Towards lexicographic description of Idioms in the English language: comparative analysis Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 11 (2015 8) 2572-2581

УДК 88131.111

Towards Lexicographic Description of Idioms in the English Language: Comparative Analysis

Yulia S. Perevezentseva*

Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev 24 Minin Str., Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russia

Received 27.02.2015, received in revised form 11.09.2015, accepted 07.11.2015

The aim of the article is to compare two practices of lexicographic description of idioms: British and American. Modern and authority American and British dictionaries of idioms become the focus of interest. The subject matter is an entry, and the object of study is its significative and denotative, connotative and additional components. The study reveals merits and otherwise, perspectives of the compared lexicographic practices.

Keywords: idiom, dictionary, lexicographic description, British and American dictionaries of idioms. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-2015-8-11-2572-2581. Research area: pedagogy, philology .

Introduction

Being international the English language arouses a great interest in the contemporary world. In this regard, among English learners there is a tendency to free language, a desire to make their oral and written language more colorful, fascinating and to understand an underlying subtext in literature. It is no secret that idioms create the main difficulties in the study of the language. Not living in the target language, the images using English-speaking population seem to be very strange. As a result, one of the main problems learners have with idioms is that it is often impossible to guess the meaning of an idiom from the words it contains.

© Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved

* Corresponding author E-mail address: khokhlovaj@mail.ru

Comprehensive studies on the nature of idioms and the methods of their investigation have had a significant impact on the development and further improvement of phraseography. The main element of idioms dictionary, like any other, is an entry. It concentrates all information about an interpret unit and reflects the basic principles of one or the other of the two lexicographical publications.

The form of an entry is quite straightforward, consisting of entry head, definition, comments (if any), and examples. Each component of an entry is paid enough attention in modern lexicography. Linguists focus on labels (S.K. Bashieva (1998), V.I. Telia (1996), D.A. Zhorzholiani (1987)),

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the principles of idiom interpretation (A.N. Baranov and D.O. Dobrovolskii (1998), I.A. Sternin and T.A. Chiubur (2006)), its variations (I.A. Sternin (1986)) and choice of examples (L.V. Minaeva (1986), M.R. L'vov (2000)). L.P. Stupin (1985), A.V. Kunin (1996), A. Makkai (1972), R. Moon (1998) made indispensable contribution to the study of general and particular problems of English theoretical and applied lexicography. The writings of modern scholars - Yu.A. Ermolaeva (1990), A.R. Ayupova (2009) - revived a former interest to the problem of lexicographic description form the basis of the article. The scientists analyze entries for fixed phrases (FP further). Comparing their researches, we note that Y. A. Ermolaeva analyzes an entry by studying its components (definition, gloss and examples), whereas in contrast, R.A. Ayupova highlights different meaning components of FP and associates them with the components of the entry. In our opinion, the pattern of lexicographic description of R.A. Ayupova is more comprehensive. Focus on the pattern in more detail.

Theoretical framework

R.A. Ayupova considers that usefulness of a lexicographical description must be estimated based on how full connotative, significative and denotative components of phraseological meaning are reflected in an entry, and how full additional components are presented in the entry. So, the scientist does entry research of FPs including idioms through analyzing of three elements: a significative and denotative macro-component of phraseological definition; a connotative macro-component of phraseological definition; additional components of an entry.

The first - the significative and denotative macro-component of phraseological definition -relates to definitions. In spite of existing different

classifications of vocabulary definitions in the scientific literature R.A. Ayupova believes that there are five characteristic types of vocabulary definitions:

• definition as a free phrase or a sentence (i.e. interpretation with a simple sentence);

• a combined type of definition (i.e. a definition may consists of several parts: "free phrase + fixed phrase (FP)", "lexical item + FP", "free phrase + lexical item + FP" and so on);

• definition as an expended sentence (i.e. interpretation with a complex sentence);

• definition as a lexical unit;

• definition as a synonym or an antonym.

At the same time, in the scientist's opinion,

whichever definition is presented, it must be:

• clear, compact and precise;

• not interpreted by other FPs;

• created taking into account a category feature and a syntactic structure of a fixed unit. Other words, nominal FPs must be interpreted by nominal kennings; verb FPs - by verbs/verb phrases, etc. Thus, a definition within a microstructure of a phrase-book must show adequately all features of FPs which is put into dictionaries.

