Celebrating diversity in early years

DL: word combinations1Word combinations and fixed expressions in EnglishMany multi-word lexical units (MWLU) or word combinations function as structural or semantic units in English. The study of such fixed expressions is known in linguistics as phraseologyand the lexical units studied may bereferred to as phrasemes.The terminology in this field, both in English and in Slovene, often varies from one scholar to another. Similarly, scholars often disagree about how to categorise different kinds of expression.IDIOMSIdiom: ‘an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meaning of its constituent elements’(Webster's dictionary)Idioms are relatively invariable expressions with a meaning that cannot be predicted or is not entirely derivable from the meanings of the parts(Biber at al Grammar of English)Primary characteristics of idioms(Moon 1992):1. lexicogrammatical fixednessThey have a fixed structure, except for normal grammatical changes:e.g. kick the bucket, kicked the bucketThey are fixed with regard to contentwords e.g. NOT ‘ kick the pail’ or 'boot the bucket' or ‘hit the bucket with your foot’And often with regard to word order:e.g. NOT It's raining dogs and catsCan't change them to get opposite meaning:e.g. skating on thin ice NOT 'skating on thick ice'In some cases, there is quite a range of variation possible:you’re pulling my legI’m sure to get my leg pulled about this he’s arealleg-pullerthis is not a leg-pullAnd there are alternative versions ofsome idioms:alot of water has flowed/passed/gone under/beneath the bridgehave green fingers / a green thumb[Br vs Am Eng]
DL: word combinations22. semantic opacityornon-compositionalityThe meaning of the whole is more than the sum of the meanings of the parts, i.e.word-by-wordinterpretation doesn't worke.g.spill the beans, a yellow streak3. institutionalisation: The process by which a string of words or formulation becomes recognised and accepted as a lexical itemof the language. Also known as lexicalisation. It will then appear in dictionaries or reference books and be accepted by users of the language.Note that items may stop being current, e.g. put one's eyes together.Idiomaticityis ‘a universal linguistic phenomenon in natural languages’.Idioms are unique to a language, but this doesn't mean we can’t translate them.They are 'ready-made' utterances that have to be learnt as a whole.Under the heading of idioms we might also include other multi-word expressions such as proverbs (A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush), sayings (boys will be boys), frozen similes (as drunk as a lord;as soberas a judge), social formulae (Howdo you do?)Idioms have an important pragmatic function. They are used to convey attitudes ratherthan factual information. They are morecommon in conversation(especially fictional dialogue) andinformal language;also in journalism. They are infrequent inacademic textsand we would not expect themin legal or instructional texts.Idioms can represent many different kinds of structural units:Noun phrasepiece of cakeslap in the facecold feetwet blanketblack sheepblue filmbinomial:flesh and bloodtrinomial:blood, sweat and tearsVerb + Noun phrasemiss the boat bury the hatchetface the musicwaste one’s breathhold your horsessmell a ratVerb + prepositional phrasebeat around/about the bushbe out of one’s depth