WORD COMBINATIONS AND PHRASEOLOGY IN MODERN ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN LANGUAGES
1. Free and non-free word combinations.
2. Classifications of phraseological units.
3. Synonyms in phraseology.
4. Antonyms in phraseology.
5. Proverbs, sayings.
Free and Non-Free Word Combinations
The vocabulary of a language includes not only words but also stable word combinations which also serve as a means of expressing concepts. They are phraseological word equivalents reproduced in speech the way words are reproduced and not created anew in actual speech.
An ordinary word combination is created according to the grammatical rules of the language in accordance with a certain idea. The general meaning of an ordinary free word combination is derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements. Every notional word functions here as a certain member of the sentence. Thus, an ordinary word combination is a syntactical pattern.
A free word combination is a combination in which any element can be substituted by another.
e.g.: I like this idea. I dislike this idea. He likes the idea. I like that idea. I like this thought.
But when we use the term free we are not precise. The freedom of a word in a combination with others is relative as it is not only the syntactical pattern that matters. There are logical limitations too.
The second group of word combinations is semi-free word combinations. They are the combinations in which the substitution is possible but limited.
e.g.: to cut a poor/funny/strange figure.
Non-free word combinations are those in which the substitution is impossible.
e.g.: to come clean, to be in low water.
Classifications of Phraseological Units
A major stimulus to intensive studies of phraseology was prof. Vinogradov’s research. The classification suggested by him has been widely adopted by linguists working on other languages. The classification of phraseological units suggested by V.V. Vinogradov includes:
- standardised word combinations, i.e. phrases characterised by the limited combinative power of their components, which retain their semantic independence: to meet the request/requirement, подавати надію, страх бере, зачепити гордість, покласти край;
- phraseological unities, i.e. phrases in which the meaning of the whole is not the sum of meanings of the components but it is based on them and the motivation is apparent: to stand to one’s guns, передати куті меду, прикусити язика, вивести на чисту воду, тримати камінь за пазухою;
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- fusions, i.e. phrases in which the meaning cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined meanings of its components: tit for tat, теревені правити, піймати облизня, викинути коника, у Сірка очі позичити.
Phraseological unities are very often metaphoric. The components of such unities are not semantically independent, the meaning of every component is subordinated to the figurative meaning of the phraseological unity as a whole. The latter may have a homonymous expression - a free syntactical word combination.
e.g.: Nick is a musician. He plays the first fiddle.
It is his wife who plays the first fiddle in the house.
Phraseological unities may vary in their semantic and grammatical structure. Not all of them are figurative. Here we can find professionalisms, coupled synonyms.
A.V. Koonin finds it necessary to divide English phraseological unities into figurative and non-figurative.
Figurative unities are often related to analogous expressions with direct meaning in the very same way in which a word used in its transferred sense is related to the same word used in its direct meaning.
Scientific English, technical vocabulary, the vocabulary of arts and sports have given many expressions of this kind: in full blast; to hit below the belt; to spike smb’s guns.
Among phraseological unities we find many verb-adverb combinations: to look for; to look after; to put down; to give in.
Phraseological fusions are the most synthetical of all the phraseological groups. They seem to be completely unmotivated though their motivation can be unearthed by means of historic analysis.
They fall under the following groups:
Idiomatic expressions which are associated with some obsolete customs: the grey mare, to rob Peter to pay Paul.
Idiomatic expressions which go back to some long forgotten historical facts they were based on: to bell the cat, Damocles’ sword.
Idiomatic expressions expressively individual in their character: My God! My eye!
Idiomatic expressions containing archaic elements: by dint of (dint – blow); in fine (fine – end).
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