Phraseology: principles of classification

(1) miscellaneous nature of PhU → they must be sorted out and arranged in certain classes which possess identical characteristics

 

(2) Characteristics, as the main criteria for classification system: structural / semantic / of degree of stability / of origin?

 

(3) PhU - complex phenomenon with a number of important features ← approached from different points of view => considerable number of different classifications, devised by different scholars, based on different principles

 

(4) The traditional & oldest principle - based on their original content, called "thematic" (the term is not universally accepted), widely used in English & American works;

classified according to their sources of origin

↑

particular sphere of human activity, of life, of nature, of natural phenomena, etc.

L. P. Smith’s classification ← groups of idioms used by sailors, fishermen, soldiers, hunters and associated with the realia, phenomena & conditions of their occupations + groups of idioms associated with domestic and wild animals and birds, agriculture and cooking + numerous idioms drawn from sports, arts, etc.; sometimes called "etymological", but it’s only a relatively small part of his classification system, the general principle is not etymological.

 

(5) Smith: word-groups associated with the sea and the life of seamen are especially numerous in English vocabulary. Most of them have long since developed metaphorical meanings which have no longer any association with the sea or sailors:

E.g.: To be all at sea — to be unable to understand; to be in a state of ignorance or bewilderment about something (e. g. How can I be a judge in a situation in which I am all at sea? I'm afraid I'm all at sea in this problem). V. H. Collins remarks that the metaphor is that of a boat tossed about, out of control, with its occupants not knowing where they are.

To sink or swim — to fail or succeed (e. g. It is a case of sink or swim. All depends on his own effort.)

In deep water — in trouble or danger.

In low water, on the rocks — in strained financial circumstances.

To be in the same boat with somebody — to be in a situation in which people share the same difficulties and dangers (e. g. I don't like you much, but seeing that we're in the same boat I'll back you all I can). The metaphor is that of passengers in the life-boat of a sunken ship.

To sail under false colours — to pretend to be what one is not; sometimes, to pose as a friend and, at the same time, have hostile intentions. The metaphor is that of an enemy ship that approaches its intended prey showing at the mast the flag ("colours") of a pretended friendly nation.

To show one's colours — to betray one's real character or intentions. The allusion is, once more, to a ship showing the flag of its country at the mast.

To strike one's colours — to surrender, give in, admit one is beaten. The metaphor refers to a ship's hauling down its flag (sign of surrender).

To weather (to ride out) the storm — to overcome difficulties; to have courageously stood against misfortunes.

To bow to the storm — to give in, to acknowledge one's defeat.

Three sheets in(to) the wind (sl.) — very drunk.

Half seas over (sl.) — drunk.

direct associations with seafaring in all these idioms have been severed, distant memories of the sea romance and adventure still linger in some of them. The faint sound of the surf can still be heard in such phrases as to ride out the storm or breakers ahead! (= Take care! Danger!). Such idioms as to sail under false colours, to nail one's colours to the mast (~ to be true to one's convictions, to fight for them openly) bring to mind the distant past of pirate brigs, sea battles and great discoveries of new lands.

 

(6) foreigner is more apt to be struck by the colourfulness of the direct meaning of an idiom;

native speaker sees only its transferred meaning, the original associations being almost fully forgotten; but still not entirely free from the picture built up by the direct meanings of the words.

(7) Expressiveness & wealth of PhU’s colour largely depend on the ability of an idiom to create 2 images at once: that of a ship safely coming out of the storm — and that of a man overcoming his troubles and difficulties (to weather/ride out the storm); that of a ship's crew desperately fighting against a pirate brig — and that of a man courageously standing for his views and convictions (to nail one's colours to the mast),

 

(8) The thematic principle of classifying PhU has real merit but it does not take into consideration the linguistic characteristic features of the PhU.

