Etymology Of Phraseological Units In English

Republic of Moldova

Ministry of Education

Alecu Russo Balti State University

Faculty of Letters

English and German Philology Department

Cucoș Cătălina

Etymology of Phraseological Units in English

Course Paper

Scientific Adviser

S. Filipp, Senior Lecturer

Bălți 2016

Contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Chapter I Phraseology as a Branch of Linguistics ………………………………………………

Definition of Phraseology …………………………………………………………………………

Phraseological Units and Free Word-Group ………………………………………………..

Different Interpretations of the Phraseological Units …………………………………….

Chapter II Etymology of Phraseological Units in English ………………………………………..

Classification of Phraseological Units ………………………………………………….

The Classification of the English Culture-Specific Phraseological Units

According to their Etymology …………………………………………………………..

The Classification of the English Borrowed Phraseological Units According

to their Etymology …………………………………………………………………………

Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

References …………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Introduction

Phraseology represents the real thesaurus of any language. It exists in all the world language. Antrushina C.B. states that, ”…phraseology is a kind of a picture gallerz in which are collected vivid and amusing sketches of the nation’s customs, scraps of folk songs and fary-tales, prejudices, recollections of it’s past history.” The present work treats the problem of the etymology of some English Phraseological Units. Phraseological Units and their etymology are very important in the context of any language, because they enrich the vocabulary of the speakers, making it more colourful and vivid. Their figurative meaning is becoming an original way of expressing self-opinion, ideas, and thoughts. To understand better the Phraseological Units and to use them correctly is very important to know their etymology.

I have chosen this topic, because Phraseological Units have a close link to the culture, Phraseolgical Units are the most colourful and interesting part of the vocabulary. I wanted to discover more about the English culture, customs and traditions, the origin of Phraseological Units. The importance of Phraseological Units in Englishlanguage captured my attention. Next reason which made me chose this topic was the desire to find some efficient and easy ways in teaching Phraseological Units in English classes. I wanted to find some tips how to have a productive work in the process of learning.

The present work is aimed to explain and describe the semantic backgrounds of some Phraseological Units, the way their meaning developed, changed, lost some features and acquired new ones. Another aim is to set down an opinion of why these phenomena happened and what caused them. And finally we proposed to single out some tips and effective activities in teaching Phraseological Units at the English lessons, who helps the facility the learnings process for both, for teachers and pupils. To ease the work of the teachers, to make learning process more interesting and effective.

From the structural point of view the work consists of : Introduction, two chapters, conclusions, appendix and bibliography. First chapter is called ”Phraseology as a Branch of Linguistics”; and the second chapter is entitled „Etymology of Phraseological Units in English”. The first chapter referred to the general information about Phraseological Units but in the second chapter are dedicated to the information about their classification in specific groups. Therefore, in the work we have decided to make a profound study of the historical background of some English Phraseological Units. In these two chapters is reflected the etymology, the provenance of some phraseological English Units and different classification of Phraseological Units.

Chapter I. Phraseology as the Branch of Linguistics

Phraseological Units exist in all the world languages, and this phenomenon is an interesting subject of research for linguists. Many observations and researches lead to the appearance of a new science determined as ”Phraseology”. Different scholars discovered many controversional ideas about this branch of linguistics. In the middle of the argument are problems having a matter of its study the terminology and the classification of the units. Nevertheless, all of them agree with the idea that ”Phraseology” represents the real masterpiece of any language. Antrushina C. B. says that, ” … phraseology is a kind of a picture gallery in which are collected vivid and amusing sketches of the nation’s customs, scraps of folk songs and fairy-tales, prejudices, recollections of it’s past history. Quotations from great poets are preserved here along side the dubious pearls of philistine wisdom and crude slang witticism, for Phraseology is not only the most colourful but probably the most democratic are of vocabulary and draws its resource mostly from the very depths of popular speech.” [ Antrushina, p. 174 ]. Thus in this chapter we will discuss about : definition of Phraseology, Phraseological Units and Free Word-Group and Different Interpretations of the Phraseological Units.

Definition of Phraseology

The word ”Phraseology” is polisemantic. In linguistics phraseology is the study of the set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units ( often collectively referred to as ”phrasemes” ), in which the component parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than or otherwise not predictable from the sum of their meanings when used independently.

