Stylistics: Introduction



Word combinations and fixed expressions in English

Many multi-word lexical units (MWLU) or word combinations function as structural or semantic units in English.

The study of such fixed expressions is known in linguistics as phraseology and the lexical units studied may be referred to as phrasemes.

The terminology in this field, both in English and in Slovene, often varies from one scholar to another. Similarly, scholars often disagree about how to categorise different kinds of expression.

IDIOMS

Idiom: ‘an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meaning of its constituent elements’ (Webster's dictionary)

Idioms are relatively invariable expressions with a meaning that cannot be predicted or is not entirely derivable from the meanings of the parts (Biber at al Grammar of English)

Primary characteristics of idioms (Moon 1992):

1. lexicogrammatical fixedness

They have a fixed structure, except for normal grammatical changes:

e.g. kick the bucket, kicked the bucket

They are fixed with regard to content words

e.g. NOT ‘ kick the pail’ or 'boot the bucket' or ‘hit the bucket with your foot’

And often with regard to word order:

e.g. NOT It's raining dogs and cats

Can't change them to get opposite meaning:

e.g. skating on thin ice

NOT 'skating on thick ice'

In some cases, there is quite a range of variation possible:

you’re pulling my leg

I’m sure to get my leg pulled about this

he’s a real leg-puller

this is not a leg-pull

And there are alternative versions of some idioms:

a lot of water has flowed/passed/gone under/beneath the bridge

have green fingers / a green thumb [Br vs Am Eng]

2. semantic opacity or non-compositionality

The meaning of the whole is more than the sum of the meanings of the parts, i.e. word-by-word interpretation doesn't work

e.g. spill the beans, a yellow streak

3. institutionalisation:

The process by which a string of words or formulation becomes recognised and accepted as a lexical item of the language. Also known as lexicalisation.

It will then appear in dictionaries or reference books and be accepted by users of the language.

Note that items may stop being current, e.g. put one's eyes together.

Idiomaticity is ‘a universal linguistic phenomenon in natural languages’.

Idioms are unique to a language, but this doesn't mean we can’t translate them.

They are 'ready-made' utterances that have to be learnt as a whole.

Under the heading of idioms we might also include other multi-word expressions such as proverbs (A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush), sayings (boys will be boys), frozen similes (as drunk as a lord; as sober as a judge), social formulae (How do you do?)

Idioms have an important pragmatic function. They are used to convey attitudes rather than factual information. They are more common in conversation (especially fictional dialogue) and informal language; also in journalism. They are infrequent in academic texts and we would not expect them in legal or instructional texts.

Idioms can represent many different kinds of structural units, including noun phrases, verb plus noun phrase, prepositional, adverbial and adjectival phrases – even whole sentnces. For example:

a piece of cake (NP)

smell a rat (V + NP)

from the horse's moth (prep. phr.)

tooth and nail (adv. phr.)

up in the air (adj. phr.)

All that glitters is not gold.

METAPHORICAL MEANING

All idioms are in a sense metaphors, which may be more or less transparent i.e. easy to understand. These are not clear-cut categories but a cline from transparent to opaque.

(semi-) transparent metaphors / figurative idioms

institutionalised, but the reader/hearer should be able to decode it using real world knowledge (partially semantically motivated)

behind someone’s back, pack one's bags, on your bike, slip of the tongue, to be a minefield, thorn in one's side, lose one’s head, make up / change one’s mind, (have a) heart of gold, skate on thin ice, grasp the nettle, rock the boat, take steps, waste one's breath, bring to light, follow a path,

opaque metaphors / pure idioms

decoding or interpretation is difficult – you need to be told (semantically non-motivated)

throw in the towel, smell a rat, put the cat among the pigeons, bite the bullet, snuff it, red herring, chew the fat, shoot the breeze, fly off the handle, by hook or by crook, spill the beans, a few sandwiches short of a picnic

FREQUENCY

Idioms are probably less frequent than we think.

Probably more common in fiction and fictional dialogue (films, TV – used to develop character) than in real-life conversation e.g. hold your horses.

Depends on the kind of texts the corpus includes e.g. broadsheet journalism seems to feature more multi-word expressions like: a leopard does not change its spots, make a mockery of, do the trick, get one's act together, (open up) a can of worms, ivory tower, icing on the cake, put all one's eggs in one basket

Idioms often used by politicians in relation to the EU: catch/miss the boat/train, get on the fast track, two speed Europe

Frequent in horoscopes (generality and writer-reader relationship): Honesty is the best policy today… Don't pretend to be something you're not or you could end up with egg on your face… Take with a pinch of salt whatever you see or hear

Pragmatic function

Idioms should be used in a functionally appropriate way (otherwise unnatural), e.g. evaluation, paraphrase

e.g. Should I go by car or train? Well, it's swings and roundabouts.

e.g. Will he get elected? He doesn't stand a cat/snowball in hell's chance.

e.g. We spent hours trying to find it with no success. So, it was a wild goose chase?

e.g. Her murder mysteries are full of red herrings.

e.g. The exam was a piece of cake.

