Lexicology in theory, practice and tests Study guide Recommended by the Academic Council of Sumy State University Sumy Sumy State University 2015

Phraseological unit is a word group with a fixed lexical composition and grammatical structure; its meaning, which is familiar to native speakers of the given language, is generally figurative and cannot be derived from the meanings of the phraseological unit’s component parts. The meanings of phraseological units are the result of the given language’s historical development. Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be made in the process of speech, they exist in the language as ready-made units. They are compiled in special dictionaries. The same as words phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it.

In modern linguistics there is considerable confusion about the terminology associated with these word-groups. Along with the term “phraseological unit” generally accepted in our country there exist a lot of other terms, such as: set phrases, set-expressions, fixed word-groups, collocations, word equivalents, idioms. Differences in terminology reflect certain differences in the main criteria used to distinguish between free word-groups and a specific type of linguistic units generally known as phraseology. Phraseological units are habitually defined as non-motivated word-groups that cannot be freely made up in speech but are reproduced as ready-made units. The term “set-phrase” implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups. The term “idioms” generally implies that the essential feature of the linguistic units under consideration is idiomaticity or lack of motivation. An idiom (Latin: idioma, “special property”, f. Greek: δίωμα – idiōma, “special feature, special phrasing”) is a combination of words that has a figurative meaning owing to its common usage. An idiom's figurative meaning is separate from the literal meaning. There are thousands of idioms and they occur frequently in all languages. There are estimated to be at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language.

Thus, an idiom is a phrase that has a meaning of its own that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words. Here are examples of idioms: to be fed up with means “to be tired and annoyed with something that has been happening for too long”; to rub someone the wrong way means “to irritate someone”; by the skin of your teeth means that something was successful, but only just barely. She passed the test by the skin of her teeth means she almost didn’t pass. I can't keep my head above water – to keep one's head above water means to manage a situation. The term “idioms” habitually used by English and American linguists is very often treated as synonymous with the term phraseological unit.

The essential features of phraseological units are stability of the lexical components and lack of motivation. Unlike components of free word-groups which may vary according to the needs of communication, member-words of phraseological units are always reproduced as single unchangeable collocations.

Thus, for example, the constituent red in the free word-group red flower may, if necessary, be substituted for by any other adjective denoting colour (blue, white, etc.), without essentially changing the denotational meaning of the word-group under discussion (a flower of a certain colour). In the phraseological unit red tape (bureaucratic methods) no such substitution is possible, as a change of the adjective would involve a complete change in the meaning of the whole group. A blue (black, white, etc.) tape would mean “a tape of a certain colour”. It follows that the phraseological unit red tape is semantically non-motivated, i. e. its meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of its components and that it exists as a ready-made linguistic unit which does not allow of any variability of its lexical components.

Grammatical structure of phraseological units is to a certain extent also stable. Thus, though the structural formula of the word-groups red flower and red tape is identical (A + N), the noun flower may be used in the plural (red flowers), whereas no such change is possible in the phraseological unit red tape; red tapes would then denote “tapes of red colour” but not “bureaucratic methods”.

Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are formed, according to the degree of the motivation of their meaning, according to their structure and according to their part-of-speech meaning.

A. V. Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way they are formed. He pointed out primary and secondary ways of forming phraseological units. Primary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a unit is formed on the basis of a free word-group: a) Most productive in Modern English is the formation of phraseological units by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups, e. g. in cosmic technique we can point out the following phrases: launching pad in its terminological meaning is “стартова площадка”, in its transferred meaning – “пункт відправки”, to link up – “стикуватися, стикувати космічні кораблі” in its tranformed meaning it means – “знайомитися”; b) a large group of phraseological units was formed from free word groups by transforming their meaning, e. g. granny farm – “пансіонат для престарілих”, Troyan horse – “комп'ютерна програма, навмисно складена для пошкодження комп'ютера”; c) phraseological units can be formed by means of alliteration, e. g. a sad sack – “нещасний випадок”, culture vulture – “людина, що цікавиться мистецтвом”, fudge and nudge – “ухильність”; d) they can be formed by means of expressiveness, especially it is characteristic for forming interjections, e. g. My aunt!, Hear, hear! etc.; e) they can be formed by means of distorting a word group, e. g. odds and ends was formed from “odd ends”; f) they can be formed by using archaisms, e. g. in brown study means “in gloomy meditation” where both components preserve their archaic meanings; g) they can be formed by using a sentence in a different sphere of life, e. g. that cock won’t fight can be used as a free word-group when it is used in sports (cock fighting ), it becomes a phraseological unit when it is used in everyday life, because it is used metaphorically; h) they can be formed when we use some unreal image, e. g. to have butterflies in the stomach – “хвилюватися”, to have green fingers – “процвітати як садівник-любитель”, etc. i) they can be formed by using expressions of writers or polititions in everyday life, e. g. corridors of power (Snow), American dream (Alby), the winds of change (Mc Millan).