The connotative macro-component of phraseological definition is a reference to the analysis of special labels. R.A. Ayupova considers that all labels can be divided into seven categories. The first category involves the labels pointing at using FPs in a certain communicative area. It can be the following labels: literary, colloquial, subcolloquial, rude. The second category of labels points at communicative atmosphere in which the FP is used. It is so-called status labels: formal, informal, euphemism. The third category contains the labels informing of FP status

within diachronic approach to the study of language. It is so-called temporal labels: archaic, old-fashioned, neologism, rare. The labels pointing at using of FPs in a certain field of human action or science belong to the forth category. The fifth category involves the labels that denote the function of FPs in a certain social sphere. It can be the following labels: slang, jargon, taboo, vulgar. The sixth category of labels classifies FPs on an area basis (regional labels). It is the following labels: American, Australian, Scottish, etc. Lastly the seventh category of labels points at the area in which an idiom has been used primarily. All these types of labels demonstrate a functional and stylistic aspect of FPs.

Also, in the scientist's opinion, there are so-called emotive and expressive labels in phrasebooks. The emotive labels show evaluation the FP: approbation, irony, disapproval, contempt, affection, etc. As a rule, expressiveness is a part of an entry and expresses through the following words: extremely, fully and etc.

Illustrative examples, etymological and culturological data, multiple meanings, variances of FPs, their valency (lexical, grammatical), optional words fall within additional components. R.A. Ayupova notes that there are several variances of FPs: graphical (Merrie (or Merry) England), lexical (the bowels of mercy/pity), morphological and syntax (have one's heart in one's mouth/one's heart sank into boots), grammatical (in the turn (turning) of a hand). Also to do entry research of a FP, it is necessary to pay attention whether there are optional units, lexical, grammatical valency in dictionaries. Any part of speech can be an optical unit. The unit is presented, as a rule, parenthetically, for example: at (long) last, (say) enough is enough. Lexical valency shows if the FP can be joined with some words or phrases. Grammatical valency appears when the FP can be joined with certain words groups.

If the three components are discussed, entry research may be considered fully. In our work entry research of an idiom will be realized according to the pattern suggested by R.A. Ayupova.

Statement of the problem

Taking into account uniqueness and originality of idioms, we believe that it is very interesting to study its lexicographic descriptions in a comparative manner. The importance of the research is caused by the possibility to study the different lexicographical traditions, to synthesis the common factors and practical results of lexicographic description of idioms and to estimate the achievements and the failures.

The guiding questions are as followers:

1. based on the analysis of the most authoritative dictionaries of idioms, to establish what types of definitions and how they are used for idioms semantization;

2. to analyze the labels;

3. to identify the most frequently used types of examples in the dictionaries;

4. to compare the principles of lexicographic descriptions in different dictionaries consistently.

The sources for our study are the most authoritative American and British dictionaries of idioms of the English language, namely: Dictionary of American Idioms (2005); The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (2003); Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (2004); Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (2002). They all are modern (made after 2000 year), big (each contains several thousands of idiomatic expressions and phrases), monolingual (English), definition, alphabetized dictionaries. They are not only a collection of idioms but verbal collocations, clichés, explanations and sayings, similes and comparisons, common phrases, phrasal verbs. Thus, the used dictionaries are similar.

Keeping in mind the lexis of the dictionaries, we can note dictionary makers to be far from the problem of defining idiom (S.Y. Chornobay, 2011; L. Grant, L. Bauer, 2004).

Methods

In the course of our research we use:

• the comparative method to study ways of lexicographic description in British English and American English;

• the descriptive method to definite features of lexicographic description in each of the above languages;

• the contextual method to analyze split-level idioms (morphological, grammatical, lexical and etc.);

• the quantification method to do quantitative research of interpretation ways of idioms.

Discussion

We start with studying of a significative and denotative component of an idiom in the chosen American and British dictionaries. According to R. A. Ayupova, the characteristics of the component are formed on the basis of a definition analysis. In the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms we found definitions as free (simple)

phrases or sentences, as expended (compound and complex) sentences as well as a combined type of definition (descriptive and etymological). In the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms entry heards are interpreted by using simple, compound and complex sentences as well as lexical units and cross-references. For idioms to be defined, expended and free sentences are mainly used in the American Heritage Dictionary of Idiom. The Dictionary of American Idioms uses the same ways of idiom interpretation as the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. The quantitative analysis gives the possibility to correlate the types of definitions (see Table 1) and show what extent one or another type is widespread in the dictionaries under consideration.

