英语词汇学(第八讲)

EnglishLexicologyTheIdiomaticAspectofEnglishWordCombination第八讲I.ChunksinEnglishDefinitionInlinguistics,achunkisaunitoflanguagethatformsasyntacticorsemanticunitbutalsohasitsinternalstructure.Specifically,itreferstoaunitoflanguagelongerthanaword(thoughoftenshorterthanasentence)anditplaysafacilitativeroleincomprehensionandproduction.Example:A:Whendidyouleavetheparty?B:Igotoutofthereassoonastheyranoutoffood.AfewchunkssententialHowdoyoudo?ThemajoritylexicalinkindandphrasalinformLexicalchunks,alsocalldlexicalphrasesTherearetwosubtypesoflexicalchunks,notablycollocationsandidioms.CollocationsinEnglishCollocationisthewayinwhichwordsareusedtogether.Collocationsarethewordsthattendtoco-occurinalanguage---ingrammaticalpatterns,compoundsorfixedphrases.Example:Thedoctorperformedtheoperationwhilethecommitteewasholdingadiscussion.II.EnglishIdioms1.DefinitionAnidiomisafixedgroupofwordsorasingleword,orevenasentence,withaspecialmeaningthatcannotbeguessedfromitsstructure.Anidiomisamulti-wordexpressionwhichfunctionsasasingleunitandwhosemeaningcannotbeworkedoutfromthesumofitsseparateparts.Thatis,ithasaholisticmeaningwhichcannotberetrievedfromtheindividualmeaningsofthecomponentwords.tospillthebeansIdiomsandfreephrasesbluesky,bluejacketbluemoonIhaven’tseenyouinabluemoon.我很久没见到你了。Wegetupearlyyesterday.ThestudentswillgetupanEnglisheveningnextmonth.→arrange;perform2.ThefeaturesofEnglishidioms1)VeryshortorratherlongAnIndiansummer小阳春Fortywinks白天小睡Allgoodthingscometoanend.天下没有不散的宴席2)TakedifferentstructuresA.irregularandillogicalstructureIamgoodfriendswithhim.Diamondcutdiamond.Thedeviltakethehindmost.(irregularmeaning,clearmeaning)B.regularstructure,unclearmeaningTohaveabeeinone’sbonnet[head]→tohaveastrangefixedideaaboutsomething.C.irregularstructure,unclearmeaning(todo)throughthickandthin→throughbothgoodandbadtimes;inspiteofallthedifficulties.3)Fixedandpartlyfixedidiomsa.Astitchintimesavesnine.→一针及时，可省九针；及时处理，事半功倍b.tocometoabadendnasty,sticky,nogood,untimelytakefortywinkshave,enjoy4)Ithasaspecialmeaning.5)Itisrelativelywidelyused.6)Theyconsistofobsolete（废弃）words.hitherandthither---inalldirectionskithandkin---friendsandrelations7)Theyrepresentasemanticunit.makeupone’smind:decidelookdownon:depise8)Theyareusuallymadeofcommonly-usedwords.(vividusage,briefinstructurebutprofoundinmeaning)onceinabluemoon千载难逢cryforthemoon异想天开toputthecartbeforethehorse本末倒置toturnupone’snoseat瞧不起；嗤之以鼻9)Theyarecreatedonthebasisofalliteration,rhyme,euphony(谐音)andrepetition.Alliteration:firstandforemost首要的是partandparcel重要部分timeandtidewaitfornoman岁月不饶人withmightandmain竭尽全力；拼命地Rhymedineandwine吃喝hereandthereroughandtough粗野蛮横wearandtear损坏；损耗outandabout户外活动Repetitionagainandagainlittlebylittleoutandout彻底地；不折不扣地overandover(again)throughandthrough完全地；彻头彻尾EuphonyBeggarscannotbechoosers.3.EnglishIdiomsinDifferentStyles1)Idiomsusedincolloquialstyle:e.g.:acat-and-doglife---alifefullofquarrelsandargumentsTheyhaveledacat-and-doglifeforafewyears.It’srainingcatsanddogs:Itisrainingveryhard下着倾盆大雨tofill/fitthebill---tobeexactlysuitable符合需要；最为合适；管用Thiscarfits/fillsthebillperfectly.It’scheapandgetsgoodmileage.这辆汽车很合适，既便宜行驶的里程数又少。smellarat---informaltoguessthatsomethingwrongordishonestishappening怀疑某事不对头，怀疑其中有诈Theyknowwehatethemandwillsmellaratifwetrytobenicetothem.他们知道我们恨他们，所以如果我们试图对他们好，他们倒会产生怀疑了。suitsbdowntotheground---beexactlyrightforsomeone对某人非常合适Yup,thislittlecarsuitsmedowntotheground.好，这辆小汽车对我再合适不过了。2)Idiomsusedinanysituation:togoover---torepeatsomethinginordertolearnitorunderstandit再来一遍，温习MaybeifIwentoveritallagainIwouldseewhatshemeant.也许如果我把它再看一遍，我就能明白她的意思。makeshortworkof---(informal)tofinishsomethingquicklyandeasily,espciallyamealorajob迅速完成；轻松解决（尤指一顿饭或一项工作）Thekidsmadeshortworkofthesandwiches.孩子们很快就把三明治都吃光了。jointhemajority---passaway离开；去世Unfortunately,hisparentsjoinedthemajoritylastyear.很不幸的是他的父母去年去世了。followthemajority---tofollowthecrowdortheprevalentpractices从众Hehatesthosethatfollowsthemajority.他非常讨厌那些从众的人。3)Idiomsusedinformalsituationswiththeresultthat---sothat结果Sarawas’tatschoollastweekwiththeresultthatshemissedanimportanttest.莎拉上星期没有上学，结果错过了一次重要考试。asaresultof---becauseofsomethingthathashappened作为…的结果；由于Asaresultofthepilots’strike,allflightshavehadtobecancelled.由于飞行员罢工，所有航班都被迫取消了。bereftofhope/meaning/lifeetc.---completelywithoutanyhope,etc.失去希望/意义/生命等Theparty’smanifestoisbereftofnewideas.这个党的宣言毫无新意。bepossessedof---(literary)tohaveaparticularquality,abilityetc具有（某种品质、能力等）Charleswaspossessedofasoundintellectandahappymanner.查尔斯具有健全的智力和得体的举止。4)Idiomsusedasslang:put/tightenthescrewsonsb---informal:toforcesomeonetodosomethingbythreateningthem威逼某人做某事Don’tput/tightenthescrewsonthesmallboyanylonger.不要再威胁那个小男孩了。cutandrun---toleaveasituationsuddenlywhenitbecomestoodifficult,especiallywhenyoushouldhavestayed开溜；临阵脱逃Don’tworry.Hewon’tcutandrun.别担心，他不会临阵脱逃的。useeverytrickinthebook---touseeverycleverordishonestmethodthatyouknowtoachievewhatyouwant使出各种绝招，使