词汇学9.docx
- 文档编号:4221963
- 上传时间:2022-11-28
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:14
- 大小:29.05KB
词汇学9.docx
《词汇学9.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《词汇学9.docx(14页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
词汇学9
Chapter9EnglishIdioms
TheEnglishlanguageaboundsinidiomslikeanyotherhighlydevelopedtongues.Idiomsconsistofsetphrasesandshortsentences,whicharepeculiartothelanguageinquestionandloadedwiththenativeculturesandideas.Therefore,idiomsarecolourful,forcibleandthought-provoking.Strictlyspeaking,idiomsareexpressionsthatarenotreadilyunderstandablefromtheirliteralmeaningsofindividualelements,forexample,flyoffthehandle(becomeexcessivelyangry)andputupwith(tolerate).Inabroadsense,idiomsmayincludecolloquialisms,catchphrases,slangexpressions,proverbs,etc.TheyformanimportantpartoftheEnglishvocabulary.Thischapterwilldealwithidiomsintermsoftheircharacteristics,classificationanduses.
9.1CharacteristicsofIdioms
9.1.1SemanticUnity
Beingphrasesorsentences,idiomseachconsistofmorethanoneword,buteachisasemanticunity.Thoughthevariouswordswhichmakeuptheidiomhavetheirrespectiveliteralmeanings,intheidiomtheyhavelosttheirindividualidentity,i.e.theirmeaningsarenotoftenrecognizableinthemeaningofthewholeidiom.Likewise,thepartofspeechofeachelementisnolongerimportant.Quiteoftentheidiomfunctionsasoneword.Forinstance,tillthecowscomehome,whichcomprisesaconjunctiontill,anarticlethe,anouncow,averbcomeandanadverbhome,means‘forever’andfunctionsasanadverb,thusreplaceablebytheword‘Thesamecanbesaidofkeepinmind(remember),takeoff(imitate),tonoavail(useless),likeabreeze(easily)andsoon.
Thesemanticunityofidiomsisalsoreflectedintheillogicalrelationshipbetweentheliteralmeaningofeachwordandthemeaningoftheidiom.Manyidiomsaresemanticallyinexplicable.Forexample,Howdoyoudoisacommonformofgreetingusedbypeoplewhentheyfirstmeet.Literallyitmeans‘Inwhatwaydoyoudothings’,whichisfarfromitsidiomaticusage.Similarly,wearone’sheartuponone’ssleevewhichmeans‘showone’sfeelingsplainly’isliterallyimpossible.Raincatsanddogswhichisusedinthesenseof‘rainheavily’literallymakesnonsense.
9.1.2StructuralStability
Unlikefreephrases,thestructureofanidiomistoalargeextentunchangeable.First,theconstituentsofidiomscannotbereplaced.Takeinabrownstudyforexample.Usedasafreephrase,wecansayinabrown(red,green,white,etc.)studyorinabrownstudy(room,den,hall,studio,cell,etc.).However,asanidiomtomean‘deepinthought’,thestructureisfixed.Inthesameway,lipservice(supportonlyinwords,notinfact)isnottobechangedinto*mouthservice;kickthebucket(die)into*kickthepailor*strikethebucket;burythehatchet(cometofriendlyorpeacefulterms)into*burytheax.
Secondly,thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.Forexample,bytwosandthreesandtitfortatarenottobeturnedintobythreesandtwosandtatfortit.Similarly,thelion’sshareisnottobereplacedbytheshareofthelionthoughitisacommonpracticeinfreephrases.
Thirdly,theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.Forinstance,outofthequestionmeans‘impossible’.Ifthearticletheisdeleted,theidiomaticitywillbelostanditwillsignify‘noquestion’instead.Inquestion(beingconsidered)ontheotherhanddoesnotallowtheadditionoftheas*inthequestion,becausethelatterisnolongeranidiom.
Finally,manyidiomsaregrammaticallyunanalysable.Forexample,diamondcut‘diamond(twopartiesareequallymatched)isgrammaticallyincorrect,fornormallytheverbcutshouldtakethethirdpersonsingular-sasthesubjectdiamondissingular.MeanwhilethereexistsastructurallysimilaridiomLikecureslike,inwhich-scannotbedeleted.(as)sureaseggsiseggs(quitecertainly)mayserveasanotherexample.Theverbisintheidiomshouldbearetoagreewithgrammar.However,weuseitasitis.Itisgrammaticallywrong,butidiomaticandwidelyaccepted.
Itshouldbepointedoutthattheidiomaticityofidiomsisgradableandmaybestbethoughtintermsofascale,withthe‘true’idiomsestablishedattheupperendandregularcombinationsatthebottom.Inbetweenarethe‘semi-idioms’(CowieandMackin1975:
x).Bytrueidiomswemeanthatthemeaningoftheidiomcannotbededucedfromthoseoftheindividualconstituentssuchasstepupusedin‘Hispromotionsteppedup(improveorenhance)theirsocialstatus’andintherawusedin‘Theboysareplayingintheriverintheraw(naked).’Byregularcombinationswespeakoftheregularcollocationssuchasmakefriendswith,breaksilenceandsmoothtongue,themeaningsofwhichareunderstoodfromtheliteralmeaningsoftheconstituents.Inbetweenwehaveidiomsliketurnoveranewleaf(beginanewlife),ascoolasacucumberanddrawthecurtain(endorconceal),whosemeaningsareinawayrelatedtothemeaningsoftheconstituentsbutarenotthemselvesexplicit.Thefixityofidiomsdependsontheidiomaticity.Themoreidiomatictheidioms,themorefixedthestructure.Manyoftheidiomsofthelowerscaledoallowsomechanges.Forexample,breaksilencecanbechangedintokeepsilencetoexpresstheoppositemeaning.Putonthecoatcanbereplacedbyputitonintheactualcontext.Thesevariationsofidiomswillbediscussedinthesectionstofollow.
