Structural relations - Syntagmatic lexial relations Flashcards
What are collocations and what types do we know?
syntagmatic relations of regularly co-occurring words
Lexical – combination of lexical words
make money, blond hair, hard frost
Grammatical – combination of grammatical words
in between, along with, I am, you have got
Lexico-grammatical – combination of at least one lexical and at least one grammatical word
interested in, graduate from, afraid of
What is collocational range and restriction?
Collocational range:
Every word has a range of items with which it is compatible
Range refers to the set of collocates, which are typically associated with the word in question
single: man, ticket, group, person, light, day, eye, minded, room, aim, …
SYNTAGM
<________>
single aim
Some words have a much broader collocational range than others
run business, company, in a stocking, wild, water, river
single …
Collocational restriction:
The word in question has a rather limited collocational range - only few words combine with it
shrug - shoulders
rancid - milk
What types of idioms do we know and compare them with other structures
1) multi-word 2) institutionalized 3) fully/partially figurative expressions
Compare: free syntagmatic combinations vs. collocations vs. idioms
free syntagmatic combinations (syntagm)
any (grammatically correct) combination of words
The black fence clearly marks out the seating area. (green, white, …)
collocations
a typical combination of words
Black smoke indicates heavy fuels that are not being fully consumed. (white?, grey?)
idioms
a fixed and figurative combination of words
He is the black sheep of our family. (white, brown, …)
Talk about the variability of idioms
Grammatical variants – different structure
on and off – off and on, turn one´s nose up – turn up one´s nose
Lexical variants - different words or omission/addition of words
as black as night – as black as coal,
out of a clear sky – out of a clear bue sky
Orthographic variants – different spelling
pay lip service – pay lip-service, to a tee – to a T., nosy parker – nosy Parker
Geographical variants
as red as a beeetroot BrE – as red as beet AmE (+lexical variation)
be at a loose end BrE - be at loose ends AmE
have green fingers BrE -
- have a green thumb AmE (+lexical variation)
How do we semantically classify idioms?
Opaque – completely demotivated (non-transparent, pure idioms)
white elephant, hair of the dog that bit you, black sheep, red tape
Semi-opaque – partly demotivated (not fully transparent)
behind closed doors, lose one´s head,
add fuel to the flames
Semi-idioms – one part is motivated, the other demotivated
lie through one´s teeth, promise somebody the moon
Polysemous idioms – the idiom has more than one meaning
raise one´s voice
speak louder or with anger (zvýšiť hlas)
speak in opposition to (dvíhať svoj hlas proti)
be in the air
be about to happen (visieť vo vzduchu)
be uncertain; be undecided (byť vo hviezdach)
Classify idioms based on part of speech
Nominal: e.g., birds of passage; calf love
These emigrants were birds of passage who returned to Spain after a short stay.
Verbal: e.g., talk through one´s hat; make a song and dance about st.
He used his money to help others–but he never made a song and dance about it.
Adjectival: e.g., spick and span; splippery as an eel The apartment was spick and span.
Adverbial: e.g., high and low; by hook or by crook They intend to get their way, by hook or by crook.
Interjections: e.g., Good Heavens!; My God!
Good Heavens! That explains a lot!
What is the functional classification of idioms
Proverbs
express a general truth or popular wisdom based on common sense or experience
Make hay while the sun shines; There is no smoke without fire
Popular quotations
expressions said by well known people
The die is cast; to cross the Rubicon; To err is human; to forgive, divine
(Alexander Pope, “Essay on Criticism”)
Sayings
describe the stuation but do not express advice or truth
The coast is clear, Break a leg, Good luck
Phrasal verbs
combinations of a verb and a particle/preposition: e.g., give up, break into, get along with
Similes
compare one thing to another: e.g., as cool as a cucumber, as white as a sheet, as hard as a rock
Binomials/trinomials
consist of two or three mutually similar words: e.g., now and then, here and there; hook, line and sinker; every Tom, Dick and Harry
Social formulae
used in social contact: e.g., How do you do? Happy Birthday, Yours faithfully, What´s up?
What relations among idioms do we know?
Synonymous idioms
an eye for an eye - tit for tat
(oko za oko, zub za zub)
in a word – all in all - in a nutshell
(jedným slovom, v kocke)
Antonymous idioms
small beer (obyčajná nula, malá ryba) – big fish (veľká ryba)
a hard nut to crack (tvrdý oriešok) – child´s play (hračka)
Talk about interlanguage comparison of idioms
Absolute equivalents
forbidden fruit – zakázané ovocie
Relative equivalents
once in a blue moon – raz za uhorský rok
kick the bucket – otrčiť kopytá
Non-idiomatic equivalents
child´s play – hračka
make up one´s mind – rozhodnúť sa
have green fingers – byť zručným záhradkárom