 

(9) V.V. Vinogradov’s classification – sometimes called outdated; the first classification system based on the semantic principle;

↑

of immense importance in PhU; in modern research often ignored => any attempt at studying the semantic aspect of PhU should be appreciated

 

(10) V.V. Vinogradov’s classification – founded on the degree of semantic cohesion b/w the components of a PhU: Units with a partially transferred meaning show the weakest cohesion b/w their components; the more distant the meaning of a PhU from the current meaning of its constituent parts, the greater is its degree of semantic cohesion => classifies phraseological units into 3 classes: phraseological combinations, unities and fusions (=. фразеологические сочетания, единства и сращения).

 

(11) Phraseological combinations = word-groups with a partially changed meaning; clearly motivated = the meaning of the unit can be easily deduced from the meanings of its constituents:

E. g. to be at one's wits' end,

to be good at something,

to be a good hand at something,

to have a bite,

to come off a poor second,

to come to a sticky end (coll.),

to look a sight (coll.),

to take something for granted,

to stick to one's word,

to stick at nothing,

gospel truth,

bosom friends.

(12) Phraseological unities = word-groups with a completely changed meaning = the meaning of the unit does not correspond to the meanings of its constituent parts; they are motivated units = the meaning of the whole unit can be deduced from the meanings of the constituent parts; the metaphor, on which the shift of meaning is based, is clear and transparent.

E. g. to stick to one's guns (~ to be true to one's views or convictions. The image is that of a gunner or guncrew who do not desert their guns even if a battle seems lost);

to sit on the fence (~ in discussion, politics, etc. refrain from committing oneself to either side);

to catch/clutch at a straw/straws (~ when in extreme danger, avail oneself of even the slightest chance of rescue);

to lose one's head (~ to be at a loss what to do; to be out of one's mind);

to lose one's heart to smb. (~ to fall in love);

to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen (~ to take precautions too late, when the mischief is done);

to look a gift horse in the mouth (= to examine a present too critically; to find fault with something one gained without effort);

to ride the high horse (~ to behave in a superior, haughty, overbearing way. The image is that of a person mounted on a horse so high that he looks down on others);

the last drop/straw (the final culminating circumstance that makes a situation unendurable);

a big bug/pot, sl. (a person of importance);

a fish out of water (a person situated uncomfortably outside his usual or proper environment).

(13) Phraseological fusions = word-groups with a completely changed meaning but ≠ the unities, they are demotivated = their meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of the constituent parts; the metaphor, on which the shift of meaning was based, has lost its clarity and is obscure.

E. g. to come a cropper (to come to disaster);

neck and crop (entirely, altogether, thoroughly, as in: He was thrown out neck and crop. She severed all relations with them neck and crop.);

at sixes and sevens (in confusion or in disagreement);

to set one's cap at smb. (to try and attract a man; spoken about girls and women. The image, which is now obscure, may have been either that of a child trying to catch a butterfly with his cap or of a girl putting on a pretty cap so as to attract a certain person. In Vanity Fair: "Be careful, Joe, that girl is setting her cap at you.");

to leave smb. in the lurch (to abandon a friend when he is in trouble);

to show the white feather (to betray one's cowardice. The allusion was originally to cock fighting. A white feather in a cock's plumage denoted a bad fighter);

to dance attendance on smb. (to try and please or attract smb.; to show exaggerated attention to smb.).

 

(14) semantic classification system does not take into account the structural characteristics of PhU. + the border-line separating unities from fusions is vague and even subjective. One and the same PhU may appear motivated to one person (= unity) and demotivated to another (= fusion).

The more profound one's command of the language and one's knowledge of its history, the fewer fusions one is likely to discover in it.

 

(15) The structural principle of classifying PhU - based on their ability to perform the same syntactical functions as words.

Traditional structural approach → principal groups of PhU:

A. Verbal.

E. g. 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.).

B. Substantive.

E. g. dog's life,

cat-and-dog life,

calf love,

white lie,

tall order,

birds of a feather,

birds of passage,

red tape,

brown study.

C. Adjectival.

E. g. high and mighty,

spick and span,

brand new,

safe and sound.