TRANSLATING IDIOMS

There are no rules, everything is dependent on context, but a general guideline is to try to find a similar idiomatic expression in the target language. If you cannot, then you have to resort to a paraphrase of some kind.

1. one-to-one

idiom with the same content and meaning:

a dog’s life – pasje življenje

a black sheep – črna ovca

show a red card to – pokazati rdeči karton

like a red rag to a bull – kot rdeča cunja na bika

as poor as a church mouse – reven kot cerkvena miš

2. semantic

idiom with different content, but same meaning:

like a bull in a china shop – kot slon v trgovini s porcelanom

buy a pig in a poke – kupiti mačka v žaklju

hot potato – vroči kostanj

throw in the towel – vreči puško v koruzo

it's no use crying over spilt milk – po toči zvoniti je prepozno

3. descriptive:

hit the bottle – začeti piti

red-letter day – zelo pomemben dan

imeti krompir – be lucky

dati [komu] košarico – say no to

PHRASAL VERBS

Some scholars treat lexically opaque phrasal verbs as idioms, some do not.

How do they differ from other multi-word verbs?

• phrasal verbs (V + adv particle) pick up, carry out, ask out

NB: adverbial particles have core spatial or locative meanings (out, in, up, down, on, off)

BUT also an extended meaning

• prepositional verbs (V + prep) look at, listen to

• phrasal-prepositional verbs (V + particle + prep) get away with

• other multi-word verb constructions:

V + NP (+ prep) take a look (at)

V + prep phrase take into account

V + V make do

Discuss different uses of pick up:

Phrasal and prepositional verbs are usually single semantic units

Often have a single verb counterpart:

carry out >

find out >

look at >

NB: all the structural patterns above can also occur as free combinations where each element has separate grammatical and semantic status.

FREE COMBINATIONS (proste besedne zveze)

Or ‘loose association’: words joined together in line with general syntactic rules but freely allowing substitution.

e.g.. He decided on the train = made a decision while on the train (free combination)

= chose the train, rather than the bus (phrasal verb)

The only ‘rules’ are:

- grammatical selectional restrictions *he has been lived

*they told it was true

- semantic selectional restrictions (no contradiction, incongruity)

*kill a corpse

*a married bachelor

PROVERBS & SAYINGS

Proverbs are traditional sayings or maxims with a moral or ethical element based on common sense or experience. They tend to be short and memorable are often metaphorical.

Proverbs are idiomatic and are often referred to as idioms in dictionaries and reference books:

every dark cloud has a silver lining

you can't have your cake and eat it

people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

once bitten, twice shy

NB: not commonly used, but when they are often in a shortened form (truncation):

it’s the last straw (that breaks the camel's back

the early bird (that catches the worm)

a bird in the hand( is worth two in the bush)

birds of a feather (flock together)

make hay (while the sun shines)

Sometimes the term saying is used for commonly used non-metaphorical expressions:

first come first served*

practice makes perfect

actions speak louder than words

* Note that transformations are possible: on a first-come-first-served basis [adjectival]

Some sayings are referred to as truisms (self-evident, hardly worth saying) and these are often used as filler expressions:

enough is enough

boys will be boys

you live and learn

Typical stylistic features of proverbs:

alliteration (Forgive and forget)

parallelism (Nothing ventured, nothing gained)

rhyme (When the cat is away, the mice will play)

ellipsis (Once bitten, twice shy)

TRANSLATING PROVERBS/SAYINGS

The problem may be one of stylistic marking

Example:

Koenig je zdrsnil bliže k meni. “Bi rad kaj spumpal iz mene, Bleichert? Bi tudi ti rad trosil grde reči o Fritzieu?”

“Ne, samo radoveden sem.”

“Radovednost je pokončala mačko. Zapomni si to.”

(Črna dalija, James Ellroy, DZS 2000, p. 130)

SIMILES (primere)

Institutionalised comparisons signalled by as or like.

Most are also seen as clichés – a phrase or sentence that has lost its impact, originality etc from over-use...

as blind as a bat

as good as gold (behaviour), ~ new (condition)

as sober as a judge, as drunk as a lord, as pissed as a newt

crazy like a fox

as old as the hills

as different as chalk and cheese

as like as two peas in a pod

as cool as a cucumber

as fit as a fiddle

as thick as a brick/ two short planks

as thick as thieves

as easy as falling off a log

drink like a fish

live like a king

sleep like a log

be like a duck out of water

(SOCIAL) FORMULAE

Routine (fixed) strings of words with special discoursal function.

