Idiomatic Constructions Research Articles

PHRASEOLOGICAL AND NON-PHRASEOLOGICAL METHODS OF TRANSLATING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS WITH A COLOR COMPONENT

The main purpose of the article is to study ways of translation of English idioms with a color component into Ukrainian. Idiomatic units make up a significant part of the vocabulary of both Ukrainian and English, therefore, they are of great interest to scientists. In addition, it is important to choose the correct ways to translate such units, in particular with a color component. Two major methods of translation of English idiomatic constructions with coloronyms into Ukrainian are analysed: phraseological method with the selection of a full or partial equivalent, as well as non-phraseological, that is, descriptive translation, which is resorted to when it is impossible to find equivalents. When choosing a translation strategy, the translator should pay attention not only to the literal, but also to the figurative component of the idiom. The translator should take into account the fact that idiomatic constructions and colored elements can have different meanings in different cultures. Color units in idiomatic constructions can be used to indicate the real color or to convey certain symbols as well as add expressiveness into the speech. Using the novel “11/22/63” by American writer Stephen King and its Ukrainian translation, phraseological and non-phraseological methods of translating idioms with a color name in the composition are analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it has been revealed that the translator resorts more to the phraseological method of giving color idioms, but if necessary, does not neglect the non-phraseological method of translation for better reproduction of the figurative component.

Repetició consecutiva i idiomaticitat

In this paper, two types of idiomatic constructions are described, namely consecutive repetition and coordinate repetition. Considering corpus examples, these constructions and their subtypes are identified and characterized; they are also related to and differentiated from similar structures such as emphatic repetition, mimetic repetition or tautology. Consecutive and coordinate repetitions implement meanings related with intensification or increase (in degree, number or duration) and, in some cases, can be associated to prototype effects (i.e., prototype identification or referential dissociation).Keywords: Repetition, idiomaticity, construction, intensification, prototype effects, tautology.

The neurocognitive basis of Chinese idiomatic constructions and processing differences between native speakers and L2 learners of Mandarin.

Classic linguistic analyses assume that syntax is the center of linguistic system. Under this assumption, a finite set of rules can produce an infinite number of sentences. By contrast, construction grammar posits that grammar emerges from language use. Chinese quadrisyllabic idiomatic expressions (QIEs) offer a testing ground for this theoretical construct owing to their high productivity. To understand the cognitive processing of structure and meaning during reading comprehension, we used a semantic judgment task to measure behavioral performance and brain activation (functional MRI). Participants were 19 Mandarin native speakers and 19 L2 learners of intermediate and advanced levels of Mandarin. In the task, participants were instructed to indicate whether the interpretation of a QIE was correct. Our behavioral results showed that L2 learners processed high frequency QIEs faster than low frequency ones. By contrast, low frequency QIEs were processed faster than high frequency ones by native speakers. This phenomenon may be attributed to semantic satiation which impedes the interpretation of high frequency QIEs. To unravel the puzzle, a further functional MRI experiment on native speakers was conducted. The results revealed that the comparison of high-frequency and low-frequency QIEs promoted significant anterior cingulate activation. Also, the comparison of idiomatic and pseudo-idiomatic constructions exhibited significant activation in the bilateral temporal poles, a region that computes semantics rather than syntactic structure. This result indicated that, for native speakers, processing Chinese idiomatic constructions is a conceptually driven process.

Początek Ewangelii św. Mateusza (Mt 1-4) ‒ parafraza alternatywna

In this article we present the continuation of our work on an alternative paraphrase of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. The specificity of the alternative paraphrase lies in the fact that we reach for new translation solutions that we confront with the existing translations of the Bible into Polish. The purpose of the alternative paraphrase is to revive the biblical message by abandoning some common formulations in favor of idiomatic constructions referring either to the context of Judaism in the time of Jesus, or to the etymology and original meaning of expressions that over the centuries have grown theological patina, or to modern formulations that may even be considered colloquialisms.
 

Linguistic and Cultural Aspect of Interpretation of Aphoristic Expressions with Zoocomponents ‘Dog’ and ‘Horse’ (Khanty and Khakass Languages)

The article is devoted to one of the aspects of the linguistic substantiation of the connection between language and culture: the identification of lexical units with a potential conceptual meaning in thematic groups, which allows them to participate in the creation of aphoristic idioms (aphorisms, proverbs, sayings). From the standpoint of linguistic typology in the lexico-semantic sphere, the words denoting a dog and a horse in the Khanty and Khakass languages are considered. The empirical base of the study was the author’s notes of the spoken language of the Khanty, dictionaries of the Khanty and Khakass languages, a collection of Khanty riddles, a collection of Khakass proverbs and sayings. As a result of the study, a circle of idioms (indicated languages) with a distinct cognitive and mental, worldview basis is outlined. The methods used are the method of typological interpretation of lexical material and descriptive. When analyzing the semantics of these words, special attention was paid to the indication of regular stable phrases: it is the associative potencies that are the basis for the development of further connotations, the logical conclusion of which is the participation of certain words in idioms. It has been established that idiomatic constructions with the lexemes ‘dog’ and ‘horse’ characterize not so much these animals as the way of life of two different ethnic groups, as well as the human qualities of the representatives of these peoples, shed light on their ideas about life.

