lecture9-English-Idioms

EnglishIdiomsOverviewGeneralRemarksSourcesofEnglishIdiomsClassificationofIdiomsSyntactic,StructuralandStylisticAnalysisofIdiomsConclusionGeneralRemarksAnEnglishidiomisagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningdifferentfromthemeaningofitsconstituentwords.Anidiomisanelementofalanguagethatpossessesauniquewayofexpressionbasedonitstime-honoreduse.Anidiomisafixedgroupofwordsorasingleword,orevenasentence,withaspecialmeaningthatcannotbeguessedfromitsstructure.CharacteristicfeaturesofEnglishidiomsSemanticunity(anidiomfunctionsasaunitofmeaning)(lackofmotivation,wemeanthatitisdifficultorimpossibletoinferthemeaningofanidiomfromtheindividualcomponents)Structuralinvariability/stability(thestructureofanidiomisverystableandcannotbedeleted,addedto,replacedbysynonymouswords,orputinadifferentorder)Afeatherinone’scap(anhonor,success,ofwhichonecanbeproudof)todrawablank(tofailtodiscoverorfindoutsomethingaftersearchinghardandaskingmanyquestions.)ItwasafeatherinhiscapforthenewteacherwhenhewasmadeheadoftheHistoryDepartment.Ilostmycoatyesterday,andhavelookedforiteverywhere,butsofarI’vedrawnablank.Tom‘ssuccesshassteppeduptheirsocialstatus.Shesangafewlinesoffthecuff.Ourpolicyiscutanddried.Myoldmanhaskickedthebucket.enhancedwithoutpreviouspreparationalreadydecided1)Theconstituentsofidiomscannotbechangedorreplaced.2)Thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.3)Theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.4)Manyidiomsaregrammaticallyunanalysable.DefinitionofIdiomAcombinationoftwoormorewordswhichareusuallystructurallyfixedandsemanticallyopaque,andfunctionasasingleunitofmeaning.Itisanestablishedform,onethathasbeenacceptedbytraditionalusage.Assuch,thecomponentwords,wordorderandmeaningofeachidiomshouldbelearnedasawhole.SignificanceofidiomsEnglishidiomsformanessentialpartofthegeneralvocabulary.Idiomsaresaidtobethesinewofthelanguage.Familiaritywithawiderangeofidiomaticexpressions,andabilitytousethemappropriatelyincontext,areamongthedistinguishingmarksofanative-likecommandofEnglish.---P.Cowie&R.MackinSOURCESOFENGLISHIDIOMSManyidiomscomefromtheeverydaylifeoftheEnglishpeople(keepone’sshirton)Agriculturallife(gotoseed)Nauticalandmilitarylife(beinthesameboatwith)Studentlife(speakbythebook)Fromcookingandeating(keepthepotboiling)Fromthehousehold(beathomein)Fromhunting(toholdinleash)Fromcard-games(losinggame,showone’shand)SOURCESOFENGLISHIDIOMSTheBible(athornintheflesh)Shakespeare’splay(flutterthedovecotes)Fromfables,mythsorlegends(assourgrapes)CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSIdiomscanbeclassifiedbysemanticcriterion,sources,syntacticfunction.StructuralcriteriaPhraseidiomsVerbphraseidiomsNounphraseidiomsAdjectivephraseidiomsPrepositionalphraseidiomsAdverbialphraseidiomsNounphraseidioms:whiteelephantbraintrustJackofalltradesredtapealameduckhardcash累赘物，昂贵而又无用的东西智囊团多面手，博而不精Adjectivephraseidiomscutanddriedwideofthemarkupintheairallsquarewithsb.easyontheeye固定的，已成定局的毫不相关的悬而未决的收支相抵的，算清的VerbphraseidiomsPhrasalverbsputdowntoturnongetawaywithpullthroughknockoutgooffPrepositionalphraseidiomthroughthickandthininthatcaseinone’scupunderone’sownsteamAttheeleventhhourAboveone’sstation凭借自己的力量超出自己的身份地位在最后时刻Idiomsadverbialinnaturetoothandnailfleshandblood:characterslackingin~I’m~andcannotwork12hoursaday.roughandtumble:Ibegantolearnthefactsoflifein~ofschoollife.fairandsquare:Wewonthegame~拼命地，尽力地CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSClauseidioms(orsubject-lessclausepatterns)Verb+complementpattern•subject(aux+)verbcomplement•1Thecriminalshouldcomeclean.•2.Georgewouldgetevenwiththeadjective•gangphrase•3.Thecompanywentbroke.•4.Theschedulehasgonehaywire.Nounphrase全盘招供报复失去控制CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSVerb+directobjectpattern•subject(aux+)verbdirectobject•1Thepoorgirlhastobearhercross.•2.Bobhitthehaysoonaftersupper.•3.Mymotherfootedthebillwhenwewenttotherestaurantlastnight.•4.Yourfatherhasplayedthegameallhislife.•5Marytookpainsoverhergarden.行动正大光明努力工作CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSVerb+directobject+complementpattern•subject(aux+)verbdirectobjectcomplement•1ThepolicecaughtJohnred-handed.•2.Hewillgetallhissumsright.•3.Herparentsethersightshigh.•4.Shewouldnotcallanybodynames.•5.Hehasmadehisfriendsalaughingstock.CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSVerb+indirectobject+directobjectpattern•subject(aux+)verbindirectobjectdirectobject•1IwilldropyoualineassonasIgetthere.•2.Youdidyourselfabitofnogoodbybelievinghismade-upstory.•3.Thecompanyhassoldyouarealpup.•4.Herson’sdeathdealtheraheavyblow.CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSVerb+directobject+adjunctpattern•subject(aux+)verbdirectobjectadjunct•Thenewcoatfits(me)likeaglove..•Youshouldtakepeopleasyoufindthem.•Icannotmakebrickswithoutstraw.•Alicetookeverythingseriously.•Johnwillplaythingssafe.CLASSIFICATIONOFIDIOMSSentenceIdiomsProverbsandsayingsTypicalconversationalexpressionsNeverdothingsbyhalves.Allisnotgoldthatglitters.Nopains,nogains.Easycome,easygo.Stupidisasstupiddoes.Thespiritiswilling,butthefleshisweak.Oneswallowdoesnotmakeasummer.SYNTACTIC,STRUCTURALANDSTYLISTICANALYSISOFIDIOMSSyntacticfunctionTransformationalrestrictionsCollocativerest