Глава 3. Modern English Phraseology

Ws put together to form lexical units,make phrases or W-groups.The degree of structural & semantical cohesion(слияние)of W-groups may vary.Set phrases(or phraseological units)are functionally & semantically inseparable.{W-groups:at least,point of view,to take place}.

There are 2factors which are important in uniting Ws into W-groups:

1)the lexical valency of Ws;

2)the grammatical valency of Ws.

Ws are used in certain lexical contexts that is in combinations with other Ws.So, the lexical valency of the W is its aptness(способность)to appear in various cominations.{‘to raise’&’to lift’ are synonyms but only ‘to raise’is collocated with the N’question’}. Ws are also used in gramm-cal contexts.The aptness of a W to appear in specific gramm-cal(or syntactical)structures is termed gramm-cal valency.{Adj.’clever’&’intelligent’have the same gramm-cal valency but only ‘clever’can be used in the pattern ‘Adj+Prep+N’:to be clever in Maths}.

Class-tions of phraseological units

1)General class-ion of phras. units was suggested by Vinogradov mainly according to the degree of semantic cohesion:

1.Phraseological fusions are completely non-motivated W-groups.The meaning of the components has no connection with the meaning of the whole group.{to kick the bucket-умереть, ball&chane-законная жена,to seeze an elephant-узнать жизнь}.

2.Phraseological unities are partially non-motivated W-groups as their meaning can be understood through the metaphoric meaning of the whole phras.unit(as in direct meaning as in indirect meaning).{to skate on thin ice-рисковать,as busy as a bee-очень занятой,to wash one’s dirty linen in public-выносить ссор из избы}.

3.Phraseological collocations are partially or completely motivated W-groups.The meaning of the whole group can be easily understood from the meanings of its constituent parts(составные части).{to pay a visit-нанести визит,to break a promise/a rule/silence-нарушить что-то}.

2)Structural class-tion of phras.units is based on their ability to perform the same syntactical functions as Ws. So, we distinguish set-expressions that are:

1.nominal phrases functioning like nouns{skeleton in the cupboard-семейная тайна,Baker’s dozen-чертова дюжина};

2.verbal phrases functioning like verbs{to take the bull by the horn-действовать решительно,to put a finger into every pie-соваться во все дела;

3.adjectival phrases functioning kike adjectives{cool as a cucumber-хладнокровный,poor as a church mouse-бедный,как церковная мышь};

4.adverbial phrases functioning like adverbs{before you can say “Jack Robinson”-быстро,by hook or by crook-любыми средствами};

5.conjunctional and prepositional phrases{as long as,as soon as,in spite of};

6.interjectional phrases{like hell-черта с два,my foot-держи карман шире}.

3) Genetic class-tion is based on the original content of phras.units.The sources of phras. units are dif-t spheres of life:

*Sea life{to see land-близко к цели,in low waters-быть без денег};

*Fish and fishing{to drink like a fish-пить запоем};

*Sport{The ball is with you-слово за вами,to back the wrong horse-сделать неправильн.выбор};

*Hunting{to turn tail-обратиться в бегство,as hungry as a wolf};

*Animals’ life{lion’s share,it rains cats and dogs};

*Medicine{to sweeten the pill-подсластить лекарство};

*Trade{to talk shop-говорить по делу,best-seller-ходовой товар}.

Proverbs. Besides phras. units which are W equivalents,the lang-ge has set phrases which are equivalents of sentences.They are proverbs,sayings,aphorisms.Пр:Custom is second nature.Proverbs are set phrases because they are not created in the process of speech.They are part of the vocabulary which are created by folk.If we compare Russian&Eng.proverbs or phras. fusions we’ll that both lang-ges have analogues proverbs.{Appetite comes with eating.Don’t look a gift horse into the mouth}.Sometimes the meanings are analogues but the semantic center of the phrases is diff-nt in Russian&Eng.{Rome was not built in a day-Москва не сразу строилась.}