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS IN TRANSLATION: EXAMPLES FROM KALILA WA DIMNA

In literary production every language has its expressions, its particular turns; to translate them grammars and even dictionaries offer little recourse. And since there are no texts that do not present such idioms, Kalila wa Dimna is rich in them. So the task of the translator, already arduous, increases each time he encounters one. Especially since the Arabic language abounds in turns of phrase which, if they give it its flavor, do not fail to surprise. So how are these idiomatic constructions represented? How can we transpose images through them? And how can they give counter meaning in translation?. Key words: Literary Translation, Idiomatic Construction, Arabic, French, Misinterpretation.

Chinese idioms as constructions

AbstractChinese Quadrisyllabic Idiomatic Expressions (henceforth QIEs) are highly productive in the modern language. They can be used to understand the cognitive processing of structure and meaning during reading comprehension, as in the patterning of [qian-A-wan-B] ‘1k-A-10k-B’ (e.g. one-thousand army ten-thousand horse). However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of QIEs during reading comprehension. Adopting the framework of Construction Grammar, in the present study, we aimed to study the convergence and divergence between native speakers and L2 learners in the processing of Chinese idiomatic constructions.In the present study, twenty-three native university-level Mandarin speakers and twenty-three L2 learners of intermediate and advanced levels of Mandarin, all speakers of the non Sinosphere, participated in the experiment, and were instructed to make a semantic congruency judgment during the presentation of a QIE. Our results showed that, for both native speakers and L2 learners, semantically transparent idiomatic constructions elicited much shorter RTs than semantically opaque idiomatic constructions. Our behavioral results also showed that native speakers processed low frequency QIEs faster than high frequency ones, implying semantic satiation to impede the interpretation of high frequency idioms. For L2 learners, it was semantic transparency, rather than frequency, that played a more prominent role in idiom processing.

Особенности перевода идиоматических конструкций в лингвокультурном пространстве русского и английского языков

The research objectives are as follows: to reveal semantic filling of idiomatic constructions and to identify peculiarities of their translation from English into Russian and from Russian into English. The article considers certain aspects of the translation theory, tackles the problem of semantic equivalence when translating idiomatic expressions from English into Russian. Scientific originality of the study involves a new approach to interpreting idioms, which allows revealing implicit cultural meanings. The findings are of practical value, they can be used for educational purposes, as well as for a comparative linguo-cultural study of the English and Russian clichés and speech formulae.

THE IDIOMATIC CONSTRUCTIONS OF ”BAPAK” IN BAHASA INDONESIA

This research aimed to describe the idiomatic constructions of lexeme of BAPAK in Bahasa Indonesia (BI). The language description method used in this study was adopted from the semantic analysis model suggested by Langlotz (2006). The sources of the data were the corpus websites that provided the BI data-set. Observation was used to collect the data and a distributional technique was used to analyze the data. The results of the analysis described that the idiomatic constructions of lexeme of BAPAK had two patterns of constructions and three types of proposition that were embedded in them. Thus, it can be inferred that the idiomatic constructions of BAPAK can be described through their structural patterns and types of proposition.

Sintassi delle frasi idiomatiche e delle frasi libere dell’italiano: differenze o similarità?

This study is devoted to the analysis of the similarities and differences between Italian idiomatic constructions and non-idiomatic constructions. Idioms pose many problems as concerns the interaction between syntax and semantics because most literature assigns idioms a special status. Rather, their behaviour is not so different from non-idiomatic constructions, either from a distributional or a transformational point of view. I will present the methodological principles on which I constructed the lexico-grammatical classification of Italian idioms, and I will show that a continuum exists between non-idiomatic and idiomatic constructions. Since most idioms are ambiguous, I will analyze the relationship between ambiguity and communication.

