Phraseology

The vocabulary of a language is enriched not only by words but also by phraseological units. 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. American and British lexicographers call such units «idioms». We can mention such dictionaries as: L.Smith «Words and Idioms», V.Collins «A Book of English Idioms» etc. In these dictionaries we can find words, peculiar in their semantics (idiomatic), side by side with word-groups and sentences. In these dictionaries they are arranged, as a rule, into different semantic groups.
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.



WAYS OF FORMING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

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 «стартовая площадка» , in its transferred meaning - «отправной пункт», «to link up» - «cстыковаться, стыковать космические корабли» in its transformed meaning it means -«знакомиться»;
b) a large group of phraseological units was formed from free word groups by transforming their meaning, e.g. «granny farm» - «пансионат для престарелых», «Troyan horse» - «компьютерная программа, преднамеренно составленная для повреждения компьютера»;
c) phraseological units can be formed by means of alliteration , e.g. «a sad sack» - «несчастный случай», «culture vulture» - «человек, интересующийся искусством», «fudge and nudge» - «уклончивость».
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» - «испытывать волнение», «to have green fingers» - »преуспевать как садовод-любитель» etc.
i) they can be formed by using expressions of writers or politicians in everyday life, e.g. «corridors of power» (Snow), «American dream» (Alby) «locust years» (Churchil) , «the winds of change» (Mc Millan).
Secondary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a phraseological unit is formed on the basis of another phraseological unit; they are:
a) conversion, e.g. «to vote with one’s feet» was converted into «vote with one’s feet»;
b) changing the grammar form, e.g. «Make hay while the sun shines» is transferred into a verbal phrase - «to make hay while the sun shines»;
c) analogy, e.g. «Curiosity killed the cat» was transferred into «Care killed the cat»;
d) contrast, e.g. «cold surgery» - «a planned before operation» was formed by contrasting it with «acute surgery», «thin cat» - «a poor person» was formed by contrasting it with «fat cat»;
e) shortening of proverbs or sayings e.g. from the proverb «You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear» by means of clipping the middle of it the phraseological unit «to make a sow’s ear» was formed with the meaning «ошибаться».
f) borrowing phraseological units from other languages, either as translation loans, e.g. « living space» (German), « to take the bull by the horns» ( Latin) or by means of phonetic borrowings «meche blanche» (French), «corpse d’elite» (French), «sotto voce» (Italian) etc.
Phonetic borrowings among phraseological units refer to the bookish style and are not used very often.

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Phraseological units can be classified according to the degree of motivation of their meaning. This classification was suggested by acad. V.V. Vinogradov for Russian phraseological units. He pointed out three types of phraseological units:
According to the degree of idiomaticity phraseological units can be classified into three big groups: phraseological fusions (сращения), phraseological unities (единства) and phraseological collocations (соче¬тания).
Phraseological fusions are completely non-motivated word-groups, e.g. as mad as a hatter — 'utterly mad'; white elephant — 'an expensive but useless thing'.
Phraseological unities are partially non-motivated as their meaning can usually be perceived through the metaphoric meaning of the whole phraseological unit, e.g. to bend the knee — 'to submit to a stronger force, to obey submissively'; to wash one's dirty linen in public — 'to discuss or make public one's quarrels'.
Phraseological collocations are not only motivated but contain one component used in its direct meaning, while the other is used metaphorically, e.g. to meet the requirements, to attain success. In this group of phraseological units some substitutions are possible which do not destroy the meaning of the metaphoric element, e.g. to meet the needs, to meet the demand, to meet the necessity; to have success, to lose success. These substitutions are not synonymical and the meaning of the whole changes, while the meaning of the verb meet and the noun success are kept intact.

CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS ACCORDING TO THEIR ORIGIN
The consideration of the origin of phraseological units contributes to a better understanding of phraseological meaning. According to their origin all phraseological units may be divided into two big groups: native and borrowed.
The main sources of native phraseological units are:
1) terminological and professional lexics, e.g. physics: center of gravity (центр тяжести), specific weight (удельный вес); navigation: cut the painter (обрубить канат) — 'to become independent', lower one's colours (спустить свой флаг) — 'to yield, to give in'; military sphere:, fall into line (стать в строй) — 'conform with others';
2) British literature, e.g. the green-eyed monster — 'jealousy" (W. Shakespeare); like Hamlet without the prince — 'the most important person at event is absent' (W.Shakespeare); fall on evil days— 'live in poverty after having enjoyed better times' (J.Milton); a sight for sore eyes — 'a person or thing that one is extremely pleased or relieved to see' (J.Swift); how goes the enemy? (Ch. Dickens) — 'what is the time?'; never say die — 'do not give up hope in a difficult situation' (Ch.Dickens);
3) British traditions and customs, e.g. baker's dozen — 'a group of thirteen'. In the past British merchants of bread received from bakers thirteen loaves instead of twelve and the thirteenth loaf was merchants' profit.
4) superstitions and legends, e.g. a black sheep — 'a less successful or more immoral person in a family or a group'. People believed that a black sheep was marked by the devil; the halcyon days — 'a very happy or successful period in the past'. According to an ancient legend a halcyon (зимородок) hatches/grows its fledglings in a nest that sails in the sea and during this period (about two weeks) the sea is completely calm;
5) historical facts and events, personalities, e.g. as well be hanged {or hung) for a sheep as a lamb — 'something that you say when you are going to be punished for something so you decide to do something worse because your punishment will not be any more severe'. According to an old law a person who stole a sheep was sentenced to death by hanging, so it was worth stealing something more because there was no worse punishment; to do a Thatcher — 'to stay in power as prime minister for three consecutive terms (from the former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher)';
6) phenomena and facts of everyday life, e.g. carry coals to Newcastle — 'to take something to a place where there is plenty of it available'. Newcastle is a town in Northern England where a lot of coal was produced; to get out of wood — 'to be saved from danger or difficulty'.
The main sources of borrowed phraseological units are: 1) the Holy Script, e. g. the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing — 'communication in an organization is bad so that one part does not know what is happening in another part'; the kiss of Judas — 'any display of affection whose purpose is to conceal any act of treachery' (Matthew XXVI: 49);
2) ancient legends and myths belonging to different religious or
cultural traditions, e.g. to cut the Gordian knot — 'to deal with a
difficult problem in a strong, simple and effective way' (from the legend
saying that Gordius, king of Gordium, tied an intricate knot and
prophesied that whoever untied it would become the ruler of Asia. It
was cut through with a sword by Alexander the Great); a Procrustean
bed — 'a harsh, inhumane system into which the individual is fitted by
force, regardless of his own needs and wishes' (from Greek Mythology.
Procrustes — a robber who forced travelers to lie on a bed and made
them fit by stretching their limbs or cutting off the appropriate length
of leg);
3) facts and events of the world history, e.g. to cross the Rubicon — 'to do something which will have very important results which cannot be changed after'. Julius Caesar started a war which resulted in victory for him by crossing the river Rubicon in Italy; to meet one's Waterloo — 'be faced with, esp. after previous success, a final defeat, a difficulty or obstacle one cannot overcome (from the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo 1815)';
4) variants of the English language, e.g. a heavy hitter— 'someone who is powerful and has achieved a lot' {American); a hole card — 'a secret advantage that is ready to use when you need it' (American); be home and hosed — 'to have completed something successfully' (Australian);
5) other languages (classical and modern), e.g. second to none —
'equal with any other and better than most' (from Latin: nulli
secundus); for smb's fair eyes — 'because of personal sympathy, not
be worth one's deserts, services, for nothing' (from French: pour les
beaux yeux de qn.); the fair sex — 'women' (from French: le beau sex);
let the cat out of the bag — 'reveal a secret carelessly or by mistake'
(from German: die Katze aus dem Sack lassen); tilt at windmills —
'to waste time trying to deal with enemies or problems that do no exist'
(from Spanish: acometer molinos de viento); every dog is a lion at
home — 'to feel significant in the familiar surrounding' (from Italian:
ogni сапе e leone a casa sua).


STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Prof. A.I. Smirnitsky worked out structural classification of phraseological units, comparing them with words. He points out one-top units which he compares with derived words because derived words have only one root morpheme. He points out two-top units which he compares with compound words because in compound words we usually have two root morphemes.
Among one-top units he points out three structural types;
a) units of the type «to give up» (verb + postposition type), e.g. to art up, to back up, to drop out, to nose out, to buy into, to sandwich in etc.;
b) units of the type «to be tired» . Some of these units remind the Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositons 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. There are also units in this type which remind free word-groups of the type «to be young», e.g. to be akin to, to be aware of etc. The difference between them is that the adjective «young» can be used as an attribute and as a predicative in a sentence, while the nominal component in such units can act only as a predicative. In these units the verb is the grammar centre and the second component is the semantic centre;
c) prepositional- nominal phraseological units. 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), in the course of, on the stroke of, in time, on the point of etc. In the course of time such units can become words, e.g. tomorrow, instead etc.
Among two-top units A.I. Smirnitsky points out the following structural types:
a) attributive-nominal such as: a month of Sundays, grey matter, a millstone round one’s neck and many others. Units of this type are noun equivalents and can be partly or perfectly idiomatic. In partly idiomatic units (phrasisms) sometimes the first component is idiomatic, e.g. high road, in other cases the second component is idiomatic, e.g. first night. In many cases both components are idiomatic, e.g. red tape, blind alley, bed of nail, shot in the arm and many others.
b) verb-nominal phraseological units, e.g. to read between the lines , to speak BBC, to sweep under the carpet etc. The grammar centre of such units is the verb, the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component, e.g. to fall in love. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the semantic centre, e.g. not to know the ropes. These units can be perfectly idiomatic as well, e.g. to burn one’s boats, to vote with one’s feet, to take to the cleaners’ etc.
Very close to such units are word-groups of the type to have a glance, to have a smoke. These units are not idiomatic and are treated in grammar as a special syntactical combination, a kind of aspect.
c) phraseological repetitions, such as : now or never, part and parcel , country and western etc. Such units can be built on antonyms, e.g. ups and downs , back and forth; often they are formed by means of alliteration, e.g cakes and ale, as busy as a bee. Components in repetitions are joined by means of conjunctions. These units are equivalents of adverbs or adjectives and have no grammar centre. They can also be partly or perfectly idiomatic, e.g. cool as a cucumber (partly), bread and butter (perfectly).
Phraseological units the same as compound words can have more than two tops (stems in compound words), e.g. to take a back seat, a peg to hang a thing on, lock, stock and barrel, to be a shadow of one’s own self, at one’s own sweet will.

