This article dedicates the study of the English phraseology units and its linguistic structure with the usage of adjectives which presents a certain interest both for theoretical investigation and for practical usage.
The road is difficult, not because the deep river and the high mountains that bar the way, but because we lose heart when we think of the river and the mountains (1).
The Vietnamese saying exactly describes the difficult process of learning and teaching phraseological units. It is often seen by both teachers and students as an extremely complex area of language teaching.
Phraseology tends to reflect the correspondence of language and culture. Consequently, the language user needs shared knowledge in order to be able to understand given units properly. The knowledge of connotative meanings of components enables the language user to decode modifications of canonical forms of phraseological units as well as to create their own modifications.
Phraseological units may be defined as specific word-groups functioning as word-equivalents; they are equivalent to definite classes of words. The part-of-speech meaning of phraseological units is felt as belonging to the word-group as a whole irrespective of the part-of-speech meaning of component words. Comparing a free word-group, e.g. along day and a phraseological unit, e.g. in the long run, we observe that in the free word-group the noun day and the adjective long preserve the part-of-speech meaning proper to these words taken in isolation.
Prof. A. I. Smirnitsky (2) worked out structural classification of phraseological units, comparing them with words. He points out one-top units which he compares with derived words because derived words have only one root morpheme. He points out two-top units which he compares with compound words because in compound words we usually have two root morphemes.
Among one-top units he points out three structural types;
a) units of the type (verb + postposition type), e.g. to art up, to back up, to drop out, to nose out, to buy into, to sandwich in etc.;
b) units of the type “to be old”. Some of these units remind the Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositions with them, while in the Passive Voice we can have only prepositions “by” or “with”, e.g. to be tired of, to be interested in, to be surprised at etc. There are also units in this type which remind word-groups of the type “to be young”, e.g. to be akin to, to be aware of etc.
c) prepositional- nominal phraseological units. These units are equivalents of unchangeable words: prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, that is why they have no grammar center, their semantic center is the nominal part, e.g. on the doorstep (quite near), on the nose (exactly), in the course of, on the stroke of, in time, on the point of etc.
According to these classifications of structures of phraseological units, in my research I have analyzed the components of phraseological units with the usage of adjectives in the following way;
Component analyses:
Adj + N
A blind alley — тупик
A false alarm –ложная тревога
A smart Aleck- самоуверенный наглец
The awkward age — переходнoй возраст
The gilded age — позолоченный век
Golden age — золотойвек, период расцвета
Tender age — ранний, нежный возраст
Executive agreement -договор, заключаемый президентом с иностранным государством
Hot air- болтовня, пустые слова; вздор, чепуха, ерунда
The strong arm- применение силы, насилие
Cold arms — холодное оружие
The assumptive arms — геральд. вновь присвоенный, ненаследственный герб
Bear arms — служить в армии
High camp — талантливое использование примитивного, наивного, банального
An old campaigner — бывалый человек
Red carpet- элегантный, изящный, парадный
A red cent — медный грош
Fat chance — ирон. никаких шансов;
Long chance — риск, сомнительный шанс
V + ADJ + N
To put (or throw) a wet blanket — охладить пыл, действовать расхолаживающе, обескураживать, отбивать
To make along arm- протянуть руку, потянуться за (чем-л.)
To sell smb. a goldbrick — обмануть, надуть, обжулить, облапошить кого-л
V + ADJ.
To do brown — обманывать
To bleed white — бледнеть
To look balck — грустить.
V + N + ADJ
To keep the bones green — беречь здоровье.
To catch somebody red handed — задержать кого то в преступлении.
To make the air blue –ругаться, сквернословить
V + ADJ + N + PREP
To make little account of smth — Непридавать значения чему-л
To drive a hard bargain for — много запрашивать, усиленно торговаться
To get a new angle on — стать на новую точку зрения по ка кому-л. вопросу
N + ADJ + N
Worship the golden calf — поклоняться золотому тельцу
PREP + ADJ + N
Of small account — незначительный, не имеющий большого значения; не пользующийся авторитетом
For sour apples — совершенно, совсем
Of good cheer — весёлый, жизнерадостный, полный жизни
V + PREP + ADJ + N
To be in great demand — пользоваться большим спросом
To be in different camps — принадлежать к разнымлагерям
N + PREP + ADJ.
The gentlemen in the black — дьявол.
The boys in blue — полицейские.
Agony in red — ярко- красный костюм
In component analysis I defined that there are a lot of phraseological units which belong to the type of adj+n. From the above examples it is seen that every meaning in language and every difference in meaning is signaled either by the form of the word itself or by the context. The complexity or the semantic structure of the word in general, in particular, explained by the fact as reflection of nature, of people life and culture including their history, traditions, and other such like factors which are sometimes full of contradictions and deep unity.
Grammatical features of adjectives in Phraseology.
As I have studied and analyzed all literatures, I found out that the adjective in phraseology sometimes lost its meaning but anyway the function of the adjective in phraseology is an attribute. As an example the following adjectives proof my opinion.