Модальные формы с семантикой желания в алтайском языке

In the following article, we analyze the forms of the optative in the Altai language. The modal meaning of volition in the Altai language is expressed by various means: lexical, grammatical, analytical means, and idiomatic constructions. In the article, we offer a brief overview of the means of expression of volition. The primary focus of our study is the desiderative form with =(Ы)ксА=, along with 5 synthetic forms of optative mood: =ГАй, =СА, =(А)йын, =СЫн, =БАзЫн. We show that in the modern Altai language, the finite form with =(Ы)ксА= is widely used in spoken language, with limited compatibility. The form with =(Ы)ксА= is used with the lexical-semantic group of verbs denoting physiological, psychological, or social needs of the subject, for example: јаныкса ʻto want to go homeʼ from the verb јан= ʻto go homeʼ, кӧрӱксе= ʻto want to seeʼ from the verb кӧр= ʻto look’, etc. This form denotes the subject’s strong desire to do something related to their inner feelings and emotions experienced currently and at the moment of speech, or in the past, a desire aimed towards the future which the subject is confident about. Because this form’s semantic compatibility is limited, and the modal meaning of volition expressed by this form is defined as ‘non-locutive’ modality, we believe that it should not, at this stage of the language’s development, be viewed as optative mood, but rather as a non-productive word-forming affix.

Emotions in the face: biology or culture? – Using idiomatic constructions as indirect evidence to inform a psychological research controversy

Research on the facial expression of emotions has become a bone of contention in psychological research. On the one hand, Ekman and his colleagues have argued for a universal set of six basic emotions that are recognized with a considerable degree of accuracy across cultures and automatically displayed in highly similar ways by people. On the other hand, more recent research in cognitive science has provided results that are supportive of a cultural-relativist position. In this paper this controversy is approached from a contrastive perspective on phraseological constructions. It focuses on how emotional displays are codified in somatic idioms in some European (English, German, French, Spanish) and East Asian (Japanese, Korean, Chinese [Cantonese]) languages. Using somatic idioms such as make big eyes or die Nase rümpfen as a pool of evidence to shed linguistic light on the psychological controversy, the paper engages with the following general research question: Is there a significant difference between European and East Asian somatic idioms or do these constructions rather speak for a universal apprehension of facial emotion displays? To answer this question, the paper compares somatic expressions that are selected from (idiom) dictionaries of the languages listed above. Moreover, native speakers of the East Asian languages were consulted to support the analysis of the respective data. All corresponding entries were analysed categorically, i. e. with regard to whether or not they encode a given facial area to denote a specific emotion. The results show arguments both for and against the universalist and the cultural-relativist positions. In general, they speak for an opportunistic encoding of facial emotion displays.

Linguistic and cultural aspects in animistic idioms defying personal character traits in English and Ukrainian

The problem of studying national and ethnic-cultural components is an actual trend in contemporary linguistic studies, since linguistic elements manifest distinct national marking. The idea of language and culture interconnection belongs primarily to William von Humboldt. The language units can be treated as the specific treasury that preserves national identity of a certain language community. O. Potebnya expressed his own original vision of idioms, which he considered as a small version of the “whole world”. Having symbolic correlation with cultural signs, experience and behaviour stereotypes idioms represent universal ideas common to different language systems. Nevertheless there are also peculiar images belonging only to certain language groups and its interpretation demands deeper language and cultural code analysis. This research mainly focuses on studying idioms expressing the traits of character and behavioral habits through the animistic phraseological structures while bilingual teaching of English and Ukrainian in particular. The diversity of idioms with animistic components in their structure is rather various and can be hardly illustrated in one research. That is why the main attention of this study is paid to idioms with animistic components representing the following images: domestic animals and insects. The first group includes set expressions, which are distinguished according to the presence in their structure such words as a dog, a sheep, a hen. Illustration analysis shows that these animistic components are represented in both languages. Furthermore some idiomatic constructions demonstrate similar meaning and structure. The second group comprises comparatively smaller number of samples. It contains idioms defying rather emotional state of a person and his / her behavior rather personal character trait itself. The analysis of English and Ukrainian illustrations demonstrates the low correspondence of samples in both languages. Despite the fact that the world vision in both nations contains similar ideas about emotional state of a person and his / her behavior, its linguistic representation is totally different. The results of practical analysis vividly confirm the idea of national and cultural marking revealed in set expressions for both languages. It also shows the necessity of profound investigating national and cultural symbols while studying language phraseological and paremian heritage. These observations might help in highlighting more complicated world perception characteristics in English and Ukrainian.

