Typology of idiomatic expressions

Idiomatic expressions are those that a speaker cannot ‘work out’ simply by knowing the grammar and the vocabulary of a language. This is why idiomatic expressions are described as ‘non-compositional’. Instead, a speaker has to ‘learn them whole’, rather like individual lexical items. Fillmore et al. develop a typology of idiomatic expressions based on four main parameters: (1) decoding and encoding idioms; (2) grammatical versus extra grammatical idioms; (3) substantive versus formal idioms; and (4) idioms with and without pragmatic point.

Decoding and encoding idioms

 Decoding idioms like kick the bucket have to be decoded or ‘learnt whole’ in the sense that the meaning of the expression cannot be worked out on first hearing. In contrast, encoding idioms like wide awake may be understood on the first hearing: the adjective wide functions as a degree modifier, and it is possible to work out that this expression means ‘completely awake’. However, the speaker would not be able to predict the conventionality of the expression. In other words, there is nothing in the ‘rules’ of English that enables a speaker to predict the existence of this expression as opposed to, say, narrow awake, narrow asleep or wide alert. Encoding idioms also include expressions that are perfectly regular but just happen to represent the conventional way of saying something. For example, the expression driving licence is an encoding idiom in the sense that it represents the conventional way of describing a document that could be (but is not) called a driving permit or a driving document (Taylor 2002: 547). Since encoding idioms are expressions that the speaker cannot predict the conventionality of, it follows that decoding idioms are also encoding idioms.

Grammatical versus extragrammatical idioms

Grammatical idioms are expressions that obey the usual rules of grammar. For example, in the grammatical idiom spill the beans, a verb takes a noun phrase complement. In contrast, extragrammatical idioms like all of a sudden do not obey the usual rules of grammar. In this expression, the quantifier all is followed by a preposition phrase, where we would expect to find a noun phrase. Furthermore, an adjective, sudden, occurs after a determiner where we might expect to find a noun.

Substantive versus formal idioms

 The third distinction is between substantive and formal idioms. Substantive idioms, like most of those we have seen so far, are ‘lexically filled’, which means that they have fixed lexical items as part of their composition. For example, kick the mop does not have the same communicative impact as kick the bucket, and spill the beans does not have the same communicative impact as spill the juice. Both kick the bucket and spill the beans are substantive idioms because most or all of the substantive or content expressions involved are intrinsic to the idiom. In contrast, formal idioms provide syntactic ‘frames’ into which different lexical items can be ‘inserted’. An example of a formal idiom is the let alone construction. As the following examples illustrate, the frame provided by this construction can be filled with all sorts of lexical items. In other words, this type of idiom is productive.

Idioms with and without pragmatic point

 Some idiomatic expressions have a very clear pragmatic function, such as greeting (How do you do?) or expressing a particular attitude (What’s your car doing in my parking space?). In contrast, other idiomatic expressions appear to be pragmatically neutral, in the sense that they can be used in any pragmatic context. Expressions like by and large and on the whole fall into this category. Table 19.1 summarises these four distinctions. As this table shows, a single idiom can be classified according to each of these four parameters. For example, the expression by and large is a decoding idiom that is extragrammatical (a preposition is coordinated with an adjective), substantive and pragmatically neutral.

In addition to setting out the distinctions summarised in Table 19.1, Fillmore et al. provide a typology of idiomatic expressions. An adapted version of this typology is represented in Figure 19.2.

 According to this typology, idioms can consist of either familiar or unfamiliar linguistic expressions (familiar in the sense that they occur in non-idiomatic expressions). These expressions can be arranged in either familiar (regular) or unfamiliar (irregular) grammatical patterns. Two of the four resulting possibilities (those relating to familiar components) can then be further subdivided into formal (lexically open) or substantive (lexically filled) idioms, which may or may not have specific pragmatic point.

Familiar pieces familiarly arranged

 In this case, lexical items that are commonly used outside the idiom are arranged in a way that reflects the regular grammatical patterns of the language. It follows that such expressions will have a literal as well as an idiomatic meaning (e.g. kick the bucket, spill the beans, throw in the towel, take a running jump). What makes expressions like this idiomatic is that one meaning of the expression cannot be predicted from the principle of compositionality. As we have seen, expressions like kick the bucket are substantive idioms. An example of a formal idiom that illustrates this type is the Is the X a Y? construction, exemplified by the expression Is the Pope a Catholic? This construction has regular syntax (e.g. Is Lily a rocket scientist?), which is filled by regular expressions (Pope, Catholic), yet gives rise to an interpretation that emphasises the overwhelming certainty that a particular state of affairs will come to pass. This construction is typically used in response to a question. Consider the short conversational exchange in (2).

From George’s response, Lily infers that the answer to her question is a definite yes.

Familiar pieces unfamiliarly arranged

 In idioms of this kind, familiar words are arranged in ways that do not conform to the regular grammatical patterns in the language. As we have seen, the substantive idiom all of a sudden consists of lexical items that are widely used in English, but which are arranged in a way that is unique to this idiom (compare *all of a fortunate). Another substantive example in this category is the expression by and large (versus *by and small).