Phraseological units can be classified according to the degree of motivation of their meaning. This classification was suggested by academician V. V. Vinogradov. He developed some points first advanced by the Swiss linguist Charles Bally and gave a strong impetus to a purely lexicological treatment of the material. It means that phraseological units were defined as lexical complexes with specific semantic features and classified accordingly. His classification is based upon the motivation of the unit that is the relationship between the meaning of the whole and the meanings of its component parts. The degree of motivation is correlated with the rigidity, indivisibility and semantic unity of the expression that is with the possibility of changing the form or the order of components and of substituting the whole by a single word though not in all the cases.

half-unities

phraseological collocations

phraseological expressions

half – fusions

fusions
e. g. once in a blue moon, a white elephant

It is obvious that Academician V. V. Vinogradov’s classification system does not take into account the structural characteristics of phraseological units. On the other hand, the border-line separating unities from fusions are vague and even subjective. One and the same phraseological unit may appear motivated to one person (and therefore be labelled as a unity) and demotivated to another (and be regarded as a fusion). The more profound one’s command of the language and one’s knowledge of its history are the fewer fusions one is likely to discover in it.

Phraseological units can be clasified as parts of speech. This classification was suggested by I. V. Arnold. In the traditional structural approach, the following principal groups of phraseological units are distinguishable (see Table 14).

verbal
e. g. to talk through one's hat, to get (win) the upper hand

substantive
e. g. dog's life, white lie

adjectival

adverbial

interjectional

prepositional

1) Verbal denoting an action, a state, a feeling: to run for one's (dear) life, to get (win) the upper hand, to talk through one's hat, to make a song and dance about something, to sit pretty (Amer. sl.), to be on the beam;

2) Substantive denoting an object, a person, a living being: dog's life, cat-and-dog life, calf love, white lie, tall order, birds of a feather, birds of passage, red tape, brown study, Green Berets;

3) Adjectival denoting a quality: high and mighty, spick and span, brand new, safe and sound, (as) cool as a cucumber, (as) nervous as a cat, (as) weak as a kitten, (as) good as gold (usu. spoken about children), (as) pretty as a picture, as large as life, (as) drunk as an owl (sl.), (as) mad as a hatter/a hare in March;

4) Adverbial: in cold blood; to the bitter end; by a long chalk; like a dog with two tails; like a dream; with a bump.

5) Interjectional: my God/by Jove! By George! Goodness gracious! Good Heavens' sakes alive!

6) Prepositional: in the course of, on the stroke of.

In I. V. Arnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents, proverbs, sayings and quatations, e. g. The sky is the limit, What makes him tick, I am easy. Proverbs are usually metaphorical, e. g. Too many cooks spoil the broth, while sayings are as a rule non-metaphorical, e. g. Where there is a will there is a way.

1. I burnt the candle at both ends when I was young, and now I’m suffering from the numerous illnesses. 2. David passed all the exams with flying colours and got a golden medal on leaving school. 3. Meeting with all my classmates was as flowers in the May since we haven’t seen each other for 10 years. 4. Helen felt like she was fleeced of her money, a damn feeling. 5. He had to cycle home in the rain and came in looking like a drowned rat. 6. You tried to use me as a cat’s paw to pull chestnuts out of the fire for Stanley Rider. 7. She thanked him from the bottom of her heart. 8. The foreign student in our group seemed to be queer as a three-dollar bill at first, but then we got accustomed to each other. 9. When they both were fourteen, we thought we feel the greatest infatuation in the world, but soon they understood it was just a puppy love. 10. Oh my eye! is the shop of Charlie Devon , designer and creator of the original Spool Sewing bird pattern and mobile which was featured in Philadelphia. 11. There's no doubt that he's interested in her. It's as plain as the nose on your face. 12. His tongue-in-cheek compliment concerning my evening dress made me embarrassed. 13. God damn it! She really loves him. 14. It'll all work out in the course of time. 15. The issue of nuclear weapons isn't as black and white as it used to be. 16. She is a real sitting duck! How could she let the pickpocket steal all her belongings! 17. A pretty kettle of fish. Where I'll end, I can't say. 18. Good God! So it is not surprising that there were no good treatment. 19. The years of animosity between two groupings finished by a severe kangaroo court. 20. You want me to apologize? Like hell I will!