There exist different combinations of words. Some of them are free, e.g. to read books ( newspapers, a letter etc. ) others are fixed, limited in their combinative power, e.g. to go to school, to go to bed, to make a report. The combinations of words which are fixed are called ”phraseological units”. In modern linguistics, there is considerable confusion about the terminology associated with these word-groups. The term ”idiom” is widely used by western scholars. There are some other terms denoting more or less the same linguistic phenomenon : set-expressions, se-phrases, phrases, fixed word-groups, collocations. [ Ciobanu, p. 84 ]

Phraseological Units and Free Word-Group

A very much discussed and controversional problem in the field of phraseology is about the ”phraseological units” and ”free word groups”. This problem is a complicated one, because of the existence of a great number of marginal cases. There can be distinguished the so called ”non-phraseological word groups” and ”semi-free word-groups”, which share with phraseological units their structural stability but lack their semantic unity and figurativeness, e.g. to go to school, to go by bus, to commit a robbery. [ Antrushina, p. 179 ]. We can distinguishing two major criteria for the classification of ”free word-groups” and ”phraseological units” : semantic and structural. [ Antrushina, p. 178 ]

According to the adopted and mentioned definition by A.V.Kunin, we can say once again that ”the semantic change” may affect either the whole word-group or only one of its components. E.g. to skate on thin ice – to put oneself in a dangerous position; a crow in borrowed plumes – a person who is pretentious and unsuitably dressed. As we notice the meaning is absolutely different from the individual meaning of the separate word. The ”structural change” is represented by Phraseological Units in which one of the components preserves its current meaning and the other is used in a transferred meaning. E.g. to fly into a temper – to get in a range; to lose one’s temper – to get angry. [ Ciobanu, p. 87 ]

From the point of view of structure there are distinctive features characterizing Phraseological Units and contrasting them to free word-groups. Certainly we are on a dangerous ground, because the borderline dividing the Phraseological Units with partially changed meanings from so-called semi-fixed or non-phraseological word-groups is uncertain and confusing. ”Structural invariability” is an essential feature of the Phraseological Units though, as we shall see, some of them possess it to a less degree than others. Structural invariability of the Phraseological Units finds expression in a number of restrictions. First of then is ”substitution”. As a rule of this restriction, no word can be substituted for any meaningful component of a Phraseological Unit without distroing its sense: e.g. to send somebody to York instead to send somebody to Conventry. At the same time in the free-word substitution doesn’t present any danger and doesn’t lead to any serious consequences; e.g. he is going to Conventry. In this phrase all the components can be varied. The second type of restriction is ”the restriction in introducing any additional components” into the structure of a Phraseological Unit. In a free word-group such changes can be made without affecting the general meaning of the utterance; e.g. he is going on foot to Converty. The components of such a phrase can be varied. The third type of the restriction of the structure of the Phraseological Unit is ”the grammatical invariability”. A typical mistake with students of English is to use the plural form of the word ”fault” in the Phraseological Unit, e.g. to find fault with somebody.

Though the plural form in this context is logically well founded, it is a mistake in terms of the grammatical invariability of the given Phraseological Unit.

Considering at all the points described above, we can mention that professor A.G.Nazarin gives forth the basic features that distinguish the Phraseological Unit from free-word and simple words :

Compared to a word the Phraseological Unit is a complex language unity having two or more component with no less than one significant word;

Compared to a free-word the Phraseological Unit is characterized by the stability of the lexical composition, although the degree of stability is varied in different Phraseological Units;

Compared to a free word-group the Phraseological Unit is not made at the moment of speech, but is reproduced as a ready-made unit;

Phraseological Units are regularly used in certain contexts in speech, although their frequency may vary;

Phraseological Units possess a special semantic structure peculiar only to them. [ Ciobanu, p. 80 ]

Different Interpretations of the Phraseological Units

The study matter of phraseology is a specific type of word-groups. Thus our purpose is to state a relatively correct definition for the units and choose the best term, which would touch upon all their aspects. ”… the volume of phraseology and its structure, consists in the fact that, first of all” as stated by D. Shmeliov, ”are so much discussed and there are so many different views on this problem, that it is next to impossible to presently find any appropriate arguments in favour of one certain view” [ Bahnaru, p. 81 ]

