Лексикология английского языка

Lecture 13

Phraseology

(pp. 225 – 251)

1. 
   Phraseology as an expressive resource of vocabulary.
   
2. 
   Phraseological units and free word-groups. Criteria for distinguishing.
   
3. 
   Proverbs.
   
4. 
   The traditional principle for classifying phraseological units.
   
5. 
   The semantic principle of classification for phraseological units.
   
6. 
   The structural principle of classification for phraseological units.
   
7. 
   Classification system offered by Professor A. I. Smirnitsky.
   
8. 
   The classification system of phraseological units suggested by Professor
   

A.V. Koonin.

1. 
   Phraseology as an expressive resource of vocabulary
   

Phraseological units, or idioms, as they are called by most western scholars, represent what can probably be described as the most picturesque, colourful and expressive part of the language’s vocabulary.

Word-groups known as phraseological units or idioms are characterized by a double sense: the current meanings of constituent words build up a certain picture, but the actual meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to do with that picture, in itself creating an entirely new image.

So, a dark horse is actually not a horse but a person about whom no one knows anything definite, and so one is not sure what can be expected from him. The imagery of a bull in a china shop lies very much on the surface: the idiom describes a clumsy person (Russian – слон в посудной лавке). A white elephant (обуза), however, is not even a person but a valuable object which involves great expense or trouble for its owner and which is difficult to dispose of. To let the cat out of the bag has actually nothing to do with cats, but means simply “to let some secret become known” (проболтаться)

The ambiguousness of these interesting word-groups may lead to an amusing misunderstanding. Puns are frequently based on the ambiguousness of idioms.

So, together with synonymy and antonymy, phraseology represents expressive resources of vocabulary.

V.H. Collins writes in his Book of English Idioms: “In standard spoken and written English today idiom is an essential element that, used with care, ornaments and enriches the language”.

Used with care is an important warning because speech overloaded with idioms loses its freshness and originality. Idioms are ready-made units, and their continual repetition sometimes wears them out: they lose their colours and become trite cliches (банальные клише). Such idioms can hardly be said to “ornament” or “enrich” the language.

In modern linguistics, there is considerable confusion about the terminology associated with these word-groups. Most Russian scholars use the term “phraseological unit” (“фразеологическая единица”) which was first introduced by Academician V.V. Vinogradov. The term “idiom” widely used by western scholars has comparatively recently found its way into Russian phraseology.

There are some other terms denoting more or less the same linguistic phenomenon: set-expressions, set-phrases, collocations.

2.