Unfamiliar pieces familiarly arranged

 In this category, we might place expressions that show regular syntax but that contain expressions that do not occur outside the idiom. Examples (Taylor 2002: 550) include take umbrage at (compare take offence at or take exception to), in cahoots with (compare in collusion/collaboration/trouble with), by dint of (compare by virtue/necessity of) and wend one’s way (compare make/trudge/climb one’s way). The expressions umbrage, cahoots, dint and wend are not found outside these idioms, yet their syntax is not restricted to these idioms. By definition, members of this category are substantive idioms, because a formal or lexically unfilled idiom is productive as a result of being filled by familiar expressions. However, it is important to point out that Fillmore et al. (1988: 506) do not include this category in their typology, since they argue that unfamiliar pieces are ‘by definition’ unfamiliarly arranged ‘because, if the pieces are themselves unfamiliar or unique, there can be no standard principles for arranging them in larger patterns.’ This suggests that expressions like umbrage, cahoots, dint and wend are not recognised as members of any word class and therefore cannot participate in regular syntax. Observe, however, that umbrage shows recognisable noun-forming morphology (compare plumage, acreage or wattage), and cahoots might plausibly be a plural noun. 5In addition, each of these examples can be assigned to a word class by com paring their distribution with other familiar expressions in the same context. Indeed, wend can occur in the past tense (He wended his way home), suggesting that it fills a verb slot in the construction. There might therefore be reasonable grounds for including this category in the typology of idioms.

Unfamiliar pieces unfamiliarly arranged

Idioms of this kind consist of expressions not found outside the idiom arranged in syntactic patterns that are also not found outside the idiom. According to our typology, this category is also by definition restricted to substantive idioms, for the same reason as the previous category. However, Fillmore et al. (1988: 506–7) place the formal idiom the X-er the Y-er in this category, which is illustrated by expressions like the more the merrier and the fewer the better. Although the ‘slots’ in this construction can be filled with familiar expressions, Fillmore et al. suggest that in addition to its irregular syntax, the instances of the in this construction are not in fact definite determiners but descendants of the Old English instrumental demonstrative ðy. Because Fillmore et al. reject the idea that unfamiliar pieces can be familiarly arranged, they also place substantive examples like kith and kin in this category, which are similar to take umbrage with, in cahoots with and so on.

As the discussion in this section suggests, the category ‘idiom’ (in the broad sense of any expression whose meaning cannot be predicted from the principle of compositionality) subsumes a wide range expressions, not all of which are straightforwardly classified. In fact, Taylor (2002: 550) casts doubt on the idea that linguistic expressions can even be categorised according to whether they exhibit fully compositional meaning or not: ‘Strict compositionality is rarely, if ever, encountered. Most expressions (I am tempted to say: all expressions), when interpreted in the context in which they are uttered, are non compositional to some degree.’ Furthermore, as Taylor also points out, if we were to include idioms of encoding within the taxonomy, the number of expressions that would be described as idiomatic (the conventional way of describing something) would increase dramatically to include a far wider range than those captured by the taxonomy set out in this section. It follows that the success of any attempt to ‘organise’ idioms into categories depends to a large degree on the definition of ‘idiom’ that it rests upon. Despite this note of caution, a relatively stable empirical generalisation to emerge from this discussion is the dis tinction between substantive and formal idioms; it is the latter category that represents the focus of Fillmore et al.’s (1988) study.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

مكتب السيد السيستاني يصدر بيانًا بشأن استمرار العدوان العسكري على إيران

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يصدر كتابًا نقديًّا يبحث المرتكزات المعرفية لفكر طه حسين

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يقيم ندوة عن مفهوم الحرية في المنظور الإسلامي

قسم شؤون المعارف يستقبل وفدًا أكاديميًّا لتعزيز التعاون العلمي المشترك

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

نصائح علمية لتقوية دماغك وتقليل التدهور العقلي

هرمون الذكورة يفاقم عدوى خطيرة تهدد حياة الرجال

سبب رئيسي للإصابة بسرطان القولون

بعد سن الأربعين.. هل أنت من الفئات المعرضة لخطر الغلوكوما؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

حرق الأمونيا.. كيف يساعد محطات الكهرباء في اليابان على إزالة الكربون؟

الشمس تقذف نتوءا عملاقا باتجاه قطبها الشمالي

كيف يخدع النعناع جسمك ليشعر بالبرودة؟.. صور عالية الدقة تكشف السر لأول مرة

ما الدور الذي يلعبه الـ AI في "حروب أميركا"؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Construction Grammar

Case study I: the let alone construction

Exploring idiomatic expressions

Constructions versus words and rules

Argument structure

Compositionality

Functional items

Motivating a construction grammar

Aspect and the count/mass distinction

Perfective and imperfective PROCESSES

Situation types

Situation aspect