Therefore it is rather worth giving and analyzing some of the interpretations of the basic units of phraseology as a science. In modern linguistics there is a considerable mixture about the terminology associated with these word-groups. As Ojegov S. Points out, "the instability and variety of understanding the subject of study in phraseology is connected with such a confusion with its terms like in no other branch of linguistics.” [ Bahnaru, p. 82 ]

Most Romanian and Russian Scholars use the term ”Phraseological Unit”. The term ”idiom” is widely used by western linguists. There are some other terms, denoting more or less the same linguistic phenomenon : phrases, set-expressions, fixed word-groups, collocations, etc. G. B. Antrushina, and O. V. Afanasyeva stick to the term ”Phraseological Unit” and define itas the most pictresque, colourful and expressive part of the vocabulary of the language.” [ Antrushina, p. 173 ] Another opinion is expressed by V. Arnold. She mentions: ”The term set-expression” is more defined and self-explanatory, because the first element points out the most important characteristics of these units, namely, their stability, their fixed and ready made nature.” [ Arnold, p. 182 ] M. Purice defines the Phraseological Units as ”.. a word-group combination which has a stable single meaning and grammatically is a single structure.” [ Purice, p. 108 ] A. V. Kunin gives the following definition: ”A phraseological unit is a stable word-group characterized by a completely combination is a reproductive unit of the language consisting of two or more components, semantics and structure.” [ Shansky, p. 35 ]

From the above statements Romanian and Russian linguists prefer using the term ”Phraseological Unit” or ”Phraseological Expressions”. According to them, the subject matter of phraseology is ”a set of language units which are stable and non/motivated”. Different aspects are added to it in every definition. The term ”idiom” is used by the representatives of other linguistic schools, defining the stable units of the language.

English and American scholars are inclined to use the term ”idiom” for some set expressions of the language, which generally means: ”a complex expression whose meaning cannot be discernible from it’s components.” J. Seidl and W. McMordie point out that ”…it is important to realize that idioms are not only colloquial expressions, as many people believe. They appear is formal style and in slang, in poetry, in the language of Shakespeare and in the Bible. An idiom can be defined as a numer of words which, taken together have a different meaning, from the individual meanings of each word.” [ Strassman, p. 12 ] Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines this notion as ”a phrase whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words.” [ McIntosh, p. 1151 ]

I have presented the definitions about the basic unit of phraseology, we can chose the one that reflects the majority of aspects and nuances. Probably it will be better firstly to determine the most suitable term that will be used in the next steps of the paper. From the terms that follow: ”Phraseological Unit”, ”Phraseologism”, ”Phraseological Expression”, ”Idiom”, ”Set-Expression”, can be mentioned that the veracity about the units under discussion is partially reflected in every definition and every term could serve as a right one. The term ”Phraseological Unit” seems to be the more suitable from all. Firstly, because the term already denotes that the item refers to phraseology. Secondly, because according to Cambridge Advanced Dictionary the word ”unit” means :

A single thing or a separate part of something larger;

A fixed number used as standard of measurement;

A piece of furniture or equipment that is intended to be fitted as a part of a set of similar or matching pieces;

A small machine or part of a machine that has a particular purpose: the central processing unit of a computer;

Specialized a single complete product of the type that a bussiness sells;

A group of people living or working together, especially for a particular purpose: the traditional family unit.

Talking about these meaning ( especially 2, 3, 4, 5 ) it is evident that the word ”unit” would suit our term. Phraseology acquires the image of a multi-storeyed building and Phraseological Units are its bricks. Although the comparison may seem a metaphorical one, it does, reflect the state of matters: the units make up the whole entity known as a branch of linguistics-phraseology. Being determined the term, we can define the term. The listed definitions we enumerated back, the one given by professor A. V. Kunin, in which he regards the Phraseological Units as a set combination of words with a complete or partial transference of meaning, seems more appropriate to us. The definition clearly suggests that the degree of the semantic change in the Phraseological Unit may vary partial transference. The semantic change may affect either the whole group or only one of its components. [ Kunin, p. 45 ] So, when we point out or mention ”Phraseological Unit”, we will mean: a set word-combination with complete or partial transference of meaning. We will stick to a A. V. Kunin’s definition further in the work. We will use also the abbreviation Ph for the term ”Phraseological Unit”.