Cranberry morphemes in Turkish

In this paper we deal with cranberry morphemes in Turkish, which are meaningless and bound. First, we discuss the accuracy of the term “unique”, which is frequently used to describe cranberry morphemes, and we assert that they are not unique, but rather can be found in lexical items reflecting multiple types of derivation. We revisit Çolak’s recent work on so-called “fossilized words” (2015), where she examines 212 cranberry morphemes in Turkish found in all kinds of idiomatic constructions by tracking their diachronic development within the Turkish National Corpus. Diverging from Çolak, we claim that cranberry morphemes can also be found in derived words with meaningful suffixes. They can also be extracted from some verb doublets reflecting voice oppositions. To facilitate further research on cranberry morphemes we propose eight criteria for determining cranberry morphemes in Turkish. We also discuss a gray area involving verbs where it is problematic to postulate cranberry morphemes and conclude that they should not be considered cranberry morphemes. Our entire (but not exhaustive) list of cranberry morphemes in Turkish (including Çolak’s findings) are presented in seven appendices demonstrating different patterns and categories.

Niedookreślenie, dekonkretyzacja i zmienne językowe – o quasi-tautologicznych układach typu ten i ten, to i to, tak a tak

Underclarification, Substantiation and Language Variables. On Quasi-Tautological Arrangements of the ten i ten, to i to, tak a tak typeThe paper analyses the semantic-syntactic description of expressions of the ten i ten, tak a tak (‘such and such’, ‘so and so’) type. These are not units of language but rather constructions which result from the filling of slots meant for anaphoric pronouns in such arrangements as _i i _i and _i a _i. In contrast to the _i i _j arrangement, the discussed idiomatic constructions express a reference to single elements, and hence are not tautological. The paper formulates the following hypotheses: a) expressions of this kind are used in sentences which refer to a different act of speech (potential or real) but instead of designating an element in the current utterance, they recount a reference made in the adduced utterance; b) the analysed constructions act as “position markers” in a sentence, but despite that, they cannot be interpreted as logical variables because they preserve the characteristics of linguistic expressions.

Vietri, Simonetta. 2014. Idiomatic Constructions in Italian. A Lexicon-Grammar Approach

Abstract This article reviews Idiomatic Constructions in Italian. A Lexicon-Grammar Approach by Simonetta Vietri

Ditransitive idioms in Hebrew

This paper is a study of 55 ditransitive idioms in Hebrew, to the best of our knowledge, the first of its kind. The examination of these idiomatic constructions reveals asymmetries in their composition, thereby providing us with new insights into their internal structure and the principles governing their formation. In particular, we show that idioms reflect properties of their literal counterparts, explain word order patterns ditransitive idioms exhibit, argue that idioms do not have to be continuous constituents, and investigate the distribution of their free position. In addition, the paper provides support for Rappaport Hovav and Levin’s (2008) “verb sensitive” approach to the dative alternation and Landau’s (1994) seminal observation that Hebrew manifests the alternation, though it fails to mark it morphologically.

A Comprehensive Syntactic Analysis of Korean [... V ... V] Expressions III: Idiomatic Constructions and Compounds

A Comprehensive Syntactic Analysis of Korean [... V ... V] Expressions III: Idiomatic Constructions and Compounds

Language as an Emergent Construction-Network. A Close-Up on Italian Idioms.

In this contribution, I investigated the structure of Italian idioms from a perspective that combines insights from constructionist and dynamic-systems approaches to language. First of all, I empirically analyzed the occurrences of a sample of constructions downloaded from the it TenTen corpus, interrogated via the online corpus-query system Sketch Engine. On the basis of the tendencies observed in the analysis, I observed that the patterns of stability and variation of idioms in use can be satisfactorily accounted for in dynamic-systems terms. I then argue that the use of idiomatic constructions is governed by a principle of causal circularity, whereby the attractor state constrains the possible use of a construction, but at the same time the bulk of occurrences of an idiom shapes the attractor in an ongoing, nonlinear process of self-organization. Looking beyond idioms, I propose that similar mechanisms may regulate the functioning of the linguistic system as a whole, consistent with the constructionist view of language as a network of interconnected units.

Language as an Emergent Construction-Network: A Close-up on Italian Idioms

In this contribution, I investigated the structure of Italian idioms from a perspective that combines insights from constructionist and dynamic-systems approaches to language. First of all, I empirically analyzed the occurrences of a sample of constructions downloaded from the itTenTen corpus, interrogated via the online corpus-query system Sketch Engine. On the basis of the tendencies observed in the analysis, I observed that the patterns of stability and variation of idioms in use can be satisfactorily accounted for in dynamic-systems terms. I then argue that the use of idiomatic constructions is governed by a principle of causal circularity, whereby the attractor state constrains the possible use of a construction, but at the same time the bulk of occurrences of an idiom shapes the attractor in an ongoing, nonlinear process of self-organization. Looking beyond idioms, I propose that similar mechanisms may regulate the functioning of the linguistic system as a whole, consistent with the constructionist view of language as a network of interconnected units.