Often devoid of much lexical content.

when all is said and done

at the end of the day

at this moment in time

all things being equal

you can say that again

I thought you’d never ask

call it a day

you mark my words

I won't say no

I'm sorry to say

How do you do?

What’s new?

Long time, no see!

you know

not exactly

CATCH-PHRASES

A phrase attributable to a particular person, usually from a book, film or television programme, that passes into popular use:

We are not amused

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

And now for something completely different

A similar kind of fixed expression is a slogan, which may be associated with a particular person (Yes we can) or campaign (Drinka pinta milka day), or the origins may be unclear (Power to the people).

QUOTATIONS

Shakespeare:

A countenance more in sorrow than in anger

A fool's paradise

A foregone conclusion

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

A sea change

A sorry sight

All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold

All's well that ends well

As dead as a doornail

As good luck would have it

As merry as the day is long

As pure as the driven snow

At one fell swoop

Bag and baggage

Beast with two backs

Brevity is the soul of wit

Eaten out of house and home

Fight fire with fire

For ever and a day

Foul play

Good riddance

Green eyed monster

Heart's content

High time

Hoist by your own petard

I have not slept one wink

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

It beggar'd all description

Love is blind

Make your hair stand on end

Milk of human kindness

More fool you

My salad days

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

Off with his head

Pound of flesh

Rhyme nor reason

Salad days

Send him packing

Set your teeth on edge

Short shrift

Shuffle off this mortal coil

Star crossed lovers

The course of true love never did run smooth

The crack of doom

The game is afoot

The game is up

There's method in my madness

Thereby hangs a tale

This is the short and the long of it

Too much of a good thing

Truth will out

Vanish into thin air

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

We have seen better days

Wear your heart on your sleeve

The Bible (usually the King James version from 1611)

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

A man after his own heart

A thorn in the flesh

All things must pass

All things to all men

Am I my brother's keeper?

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

As old as the hills

As you sow so shall you reap

Ashes to ashes dust to dust

At his wits end

Beat swords into ploughshares

Bite the dust

Born again

By the skin of your teeth

Can a leopard change its spots?

Eat drink and be merry

Fall from grace

Flesh and blood

Forbidden fruit

From strength to strength

Give up the ghost

How are the mighty fallen

Living off the fat of the land

Man does not live by bread alone

No rest for the wicked

Sour grapes

Spare the rod and spoil the child

The apple of his eye

The blind leading the blind

The fly in the ointment

The powers that be

The salt of the earth

The writing is on the wall

To cast the first stone

Woe is me

COLLOCATIONS

Habitual associations between lexical words so that the words co-occur more frequently than they would by chance – statistical associations rather than fixed expressions.

Colligations (grammatical collocations): grammatical patterns in which words often occur.

Defined by The BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations as 'recurrent semi-fixed word combinations'.

Individual words in a collocation retain their own meaning.

However, some collocations have a certain degree of semantic opacity or idiomacity, and scholars often disagree where to draw the line between idioms and collocations.

At the simplest level, words co-occur with others from the same semantic field:

e.g. make coffee, bake a cake, roast a joint, fried egg, scrambled egg, poached egg

A second kind if where a word associates with a class or category of item (restricted):

e.g. rancid + butter, fat, foods containing butter or fat

Or where a word has a particular meaning in collocation with others

e.g. face + the truth, the facts, a problem

e.g. meet + requirements, demands

Words with similar meanings are often distinguished by their preferred collocations.

e.g. small

little

Some words collocate with many others, while some are much more restricted:

harbour a doubt / a grudge / an escaped convict (a fugitive)

stark naked / staring mad / choice

amicable divorce/agreement

unmitigated disaster

unrequited love

pitch black

innocent bystander

run amok

kith and kin

(irreversible) binomials

rock and roll, profit and loss, home and abroad, bed and breakfast, men and women, women and children, cause and effect, fruit and veg(etables), pros and cons, black and white

TRANSLATING COLLOCATIONS

Languages divide reality up in different ways; 'dictionary equivalents' of single words frequently misleading.

Recognise the collocation and establish its meaning

Determine whether, in this context, it is translatable by a collocation, by a single word, or by a free combination.

Examples:

angleški jezik

rdeča barva

gorski svet

doprsni kip

prednostna naloga

uvodna beseda

odkimati

skomigniti

pokazati s prstom

obuti se / sezuti se

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