Chapter II. Etymology of Phraseological Units in English

There are many secrets in the store of history. There are aspects we cannot see or know the way they are. To find something new it is necessary to explore. Explorying the etymology of Phraseological Units is like digging ancient fossis. Making such a comparison, linguists may be considered as archeologists, having dead skeletons whose existence they ae to describe and prove. So, all the data and all the facts must be checked and rechecked, at least twice. Metaphorically speaking, the language is like a river flowing down and down to the sea. All the time it is in a constant change, earning and losing some elements on its way.

Classification of Phraseological Units

There are three classification principles of Phraseological Units. The most popular is the synchronic (semantic) classification of Phraseological Units by V.V. Vinogradov. He developed some points first advanced by the Swiss linguist Charles Bally and gave a strong impetus to a purely lexicological treatment of the material. It means that Phraseological Units were defined as lexical complexes with specific semantic features and classified accordingly. His classification is based upon the motivation of the unit that is the relationship between the meaning of the whole and the meanings of its component parts. The degree of motivation is correlated with the rigidity, indivisibility and semantic unity of the expression that is with the possibility of changing the form or the order of components and of substituting the whole by a single word though not in all the cases. [ Vinogradov, p. 110 ]

According to Vinogradov’s classification all Phraseological Units are divided into: ”Phraseological Fusions”, ”Phraseological Unities” and ”Phraseological Combinations”.

”Phraseological Fusion” is a semantically indivisible Phraseological Unit which meaning is never influenced by the meanings of its components [ Alekhina, p. 244].

It means that Phraseological Fusions represent 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.

E.g. Once in a blue moon – very seldom;

  To cry for the moon – to demand unreal;

Under the rose – quietly.

Sometimes Phraseological Fusions are called idioms under which linguists understand a complete loss of the inner form. To explain the meaning of idioms is a complicated etymological problem; e.g. tit to tat  means “to revenge”, but no one can explain the meaning of the words tit and tat .

”Phraseological Unity”  is a semantically indivisible Phraseological Unit the whole meaning of which is motivated by the meanings of its components [ Alkhina, p.245].

In general, Phraseological Unities are the phrases where the meaning of the whole unity is not the sum of the meanings of its components but is based upon them and may be understood from the components. The meaning of the significant word is not too remote from its ordinary meanings. This meaning is formed as a result of generalized figurative meaning of a free word-combination. It is the result of figurative metaphoric reconsideration of a word-combination.

E.g. To come to one’s sense –to change one’s mind;

To come home – to hit the mark;

To fall into a rage – to get angry.

Phraseological Unities are characterized by the semantic duality. One can’t define for sure the semantic meaning of separately taken Phraseological Unities isolated from the context, because these word-combinations may be used as free in the direct meaning and as Phraseological in the figurative meaning.

”Phraseological Combination” is a construction or an expression in which every word has absolutely clear independent meaning while one of the components has a bound meaning [ Alekhina, p. 246].

It means that Phraseological Combinations contain one component used in its direct meaning while the other is used figuratively.

E.g. To make an attempt – to try;

To make haste – to hurry;

To offer an apology – to beg pardon.

Some linguists who stick to the general understanding of phraseology and refer to it communicational units (sentences) and winged words, define the fourth type of Phraseological Units.

”Phraseological Expression” is a stable by form and usage semantically divisible construction, which components are words with free meanings [ Alekhina, p. 246].

E.g. East or West, home is best;

Marriages are made in heaven.

Phraseological Expressions are proverbs, sayings and aphorisms of famous politicians, writers, scientists and artists. They are concise sentences, expressing some truth as ascertained by experience of wisdom and familiar to all. They are often metaphoric in character and include elements of implicit information well understood without being formally present in the discourse.[ Vinogradov, p. 120 ]

Professor A.I. Smirnitsky worked out structural classification of Phraseological Units, comparing them with words. He points out ”one-top units” which he compares with derived words because derived words have only one root morpheme. He also points out ”two-top units” which he compares with compound words because in compound words we usually have two root morphemes. [ Smirnitsky, p. 100]

Among ”one-top units” he points out three structural types:

units of the type “to give up” (verb + postposition type); 

E.g. To back up – to support;

To drop out – to miss, to omit.

units of the type “to be tired”. Some of these units remind the Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositions with them, while in the Passive Voice we can have only prepositions «by» or «with»:

 E.g. To be tired of;

To be surprised at.

