The use of common names in idiomatic expressions

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY

the use of common names in idiomatic expressions

Course Paper

The Student: xxxxxxxx

2009

Contents

Introduction

1. What is an idiom?

1.1 The meaning of idioms

1.2 The structure of idioms

1.3 The categories of idioms

2. Common names

2.1 Characteristic of Proper nouns

2.2 Place names

2.3 Personal names

3. Practical Chapter. The use of proper names in idioms

3.1 The methodology of the research

3.2 Idioms with personal names

3.3 Idioms with place names

4. Groups of personal names

4.1 Idioms with place names

Conclusions

References

 

Introduction

 

The theme of the paper is “The use of common names in idiomatic expressions”.

The subject of the present paper is based on the collecting common names from idiomatic expressions. The term “common names” refers to proper names. Proper names are names of persons, places or certain special things. In the English language proper names are typically capitalized nouns. They have a number of certain features as well – they are not used in the plural and are not preceded by adjectives, articles, numerals, demonstratives, or other modifiers. There are some kinds of proper nouns:

·  Place names.

·  Personal names.

·  Diacritics.

The aim of the work is to analyze the common names of English idioms, their types, features and structure. This paper will show the origins of the proper nouns used in idiomatic expressions.

The following objectives of the research have been set:

1.  To provide theoretical evidence and discuss on idiomatic English.

2.  To study English idiomatic dictionaries.

3.  To compare, analyze and classify idioms with personal and place names.

Research methods:

1.  Descriptive-theoretical literary analysis provided a possibility to review numerous issues concerning features of proper nouns.

2.  Contrastive linguistic analysis is also used in the work with the aim determining the frequency or intensity of common names usage in relation with idiomatic expressions.

Relevance of the work:

As noted by an increasing number of idiomatic scholars, it is clearly problematic to assume that idioms form a homogeneous class of linguistic items. Careful attention must be paid to the many syntactic, lexical, semantic and pragmatic differences that exist among words and phrases that are generally judged as idiomatic. The investigation of a wide range of idioms clearly demonstrates that many idioms are analyzable and have figurative meanings that are at least partly motivated. Many idioms have individual components that independently contribute to what these phrases figuratively mean as wholes.

The views and approaches such scholars as A. Makkai, M. Everaert, R. Moreno helped to analyze idiomatic English topic in more detailed way.

The structure of the work:

The paper consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusions, references and practical patterns.

A survey of theoretical issues necessary for the analysis is presented below.

1. What is an Idiom?

The ultimate roof of the term idiom is the Greek lexeme idioms, meaning “own, private, peculiar” (J. Strassel: 1982:13).

In different dictionaries there could be found quite a lot different explaining what an idiom is. There are some of the definitions:

1.  An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements or from the general grammatical rules of a language and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics (Random House Dictionary: 2009. http://dictionary.reference.com/browde/idiom)

2.  Idiom – an expression with a meaning that cannot be guessed from the meanings of the individual words. (English Dictionary for Speaker of Lithuanian, 2000).

3.  An idiom typical of the natural way in which someone speaks or writes when they are using their own language. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: 2003).

4.  Idiom – a group of words that has a special meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of each separate word. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: 2003).

5.  Idiom – a form of expression, grammatical construction, phrase, etc., peculiar to a person or language; a phrase which is understood by speakers of a particular language despite its meaning’s not being predictable from that of the separate words. (Oxford Talking Dictionary).

6.  An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand (Dictionary of English idioms and idiomatic expressions: www.usingenglish.com.reference/idioms).

According to Ifill T. (2002:78) idioms are as “those that speaker cannot work out simply by knowing the grammar and the vocabulary of a language”. According to J. Saeed (2003:60) idioms are “words collocated together happen to become fossilized, becoming fixed over time”. This is the reason why idioms are set out as non-compositional.

Idioms are used in a wide variety of contexts and situations. They are often used in spoken language, in situations that range from friendly conversations to business meetings. Idioms are used in written English as well, especially in journalism where writers frequently use them to bring their stories to life.

Knowing the meaning of idioms let understand the smallest refinements of the language. However, it is quite difficult to understand the exact meaning of the idiom of the foreign language because it is related with some kind of problems that are named in the further chapter.