SYNTACTICAL CLASSIFICATION
OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

Phraseological units can be classified as parts of speech. This classification was suggested by I.V. Arnold. Here we have the following groups:
a) noun phraseologisms denoting an object, a person, a living being, e.g. bullet train, latchkey child, redbrick university, Green Berets,
b) verb phraseologisms denoting an action, a state, a feeling, e.g. to break the log-jam, to get on somebody’s coattails, to be on the beam, to nose out , to make headlines,
c) adjective phraseologisms denoting a quality, e.g. loose as a goose, dull as lead,
d) adverb phraseological units, such as : with a bump, in the soup, like a dream , like a dog with two tails,
e) preposition phraseological units, e.g. in the course of, on the stroke of ,
f) interjection phraseological units, e.g. «Catch me!», «Well, I never!» etc.
In I.V.Arnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents, proverbs, sayings and quotations, 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».

PRACTICAL

Analyze the meaning of the given phraseological units. Group them into: 1) native; 2) borrowed phraseological units. State the sources of their origin.
Model: the be-all and end-all of — 'the main purpose of, all that mal in the life'
The phraseological unit the be-all and end-all of is of native English origin: as it is from W.Shakespeare's Macbeth.
1) to hang up one's boot — 'retire'; 2) to bury the hatchet — come to friendly or peaceful terms with somebody else, usually arguments, disagreements'; 3) a sacred cow — 'somebody/something that is greatly respected and revered, esp. by a particular nation or group so that attack or criticism is not tolerated'; 4) a whipping boy — person who is blamed or punished for the faults or incompetence others'; 5) an ugly duckling — 'a plain, unprepossessing child born I attractive than his brothers and sisters who later surpasses them, grows into a beautiful person'; 6) of the same leaven/batch — 'about person who have very much in common, who are very similar in their way life, behaviour, views, etc.'; 7) the law of the jungle — 'self-preservation, the survival of the strongest, or more unscrupulous'; 8) an apple of  discord— '(somebody or something that is) a cause of dispute, argument or rivalry'; 9) to hide one's head in the sand — 'willfully to close one's eyes to danger, to refuse to face reality'; 10) a blue stocking — 'an intellectual or literary woman'; 11) the hot seat — 'the position of a person who carries full responsibility for something, including facing criticism or being answerable for decisions or actions'; 12) a drop in the bucket/ocean — 'something of inconsiderable value, importance, esp. as compared with something larger in total or in kind; 13) pig in the middle — 'a person, or a group in a helpless position between, or made use of by, others'; 14) blue blood — 'a person of noble birth': 15) a blue coat — 'a student at a charity school'; 16) to die with one's boots on — 'to die while still at work'; 17) to fiddle while Rome burns — 'behave frivolously in a situation that calls for concern or corrective action'; 18) penny wise and pound foolish — 'careful and economical in small matters while being wasteful or extravagant in large ones';
19)    the iron curtain — 'the notional barrier between people, nations, countries, etc. leading to the political, economical, etc. isolation';
the Russian soul — 'a vague, unfulfilled yearning for a better, spiritual life which would bring consolation and relief to the suffering masses'; 21) to run the gauntlet — 'to submit to a punishing ordeal'.

Choose the correct phraseological unit to fill in the gaps in the sentences below:
Dark horse, to work like a dog, sour grapes, to lord it over, Achilles heel, to put one’s cards on the table, red tape, to see smb in the flesh, fat cats, around the clock

1. Workers are losing their jobs while the … who run the company are getting richer. 2. Stuart’s getting married? He’s a … - I never even knew he had a girlfriend. 3. He was a gifted businessman, but greed was his … . 4. If I criticize her book, people will think it’s just… . 5. There’s so much … involved in getting a visa. 6. Doctors and nurses worked … to help people injured in the train crash. 7. She thought it was time … and tell him that she had no intention of marrying him. 8. He likes … the more junior stuff in the office. 9. I knew his face so well from the photos that it felt a bit strange when I finally … . 10. He … all day to finish the wallpapering.  

(I.V. Zykova. A practical course of English lexicology, 2006)