There are also units in this type which remind free word-groups of the type “to be young”:

E.g. To be akin to;

 To be aware of. 

The difference between them is that the adjective “young” can be used as an attribute and as a predicative in a sentence, while the nominal component in such units can act only as a predicative. In these units the verb is the grammar centre and the second component is the semantic centre:

prepositional-nominal phraseological units:

E.g. On the doorstep – quite near;

On the nose – exactly.

These units are equivalents of unchangeable words: prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, that is why they have no grammar centre, their semantic centre is the nominal part.

Among ”two-top units” A.I. Smirnitsky points out the following structural types:

attributive-nominal such as:

 E.g. A month of Sundays;

A millstone round one’s neck.

 Units of this type are noun equivalents and can be partly or perfectly idiomatic (if the expression is idiomatic, then we must consider its components in the aggregate, not separately). In partly idiomatic units sometimes the first component is idiomatic: high road; in other cases the second component is idiomatic: first night.

In many cases both components are idiomatic: red tape, blind alley, bed of nail, shot in the arm and many others.

verb-nominal Phraseological Units:

E.g. To read between the lines;

To sweep under the carpet.  

The grammar centre of such units is the verb, the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component: to fall in love. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the semantic centre: not to know the ropes.  These units can be perfectly idiomatic as well: to burn one’s boats, to vote with one’s feet, to take to the cleaners’ etc.

Phraseological Repetitions, such as: 

E.g. Now or never;

Part and parcel (integral part).

Such units can be built on antonyms: ups and downs, back and forth; often they are formed by means of alliteration: cakes and ale, 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: cool as a cucumber (partly), bread and butter (perfectly).

Phraseological Units the same as compound words can have more than two tops (stems in compound words): [ Smirnitsky, p.115 ]

E.g. To be a shadow of one’s own self,

At one’s own sweet will.

Phraseological Units can be classified as parts of speech. This classification was suggested by I.V. Arnold. Here we have the following groups:

 nominal phrases or noun Phraseologisms Denoting an object, a person or a living being:

 E.g. Bullet train.

 verbal phrases or verb Phraseologisms Denoting an action, a state or a feeling:

E.g. To sing like a lark.

 adjectival phrases or adjective Phraseologisms Denoting a quality:

E.g. As good as gold.

 adverbial phrases or adverb Phraseological Units, such as:

E.g. From head to foot.

prepositional phrases or preposition Phraseological Units:

   E.g. In the course of.

conjunctional phrases or conjunction Phraseological Units:

 E.g. As long as.

 interjectional phrases or interjection Phraseological Units:

 E.g. Catch me!.

In I.V.Arnold’s classification there are also sentence equivalents, proverbs, sayings and quotations: ”The sky is the limit”, ”What makes him tick”, ”I am easy”. Proverbs are usually metaphorical: ”Too many cooks spoil the broth”, while sayings are as a rule non-metaphorical: ”Where there is a will there is a way” [ Arnold, p. 105].

The Classification of the English Culture-Specific Phraseological Units According to their Etymology

Culture-specific Phraseological Units represent a distinguishing layer in the family of the Phraseological Units of any language.They give a helping hand not only to the linguists exploring phraseology from the historical point of view but also to the scientist to other fields who look for the truth about the past. Culture-specific Phraseological Units represent the way of thinking of the nation, as they reflect the things that attract the people mostly. They are copies of the nation’s frame of mind and the storehouses of people’s ideas, observations and witticism. Hence, the way a culture-specific Phraseological Unit undergoes in its development may be the following :

A new phrase from a specific sounds nice to the human ear;

The people adopt it into their speech;

The phrase is used in different contexts;

It aquires a new meaning and turns into what we call a completely or partially non-motivated language unit or Phraseological Unit.

Thus, searching for the origin of the English culture-specific Phraseological Units we touch upon the national characteristics of the English speaking community and find out the phenomena, things and events that have stuck to English and become an inseparable part of it. As it was mentioned before, for this research English Phraseological Units have been chosen according to the following criteria :

they are understood by the majority of the English community ( the criterion of usage );

they are used in literature ( the criterion of use).