Phraseological synonyms should not be mixed up with variants of а phraseological unit, to add fuel to the fire – to add fuel to fire – to add oil to fire – to add fuel to the flame, etc.; God knows – goodness knows – Heaven knows – the Lord knows, etc.; not worth a bean – not worth a brass farthing – not worth a button – not worth a pin – not worth a rap – not worth a straw, etc.

Occasional phraseological variants may be formed due to authors’ actualizing the potential (literary) meanings of their components. Cf. a skeleton in the family cupboard: We were peeping into the family cupboard and having a look at the good old skeleton (P.G. Wodehouse).

Phraseological antonyms are of two main types: they may either differ in a single component (to do one’s best – to do one’s worst; up to date – out of date; to look black – to look bright, etc.) or have different sets of components (to draw the first breath – to breathe one’s last; to take a circuit – to make a bee-line; to talk to the dozen – to keep mum, etc.).

A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim.

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and Medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe. Mieder has concluded that cultures that treat the Bible as their "major spiritual book contain between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible." However, almost every culture has examples of its own unique proverbs.

The study of proverbs is called paremiology (from Greek παροιμία – paroimía, “proverb, maxim, saw”) and can be dated back as far as Aristotle. Paremiography, on the other hand, is the collection of proverbs. A prominent proverb scholar in the United States is. Wolfgang Mieder He has written or edited over 50 books on the subject, edits the journal Proverbium, has written innumerable articles on proverbs, and is very widely cited by other proverb scholars. Mieder defines the term proverb as follows: A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorisable form and which is handed down from generation to generation. Examples: Haste makes waste. Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. We never know the value of water till the well is dry.

These examples show that proverbs are different from phraseological units. Phraseological units are a kind of ready-made blocks which fit into the structure of a sentence performing a certain syntactical function.

Ex.: George liked her for she never put on air (predicate).

Proverbs are sentences and so cannot be used in the way in which phraseological units are used.

If we compare proverbs and phraseological units in the semantic aspect, the difference becomes more obvious. Proverbs could be compared with fables for they sum up the collective experience of the community. A proverb is a short popular saying that moralizes, gives warning, gives advice about how people should behave or that expresses a belief that is generally thought to be true. Here are some examples: If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night. Don’t cry over spilled milk. Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. A stitch in time saves nine.

No phraseological unit ever does any of these things. They do not stand for whole statements as proverbs do but for a single concept. Their function in speech is purely nominative (they denote an object, an act, etc.). The function of proverbs in speech is communicative (they impart certain information).

The question of whether or not proverbs should be regarded as a subtype of phraseological units is controversial one. Professor Koonin labels them communicative phraseological units.

Like idioms, proverbs often have a meaning that is greater than the meaning of the individual words put together, but in a different way than idioms. The literal meaning of an idiom usually doesn’t make sense, and idioms can be almost impossible to understand unless you have learned or heard them before. 

The literal meaning of a proverb such as “Don’t cry over spilled milk” does makes sense on its own, but it’s not until you apply this meaning to a broader set of situations that you understand the real point of the proverb. For example, “Don’t cry over spilled milk” means “Don’t get upset over something that has already been done. It’s too late to worry about it now, just get on with your life.”

However, people will often quote only a fraction of a proverb to invoke an entire proverb, e. g. "All is fair" instead of "All is fair in love and war", and "A rolling stone" for "A rolling stone gathers no moss."
Grammatical Structure of Proverbs

Proverbs in various languages are found with a wide variety of grammatical structures. In English, for example, we find the following structures (in addition to others):

1. 
   Imperative, negative – Don't beat a dead horse.
   
2. 
   Imperative, positive – Look before you leap.
   
3. 
   Parallel phrases – Garbage in, garbage out.
   
4. 
   Rhetorical question – Is the Pope Catholic?
   
5. 
   Declarative sentence – Birds of a feather flock together.