's geese are swans, etc.

3. Nominative-communicative phraseological units which include nominative verbal idioms that can be transformed into a sentence (communicative) structure when the verb is used in the Passive Voice, e.g. to put the cart before the horse − the cart was put before the horse; to break the ice − the ice is broken, etc.

4. Pragmatic phraseological units (interjectional idioms and response phrases; cf. responsives e.g. My aunt! Bless your heart! etc.

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