From the point of their backgrounds, all the Phraseological Units were devided into two large groups :

culture specific Phraseological Units;

borrowed Phraseological Units.

In order to distinguish the culture-specific Phraseological Units the following principles were applied: originally, the Phraseological Unit had to keep a trace of the English culture, i.e. a specially English element is either described or mentioned. The Phraseological Unit had to express a certain idea or fact that was important for the English language, i.e. historical event, citation or any other remarkable happening. The Phraseological Units had to point to a particular sphere which valued much later the Phraseological Units went out of the sphere, i.e. terminological Phraseological Unit connected with sports, hunting etc. Having made use of the above principles, a through weed-out resulted in the due data: out of English Phraseological Units occurred to be considered purely culture-specific.

The next step in our research was to make up a classification of the culture-specific Phraseological Units according to their origins. To correct classification mirrors the reality and helps to create a trur to lite picture of how these Phraseological Units reflect the reality. In order words, the classification explains how the language can be influenced by history, and what the language takes from it. Thus, one more time, we may compare the language to a river that flows down and down, that takes some pieces of alluvium and sand with its current. These ”pieces” are the information stored in the Phraseological Units that flow on and on from the past into the future.

The Classification of the English Borrowed Phraseological Units According to their Etymology

Phraseology, being a specifically national phenomenon, doesn’t represent a closed system. It is a constantly enriching and enlarging vessel that doesn’t only receive new units from its own reserves, but also adopts and even absorbs new units from other languages. Phraseology is a language sphere, and languages rarely, if at all, develop in isolation. There always is an influenc from the outside that doesn’t for an increasing interest in exploring ”Borrowed Phraseological Units” in a language. Borrowed Phraseological Units are the units which penetrated into the language under discussion through foreign literature and international relations. Moreover, these Phraseological Units have been adapted and are used in speech as frequently as the other units. In the work by a ”Borrowed Phraseological Units” we mean a unit copied or borrowed from some outside source or a foreign language. These Phraseological Units could have reflected different spheres in the mother tongue but were borrowed or translated as already built Phraseological Units. So, in order to be accepted into the language under discussion, these Phraseological Units didn’t have to undergo all the steps in the formation of a Phraseological Unit.

Hence, their general origin, i.e. the major source or the mother tongue, is in the focus. This information, in our opinion, throuws light upon how much the languages borrowed from the outside. [ Kunin, p. 100 ]

In connection with all the above facts, there is a certain obstacle to be confronted while exploring the etymology of the borrowed Phraseological Units. Sometimes, two or more languages may have similar Phraseological Units with the same meaning :

E.g. English : ”to get on one’s high horse” – to put on airs

French : ”monter sur ses grands chevaux” – to put on airs

Swedish : ”rida sin hoga hast” – to put on airs

The etymology of the English Phraseological Units is connected mainly with the forces that influenced the English history. Being in a constant interchange of material and moral values with other nations, the English speaking community couldn’t help borrowing the brightest and most remarkable words and citations from the outside languages. The borrowed Phraseological Units, thus, represent the wisdom of the world stored in English. Hence, the borrowed Phraseological Units of any language, taken together, may create a more or less, truthful picture of the values the people have respected in other nations. On the background of the culture-specific Phraseological Units the English borrowed Phraseological Units make approximately 42,4%. They are arranged into four groups in the order of priority. Each group is provided with two or more examples to fully its peculiarities. [ Kunin, p. 90 ]

Conclusions

The main accomplishments of the work may be considered to be the following. The whole bulk of all the Phraseological Units cen be devided into two types of Phraseological Units:

Culture-specific Phraseological Units;

Borrowed Phraseological Units.

Many linguist classified the Culture-specific Phraseological Units into 14 groups according to their backgrounds. Thus, the same classification may be applied for other languages, too. The English Culture-specific Phraseological Units coming from the nautical language, sports terminology and English realias are in a big number in the English language. First, the isolated position of England suggests that the Englishmen had to become good sailors to reach the continent and other land. This fact left imprints in other language. Second, Englishmen are attached to sports very much. It is not a vain fact since football, box or cricket were invented in England. Third, the English language, probably adopts realias more than other languages, as English is more flexible language, being able to adopt a lot of new items and keep them for a longer time. The Phraseological Units, which have their provenance from hasard games, beliefs and proverbs present a modest number. These sphere must have failed to appeal much to the nation as being prodigal.