A smart Aleck — самоуверенный наглец
The awkward age — переходный возраст
The gilded age — позолоченный век
Golden age — золотой век, период расцвета
The assumptive arms — геральд. вновь присвоенный, ненаследственный герб
Bear arms — служить в армии
The broad arrow — английское правительственное клеймо
A round dance — вальс
A bad deal грубое, суровое, несправедливое обращение, притеснение
Dry death — любая смерть кроме смерти от утопления, насильственная смерть без пролития крови
To put (or throw) a wet blanket — охладить пыл, действовать расхолаживающе, обескураживать, отбивать
To make a long arm — протянуть руку, потянуться за (чем-л.)
To sell smb. a gold brick — обмануть, надуть, обжулить, облапошить кого-л
To make good cheer — пировать, веселиться
To keep good company — бывать в хорошей компании, встречаться с хорошими людьми
To make the air blue — ругаться, сквернословить
To be a button short — винтика в голове не хватает, не все дома
To climb into the black — давать прибыль, стать рентабельным
Keep clear of smb — держаться подальше от кого-л
Agony in red — ярко- красный костюм
The long arm of coincidence — удивительное совпадение; редкий случай
By the way I also have analyzed proverbs and sayings, while classifying the structure of the phraseological units with the adjective components and I found out that the adjective’s function as an attribute stays the same not only in phraseological units but in proverbs too.
For eg:
Short acquaintance brings repentance — с новым другом недолго и в беду попаст, на нового друга не полагайся
Anger is a short madness — гнев — кратковременное безумие, гнев сродни безумию
A soft answer turned away wrath — кроткий ответ отвращает гнев, повинную голову меч не сечёт
The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail — чем выше обезьяна взберётся на дерево, тем виднее её хвост
The devil is good when he is pleased — и чёрт бывает добр, когда он доволен
Lexica-Semantic features of Adjectives in Phraseology
It would be interesting now to look at phraseological units from a different angle, namely: how are all these treasures of the language approached by the linguistic science? The very miscellaneous nature of these units suggests the first course of action: they must be sorted out and arranged in certain classes which possess identical characteristics.
It should be clear from the previous description that a phraseological unit is a complex phenomenon with a number of important features, which can therefore be approached from different points of view. Hence, there exist a considerable number of different classification systems devised by different scholars and based on different principles.
The traditional and oldest principle for classifying phraseological units is based on their original content and might be alluded to as «thematic» (although the term is not universally accepted). The approach is widely used in numerous English and American guides to idiom, phrase books, etc. On this principle, idioms are classified according to their sources of origin, «source» referring to the particular sphere of human activity, of life of nature, of natural phenomena, etc. So, L. P. Smith gives in his classification groups of phraseological units used by sailors, fishermen, soldiers, hunters and associated with the realia, phenomena and conditions of their occupations. In Smith's classification I also found groups of phraseological units associated with domestic and wild animals and birds, agriculture and cooking(3). There are also numerous phraseological units drawn from sports, arts, colour etc.
For eg:
Proverbs and sayings
Short acquaintance brings repentance — с новым другом недолго и в беду попаст, на нового друга не полагайся
The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail — чем выше обезьяна взберётся на дерево, тем виднее её хвост
The devil is good when he is pleased — и чёрт бывает добр, когда он доволен
Phraseological units denoting colour
Red meat — консервированная говядина.
Black Friday — бедный день.
Black Monday — первый учебный день после каникул.
White light — дневной свет.
White man — дисциплинированный человек.
Blue study — погружаться в дом.
Blue blood — семья аристократов.
Phraseological units denoting features of character of person’s
Give a good (fine, splendid, etc.) account of oneself — показать себя молодцом
Good advice is beyond price — подлый человек
A smart Aleck — самоуверенный наглец
An angel of light — дорогой, всеми любимый человек
Phraseological units denoting variety of action
Get a new angle on smth — стать на новую точку зрения по ка- кому-л. вопросу
Have a long arm — иметь длинные руки, настигать всюду
Be glad to see smb.’s back (или the back of smb.) — радоваться избавлению от кого-л
Phraseological units denoting object and quality
Cold deck — колода краплёных или подтасованных карт
Dry death — любая смерть кроме смерти от утопления
False coin — подделка
Blind alley employment — (job или occupation) бесперспективное занятие
A false alarm — ложная тревога
The thematic principle of classifying phraseological units has real merit but it does not take into consideration the linguistic characteristic features of the phraseological units.A strong knowledge of phraseological units will help language users to be better speakers and negotiators. And they will be in a much better position to take advantage of the opportunities that come to their way.
References:
- Laroy, C. “Pronunciation” New York: Oxford U. Press. 1995
- Смирницкий А. И. “Лексикология английского языка” Москва: Изд-во литературы на иностранных языках, 1956.
- Pearsall Smith “Words and Idioms in the English language” Constable and Co Limited; 5th or later edition, 1957