+ so-called comparative word-groups are particularly expressive and sometimes amusing in their unanticipated and capricious associations:

E.g. (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) slippery as an eel,

(as) thick as thieves,

(as) drunk as an owl (sl.),

(as) mad as a hatter/a hare in March.

D. Adverbial.

E. g. high and low (as in They searched for him high and low), by hook or by crook (as in She decided that, by hook or by crook, she must marry him),

for love or money (as in He came to the conclusion that a really good job couldn't be found for love or money),

in cold blood (as in The crime was said to have been committed in cold blood),

in the dead of night,

between the devil and the deep sea (in a situation in which danger threatens whatever course of action one takes),

to the bitter end (as in to fight to the bitter end),

by a long chalk (as in It is not the same thing, by a long chalk).

E. Interjectional.

E. g. my God/ by Jove! by George!

goodness gracious!

good Heavens!

sakes alive! (Amer.)

 

(16) Professor Smirnitsky: classification system for English PhU = attempt to combine the structural and the semantic principles: PhU grouped according to the number and semantic significance of their constituent parts → 2 large groups & within each group → further classification according to the category of parts of speech of the summit constituent:

A. one-summit units - have 1 meaningful constituent (e. g. to give up, to make out, to pull out, to be tired, to be surprised (most Russian scholars do not regard these as PhU => controversial point) );

a) verbal-adverbial units equivalent to verbs in which semantic & grammatical centres coincide in the 1^st constituent (e. g. to give up);

b) units equivalent to verbs which have their semantic centre in the 2^nd constituent & their grammatical centre in the 1^st (e. g. to be tired);

c) prepositional-substantive units equivalent either to adverbs or to copulas & having their semantic centre in the substantive constituent and no grammatical centre (e. g. by heart, by means of).

B. two-summit and multi-summit units - have 2 or more meaningful constituents (e. g. black art, first night, common sense, to fish in troubled waters).

a) attributive-substantive two-summit units equivalent to nouns (e. g. black art),

b) verbal-substantive two-summit units equivalent to verbs (e. g. to take the floor),

c) phraseological repetitions equivalent to adverbs (e. g. now or never); d) adverbial multi-summit units (e. g. every other day).

 

(17) Smirnitsky: also distinguishes proper phraseological units = units with non-figurative meanings, and idioms = units with transferred meanings based on a metaphor.

 

(18) Koonin → certain inconsistencies in Smirnitsky’s classification system:

1. subdivision into phraseological units (as non-idiomatic units) and idioms contradicts the leading criterion of a PhU suggested by Professor Smirnitsky: it should be idiomatic;

2. objects to the inclusion of such word-groups as black art, best man, first night in phraseology (in Professor Smirnitsky's classification system, the two-summit phraseological units) as all these word-groups are not characterised by a transferred meaning;

3. verbs with post-positions (e. g. give up) are included in the classification but their status as PhU is not supported by any convincing argument.

 

(19) A. V. Koonin’s classification = the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology; based on the combined structural-semantic principle and it also + considers the quotient of stability of PhU → 4 classes according to their function in communication determined by their structural-semantic characteristics:

1. Nominative PhU - represented by word-groups, including the ones with 1 meaningful word

+ coordinative phrases of the type wear and tear, well and good

+ word-groups with a predicative structure, such as as the crow flies

+ predicative phrases of the type see how the land lies, ships that pass in the night

2. Nominative-communicative PhU - include word-groups of the type to break the ice — the ice is broken, = verbal word-groups transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive Voice.

3. Phraseological units which are neither nominative nor communicative include interjectional word-groups.

4. Communicative PhU - represented by proverbs and sayings.

4 classes → into sub-groups according to the type of structure of the PhU: further rubrics representing types of structural-semantic meanings according to the kind of relations b/w the constituents & to either full or partial transference of meaning

(20) A. V. Koonin’s classification ← considerable number of subtypes & gradations; objectively reflects the wealth of types of PhUs existing in the language; based on truly scientific and modern criteria & represents an earnest attempt to take into account all the relevant aspects of PhUs & combine them within the borders of one classification system.