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Structure and classification of phraseological units

Категория: Лингвистика

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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 isidiomatic, e.g. high road, in other cases the second component is idiomatic, eg 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, eg to read between the lines, to speak BBC, to sweep under the carpet etc. The grammarcentre of such units is the verb, the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component, eg to fall in love. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the semantic centre, eg not to know the ropes. These units can be perfectly idiomatic as well, eg to burn one’s boats, to vote with one’s feet, to take to the cleaners ’etc.

Veryclose 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 anddowns, back and forth; often they are formed by means of alliteration, eg 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, eg cool as a cucumber (partly), bread and butter (perfectly).

Phraseologicalunits the same as compound words can have more than two tops (stems in compound words), eg to take a back seat, a peg to hang a thing on, lock, stock and barrel, to be a shaddow of one’s own self, at one’s own sweet will.

Phraseological units can be clasified as parts of speech (syntactical classification) .. This classification was suggestedby I.V. Arnold. Here we have the following groups:

a) noun phraseologisms denoting an object, a person, a living being, eg bullet train, latchkey child, redbrick university, Green Berets.

b) verb phraseologisms denoting an action, a state, a feeling, eg to break the log-jam, to get on somebody’s coattails, to be on the beam, to noseout, to make headlines.

c) adjective phraseologisms denoting a quality, eg 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, eg in the course of, on the stroke of

f) interjection phraseologicalunits, e.g. «Catch me», «Well, I never!» Etc.

In IVArnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents, proverbs, sayings and quatations, eg «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, eg „Wherethere is a will there is a way “.

Set expressions functioning like nouns (noun phraseologisms):

N + N: maiden name ’the surname of a woman before she was married’; brains trust ’a committee of experts’ or ’a number of reputedly well — informed persons chosen to answer questions of general interest without preparation ».

N’s + N: cat’spaw ’one who is used for the convinience of a cleverer and stronger person’ (the expression comes from a fable in which a monkey wanting to eat some chestnuts that were on a hot stove, but not wishing to burn himself while getting them, seized a cat and holding its paw in his own used it to knock the chestnuts to the ground); Hobson’s choice, a setexpression used when there is no choice at all, when a person has to take what is offered or nothing (homas Hobson, a 17th century London stableman, made every person hiring horses take the next in order).

N + prep + N: the arm of the law.

N + A: knight errant (the phrase is today applied to any chivalrous man ready to help and protect oppressedand helpless people).

N + and + N: lord and master ’husband’; all the world and his wife ’everybody’; rank and file ’the ordinary working members of an organization "(the origin of this expression is military life, it denotes common soldiers); ways and means ’methods of overcoming difficulties’.

A + N: green room ’the general reception roomof a theatre "(it is said that formerly such rooms had their walls coloured green to relieve the strain on the actors’eyes after the stage lights); high tea ’an evening meal which combines meat or some similar extra dish with the usual tea ’.

N + subordinate clause: ships that pass in the night’ chance acquaintances ’.

II. Set expressionsfunctioning like verbs:

V + N: to take advantage

V + postpositive: to give up

V + and + V: to pick and choose
< br> V + (one’s) + N + (prep): to snap one’s fingers at

V + one + N: to give one the bird ’to fire smb’.

V + subordinate clause : to see how the land lies ’to discover the state of affairs’.

Set expressions functioninglike adjectives:

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