From Idioms to Constructions

Abstract

AbstractIdiomatic expressions and idiomaticity are universal phenomena in human languages (Moon in Fixed expression and idioms in English. Clarendon Press, 1998). Chinese Chengyu, equivalent to English idioms, are widely used in various discourse and share a number of characteristics that qualify them as idiomatic, such as semantic unpredictability, structural inflexibility and high institutionalisation. Research on English idioms has undergone several major transformations: the traditional noncompositional view (Kats & Postal, 1963; Bobrow and Bell in Memory Cogni 1:343–346, 1973), the recent multidimensional perspective (Gibbs in J Speech Lang Hear Res 34:613–620, 1991; Nunberg et al. in Idioms Lang 70:491–538, 1994; Fernando, 1999) and the latest constructionist view on idiomaticity (Croft in Radical construction grammar: syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford University Press, 2001; Croft and Cruse in Cognitive linguistics. Cambridge University Press, 2004; Fillmore et al. in Language 64:501–538, 1988; Taylor in Cognitive grammar. Oxford University Press, 2002). Yet studies on Chinese idioms mainly focus on the description of their structural and semantic features, their historical origins and their proper use in sentences (Ma in Chengyu [Idioms]. Mongolia People Publishing House, 1978; Shi in Han yu Cheng yu yan jiu [Chinese idioms]. Sichuan People Publishing House, 1979; Wang in Ci hui xue yan jiu [Chinese morphology]. Shandong Education Press, 1983; Wang in Yu yan xue tong lun [General linguistics]. Peking University Press, 2006; Zhang in Xin bian xian dai han yu [New modern Chinese]. Fudan University Press, 2002). Although recent research have attempted to explore the underlying metaphors in motivating idiomatic semantics from a cognitive perspective (Yu in Metaphor Symbol Activity 10:59–92, 1995, 2000; Zhang in Idioms and their comprehension: a cognitive semantic perspective. Military Yiwen, 2003), studies on idiom variations and productivity in actual use are still rare. The semi-fixed schemas that can be used productively in Chinese idiom structure are seldom addressed in current literature (Chen in A construction grammar approach to Chinese four-character idiomatic expressions [Unpublished MA thesis]. National Taiwan University, 2001; Gan in Rhetoric Learn 2:56–60, 2008). This chapter will start with a brief account of current research on English idioms, especially those from a constructional perspective. Then, it will argue that the constructional approach can be equally applied in the context of Chinese idiom study, particularly in accounting for the productive schemas in actual use. Subsequently, a few current attempts addressing Chinese idiom productivity will be reviewed. Finally, a reconceptualisation in understanding and defining Chinese idioms will be proposed in accordance with the constructionist approach.