The Borrowed Phraseological Units were classified into 4 groups, which may also be applied to other languages, too. English has a big number of Phraseological Units of the Biblical origin, probably, the English speaking to refer to Bible quite often. Hence, these Phraseological Units can be easily met in all Indo-European languages. The Culture-specific Phraseological Units reveal the cultural aspect and characteristic features of the community speaking the language. The borrowed Phraseological Units reveal the nature of the language, i.e. the characteristic features of the language itself.

This theme is very important, because the same as words phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it.

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http://englishlexicology.blogspot.md/2011/12/phraseology.html

http://revolution.allbest.ru/languages/00269148_0.html

http://www.rusnauka.com/7._DN_2007/Philologia/20481.doc.htm

http://www.studfiles.ru/preview/5110985/

http://www.studfiles.ru/preview/5589056/page:14/

Appendix

EXERCISE 1. Pick out phraseological units from the sentences below and arrange them in three groups according to the degree of idiomacity: a) phraseological combinations, b) phraseological unities, c) phraseological fusions.

The bread and butter of its operation was by far its oldest and simplest offering known as anonymous safe-deposit boxes.

Facilities like this had become controversial in the art community because they provided a perfect place for art thieves to hide stolen goods, for years if necessary, until the heat was off.

You’ve worked your socks off for the past few years and carved a good niche for yourself in the world.

Virgos fear the world will stop if they don’t keep their noses to the grindstone.

Keep hope in your heart and keep looking for that rainbow.

I’m not very good at small talk.

I asked her to keep an eye on my suitcase while I went to the toilet.

It’s not a problem in the short term but in the long term we will need to think about it.

Hello, Mrs Watson. Do take the weight off your feet.

I’m afraid, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

Don’t poke your nose into my business.

I don’t see why you have to take a meal out of everything.

Most politicians are on the make. I don’t trust any of them.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

All the promises these politicians make! It’s just pie in the sky.

The small amount of money donated is just a drop in the ocean compared with the vast sum we need.

I can’t do that job. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.

I wasn’t really sure. It was just a shot in the dark.

It’s midnight. Time to hit the sack.

This is just kid’s stuff. I want something challenging.

She has to wine and dine important clients.

Sooner or later, you’ll learn your lesson.

EXERCISE 2. Classify the idioms from the following sentences according to their structure: a) compounds, b) phrases, c) clauses.

She’s a bit of an odd-ball.

She has a heart of gold.

He’s rather a cold fish.

My politics are very middle-of the road.

Mary seems to be on cloud nine these days.

I’m as hungry as a hunter, I could eat a horse.

I suddenly felt as if my head was going round.

Keep a cool head and take everything as it comes.

We need a proper investigation to get to the bottom of things.

You should say sorry. It would go a long way.

The teachers want one thing, the students want the exact opposite. I’m sure we can find a happy medium.

I think he’s just trying to butter me up.

She’s a dab-hand at carpentry, just like her father.

My work-mates are always talking behind my back.

Let’s sit somewhere else. They always talk shop over lunch and it bores me rigid.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer.

Hey! Your new friend has become a talking point among the stuff!

Mary really has green fingers. Look at those flowers!

She’s miles better than the other girls.

EXERCISE 3. Identify the following grammatical phenomena in the phraseological units below: a) synonymy, b) antonymy.

as heavy as lead

as white as snow

as drunk as a lord

as light as a feather

as sober as a judge

as black as night

as white as a sheet

to have a heart of gold

to be as good as gold

to be as hard as nails

to be a cold fish

to be quick off the mark

to be a fast worker

to be slow off the mark

to be a slow-coach

to be a big head

to be a real know-all

to have a face as long as a fiddle

to look down in the dumps

EXERCISE 4. Which proverbs on the left are synonymous to the proverbs on the right?

1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the Never judge a book by its cover.

bush.

2. Don’t count your chickens before they Familiarity breeds contempt.

are hatched.

3. All that glitters is not gold. Never look a gift-horse in the

mouth.

4. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Don’t cross your bridges before

you come to them.