Problem of criteria and classification of Phraseological units.

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The classification which will be distributed here is found on the fact that phraseology is regarded as a self-contained brunch of linguistics and not as a part of lexicology.

Free w. grs. are modeled units. Phraseological units are not modeled, not built according to regular linguistic patterns, they are reproduced ready-made (to read between the lines, a hard nut to crack). Each phraseological unit is a w.gr. with a unique combination of components, which make up a single specific meaning. The integral meaning of the phraseological units is not just a combination of literal meanings of the components. The meaning is not distributed between the components and is not reduced to the mere sum of their meaning. Stability is the basic quality of all phraseological units (unique meaning + ready-made usage).The usage of phraseologiical units is not subject to free variations. Grammatical structure of phraseological units is to a certain extent also stable (we can’t say “red tapes” only “red tape”).

Phraseological meaning may be motivated by the meaning of components but not confined. Stability makes phraseological units more similar to words, rather than free word combinations. But they can’t be quite equivalent with words, they don’t possess the whole semantic sphere (a white elephant – “a burden”). Correct understanding of the units depends on the background information (etimology). One lexical equivalent may correspond to several idioms: to exaggerate => 1) to make a mountain out of a molehill (motivated), 2) to draw the long bow.

According to the type of meaning phraseological units may be classified into:

Idioms
Semi-idioms
Phraseomatic units

Idiomsare phraseological units with a transferred meaning. They can be completely or partially transferred (red tape).

Semi-idiomsarephraseological units with two phraseosemantic meanings: terminological and transferred (chain reaction, to lay down the arms).

Phraseomatic unitsare not transferred at all. Their meanings are literal.

Scientists distinguish also:

Phrases with a unique combination of components (born companion)
Phrases with a descriptive meaning
Phrases with phraseomatic and bound meaning (to pay attention to)
Set expressions (cliché s): the beginning of the end
Preposition-noun phrases (for good, at least)
Terminological expressions (general ticket, civil war)

Semantic complexity is one of the most essential qualities of phraseological units. It’s resulted from the complicated interaction of the component meanings (meaning of prototype, of semantic structure…). All these components are organized into a multilevel structure.

Idioms contain all information in compressed form. This quality is typical of idioms, it makes them very capacious units (idiom is a compressed text). An idiom can provide such a bright explanation of an object, that can be better than a sentence. We can compare idioms with fables (the Prodigal son). Idioms based on cultural components are not motivated (the good Samaritan, Lot’s wife, the Troy horse).

Phraseological meaning contains all background information. It covers only the the most essential features of the object it nominates. It corresponds to the basic concept, to semantic nucleus of the unit. It is the invariant of information conveyed by semantically complicated word combinations and which is not derived from the lexical meanings of the conjoined lexical components.

According to the class the word combination belongs to, we single out:

idiomatic meaning
idiophraseomatic meaing
phraseomatic meaning

The information conveyed by phraseological units is thoroughly organized and is very complicated. It is characterized by 1) multilevel structure, 2) structure of a field (nucleus + periphery), 3) block-schema. It contains 3 macro-components which correspond to a certain type of information they convey:

the grammatical block
the phraseological meaning proper
motivational macro-component (phraseological imagery; the inner form of the phraseological unit; motivation)

Phraseological unit is a non-motivated word-group that cannot be freely made up in speech but is reproduced as a ready made unit.

Reproducibility is regular use of phraseological units in speech as single unchangeable collocations.

Idiomaticity is the quality of phraseological unit, when the meaning of the whole is not deducible from the sum of the meanings of the parts.

Stability of a phraseological unit implies that it exists as a ready- made linguistic unit which does not allow of any variability of its lexical components of grammatical structure.

1. In lexicology there is great ambiguity of the terms phraseology and idioms. Opinions differ as to how phraseology should be defined, classified, described and analysed. The word " phraseology has very different meanings in this country and in Great Britain or the United States, In linguistic literature the term is used for the expressions where the meaning of one element is dependent on the other, irrespective of the structure and properties of the unit (V.V. Vinogradov); with other authors it denotes only such set expressions which do not possess expressiveness or emotional colouring (A.I. Smirnitsky), and also vice versa: only those that are imaginative, expressive and emotional (I.V.Arnold). N.N. Amosova calls such expressions fixed context units, i.e. units in which it is impossible to substitute any of the components without changing the meaning not only of the whole unit but also of the elements that remain intact. O.S. Ahmanova insists on the semantic integrity of such phrases prevailing over the structural separateness of their elements. A.V. Koonin lays stress on the structural separateness of the elements in a phraseological unit, on the change of meaning in the whole as compared with its elements taken separately and on a certain minimum stability.

In English and American linguistics no special branch of study exists, and the term " phraseology" has a stylistic meaning, according to Webster's dictionary 'mode of expression, peculiarities of diction, i.e. choice and arrangement of words and phrases characteristic of some author or some literary work'.