9.2ClassificationofIdioms
Classificationcanbeapproachedfromdifferentangles.StudiesonEnglishidiomstothisdayandvariousdictionariesofidiomshaveprovidedavarietyofcriteriaforclassifyingidioms.Inthisbook,wepreferthecriterionof‘grammaticalfunctions’(SeeLu1983).Thisisbecausesuchclassificationwillbemorehelpfulintheactualuseofidioms.Thedifficultyinusingidiomsappropriatelyliesfirstinthedifficultyofgraspingtheelusiveandfigurativemeaningandtheninthedifficultyofdeterminingthesyntacticfunctionsofidioms.Forinstance,heartandsoulisanidiommadeupoftwonounsconnectedbyand.Itlookslikeanounphraseonappearance,butitisinfactusedasanadverbial.Aknowledgeofthegrammaticalfunctionsofidiomswillundoubtedlybebeneficialtolearners.Bythiscriterion,idiomsmaybeclassifiedintofivegroups.
9.2.1IdiomsNominalinNature
Idiomsofthisclasshaveanounasthekeywordineachandfunctionasanouninsentences,e.g.
whiteelephant[a+n(somethinguselessandunwantedbutbigandcostly)
braintrust(n+n](agroupofpeoplewithspecialknowledgewhoanswerquestionsorgiveadvice)
fleshandblood[n+conj+~n](relativesorfamily)
anappleofdiscord[n+prep+n](causeofdisagreementorargument,etc.)
Jackofalltrades[n+prep+det+n](apersonwhocandomanydifferentkindsofworkbutmaynotgoodatanyofthem)
flyintheointment[n+prep+n](somethingthatspoilstheperfectionofsomething)
9.2.2IdiomsAdjectivalinNature
Alltheidiomslistedbelowfunctionasadjectivesbuttheconstituentsarenotnecessarilyadjectives,e.g.
cutanddried[a+a](alreadysettledandunlikelytobechanged)
aspoorasachurchmouse[as+a+as+n](having,orearning,barelyenoughmoneyforone’sneeds)
wideofthemark[a+prep+n](notatallsuitable,correct,etc.)
beyondthepale[prep+n](beyondthelimitofproperbehaviour)
upintheair~[adv+prep+n](uncertain)
9.2.3IdiomsVerbalinNature
Thisisthelargestgroupofall.Thestructuresofsuchidiomsarequitecomplexandthuscanbesubdividedintophrasalverbsandotherverbphrases.
1.Phrasalverbsareidiomswhicharecomposedofaverbplusaprepand/oraparticle,e.g.
lookinto[vi+prep](investigate)
goon[vi+adv](continue)
putoff[vt+prep/adv](discourage...from;cause...todislike,etc./delay;makeexcusesinordertoavoidaduty,etc.)
turnon[vt+adv](switchon;exciteorintereststrongly,andoftensexually)
getawaywith[vi+adv+prep](dosomethingwrongwithoutbeingpunished)
putdownto[vt+adv+prep](statethatsomethingiscausedorexplainedby)
2.Otherverbphrases
makeit[v+pron](arriveintime;succeed)
followone’snose[v+poss+n].(gostraightahead,gointhesamedirection)
fallflat[v+a](failcompletelyinitsintendedorexpectedeffect)
givesbthebag[v+pron+n](fireordismisssomebody)
singadifferenttune[v+a+n](changeone’sopinionorattitude)
callitaday[v+pron+n](decideoragreetostopeithertemporarilyorforgood)
chopandchange[v+conj+v](fluctuateorvaryconstantly;keepchangingone’sopinion,etc.)
swimagainstthestream[v+prepphrase](dotheoppositeofwhatmostpeoplewanttodo;goagainstthewaythingsarehappening)
comebacktoearth[v+adv+prepphrase](stopimaginingordreaming)
makeendsmeet[v+n+v](earnwhatitcoststolive)
keepthepotboiling[v+n+v-ing](earnenoughtomaintainanadequatestandardofliving;
keepasituationactive,amusing,etc.)
letthedogseetherabbit[v+n+inf](donotgetinthewayofanotherwhowishestoseeordosth.)
bitethehandthatfeedsone[v+n+attrclause](repaykindnesswithwrong,turnagainstorhurtahelperorsupporter)
9.2.4IdiomsAdverbialinNature
toothandnail[n+n](withgreatviolenceanddetermination)
innothingflat[prep+n+a](inaverylittletime;soon)
throughthickandthin[prep+n+conj+n](throughalldifficultiesandtroubles)
Thisclasscontainsnumerousprepositionalphrases,whichinnatureareeitheradjectivaloradverbialandinmanycaseshavebothfunctionsatthesametime.Forinstance,incloverorintheclover(inrichcomfortorhavingapleasantoreasylife)canbeusedbothaspredicativeasin
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 词汇学