Difference in terminology (" set-phrases", " idioms", " word-equivalents" ) reflects certain differences in the main criteria used to distinguish types of phraseological units and free word-groups. The term " set phrase" implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups.

The term " idiom" generally implies that the essential feature of the linguistic units is idiomaticity or lack of motivation.

The term " word-equivalent" stresses not only semantic but also functional inseparability of certain word groups, their aptness to function in speech as single words.

The essential features of phraseological units are: a) lack of semantic motivation; b) lexical and grammatical stability.

As far as semantic motivation is concerned phraseological units are extremely varied from motivated (by simple addition of denotational meaning) like a sight for sore eyes and to know the ropes, to partially motivated (when one of the words is used in a not direct meaning) or to demotivated (completely non-motivated) like tit for tat, red-tape.

Lexical and grammatical stability of phraseological units is displayed in the fact that no substitution of any elements whatever is possible in the following stereotyped (unchangeable) set expressions, which differ in many other respects; all the world and his wife, red tape, calf love, heads or tails, first night, to gild the pill, to hope for the best, busy as a bee, fair and square, stuff and nonsense timeand again, to and fro.

In a free phrase the semantic correlative ties are fundamentally different. The information is additive and each element has a much greater semantic independence Each component may be substituted without affecting the meaning of the other: cut bread, cut cheese, eat bread. Information is additive in the sense that the amount of information we had on receiving the first signal, i.e. having heard or read the word cut, is increased, the listener obtains further details and learns what is cut. The reference of cut is unchanged Every notional word can form additional syntactic ties with other words outside the expression. In a set expression information furnished by each element is not additive: actually it does not exist before we get the whole. No substitution for either cut or figure can be made without completely ruining the following:

I had an uneasy fear that he might cut a poor figure beside all these clever Russian officers (Shaw). He was not managing to cutmuch of a figure (Murdoch)

The only substitution admissible for the expression cut a poor figure concerns the adjective.

2. Semantic approach stresses the importance of idiomaticity, functional - syntactic inseparability, contextual - stability of context combined with idiomaticity.

3. In his classification of V.V. Vinogradov developed some points first advanced by the Swiss linguist Charles Bally The classification is based upon the motivation of the unit, i.e. the relationship existing between the meaning of the whole and the meaning of its component parts. The degree of motivation is correlated with the rigidity, indivisibility and semantic unity of the expression, i.e with the possibility of changing the form or the order of components, and of substituting the whole by a single word. According to the type of motivation three types of phraseological units are suggested, phraseological combinations, phraseological unities, and phraseological fusions.

The Phraseological Collocations (Combinations), are partially motivated, they contain one component used in its direct meaning while the other is used figuratively: meet the demand, meet the necessity, meet the requirements.

Phraseological unities are much more numerous. They are clearly motivated. The emotional quality is based upon the image created by the whole as in to stick (to stand) to one's guns, i.e. refuse to change one's statements or opinions in the face of opposition', implying courage and integrity. The example reveals another characteristic of the type, the possibility of synonymic substitution, which can be only very limited, e. g. to know the way the wind is blowing.

Phraseological fusions, completely non-motivated word-groups, (e.g. tit for tat), represent as their name suggests the highest stage of blending together. The meaning of components is completely absorbed by the meaning of the whole, by its expressiveness and emotional properties. Phraseological fusions are specific for every language and do not lend themselves to literal translation into other languages.

5. Semantic stylistic features contracting set expressions into units of fixed context are simile, contrast, metaphor and synonymy. For example: as like as two peas, as оld as the hills and older than the hills (simile); from beginning to end, for love or money, more or less, sooner or later (contrast); a lame duck, a pack of lies, arms race, to swallow the pill, in a nutshell (metaphor); by leaps and bounds, proud and haughty (synonymy). A few more combinations of different features in the same phrase are: as good as gold, as pleased as Punch, as fit as a fiddle (alliteration, simile); now or never, to kill or cure (alliteration and contrast). More rarely there is an intentional pun: as cross as two sticks means 'very angry'. This play upon words makes the phrase jocular. The comic effect is created by the absurdity of the combination making use of two different meanings of the word cross a and n.

There are, of course, other cases when set expressions lose their metaphorical picturesqueness, having preserved some fossilised words and phrases, the meaning of which is no longer correctly understood. For instance, the expression buy a pig in a poke may be still used, although poke 'bag' (cf. pouch, pocket) does not occur in other contexts. Expressions taken from obsolete sports and occupations may survive in their new figurative meaning. In these cases the euphonic qualities of the expression are even more important. A muscular and irreducible phrase is also memorable. The muscular feeling is of special importance in slogans and battle cries. Saint George and the Dragon for Merrie England, the medieval battle cry, was a rhythmic unit to which a man on a horse could swing his sword. The modern Scholarships not battleships! can be conveniently scanned by a marching crowd.

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