According to the table much of definitions belong to the expended type, interpretations as free (simple) sentences come after them. Further the order is the following: lexical units, cross-references and, finally, a combined type of definitions. It should be noted that both the British and American dictionaries that are under investigation use variety of types of definitions.

Analyzing the components of the definitions, firstly, it was notable that definitions contain a specific part separated with the mark "hand"

Table 1

Type of definition Dictionary of American Idioms The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms Oxford Dictionary of Idioms Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms

free (simple) phrase/ sentence 27% 18% 23% 23%

expended (compound and complex) sentence 46% 74% 49% 55%

lexical unit 18% 3% 15% _

cross-references 9% 5% 13%

a combined type of definition _ _ _ 22%

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in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. The part explains what the idiom usually describes, when it can be used, shows the most typical range of objects or- subjects for an idiom. For i nstance :

once upon a time literary

1 Along timeagû att This pSeasf tsûftnr used a? a way of beginning children's frtrn-íes.» OeertypensT rtee there iweda young girl edited Cinderella.

(CIDI, 2005,

Secondly, most of the definitions used to describe complex idiams have a similar strueaure with puop words of theae idiomh in both the British and American dictionaries. For instance, Adj+N, N+ sentence structure are the most common^ used descriptive rtnichuaes for the nominal idioms in the American dictionaries of idioms, wheneas in cnntratC, Adj+N, N+Participle, N+ sentence structure, indirect description are typical for the same nominal idioms in the British dictionaries. Interpretation of verb idiomatic phrases is by way of verbal combinations with the vert) in the preposition. However, to intespret e verb idiomatic phrase, an indirect descsiption is also used in tine Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. For example:

get thé shaft American, informal if someone gets the shaft, they arc not treated in a fair way * The tax system is all urrong - the rich just get richer and U's the poor whogtf. the shaft.

(Ibid, 343)

So, nhe principle of idiom semantizarion is about the same in all dictionaries investigated in the work. But at the same time, the British dictionaries involve mort definitions having different descriptive stsuctuses than the American.

Now we will proceed to the connotative component of the dictionaries. As already mentioned above, a label is such a component. Studying aictionaries we can say about the following categories of labels (see table 2)

According to the table, it is clear that emotive and expressive labels are not used at all in the phrase-books, whereas in contrast, functional and stylistic labels presents very limited, especially in the American dictionaries .

With regatd to additional component of an entry, all dictionaries which are under review contain illustrative examples. In the Cambridge Inte rna tional Dihtionary of Idioms, the Dictionary of American Idioms, entry heads are illustrated with examples based on sentences from different Corpuses. In the Oxford Dictionary of Idihms illustrative quotations are takenhrom a variety oh sources: from novels to tmavel guidts brohdahfet newspapevs to teenage magazines. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms uses (quotations of earlier writers such as Chaucer. To avoid the difficulties in the process of reading, many quotations have had their spelling normalized and so me have been rendered into Modern Engtish. Thus, except Thn American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms all others contaen examplesthat reflett natural written and spoken English.

Inboth the British and American dictionaries multiple meanings can be found in a number of idioms, but in diffetent ways. Same idioms appenr in both figurative ond litsral seanes in the name entry in the Dictionary of American Idioms. One sense helps the user understand the other sense. In this case, the figurative sense has its origin in the literal sense. In the entries where this occurs, the literal senses are marked Lit. and the figurative senses are marked Fig. In 'The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms the idiom meanings have a chronological order. For example:

Table 2

Categoeies of labels Dictionary of American Idioms The American Heritage Dictionary ofldioms Oxford DD ictionary of Idioms Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms

lnbels pointing ft a certain communicative area V V V

status labels V V

temporal labels V

labels pointing at a certain field of human action or science

labels pointing at a certain social spheoe V V

regional label s V V

labels j)ointing tt the area in wliich an idiom has been used primarily V

emotive and expressive labels

big dnridy

1. An Influential man, a big shot (sk under BIG CHEESE}, as in You'll he ve to get psmtssOan from big daddy. [Viang; mid-l$00r] O. F ma Is s weetheart or friend, often amnn considerably olds* than his ferae la companion; aSU&Fft DADDY. [Slang; nid-l900s] 3, Grandfather, This usage originated in the Soutti among African-Americans, 4. The largest or most Important person or thing of its kind,

For example, The United States has bag been the big daddy of the Western Henvspheie, or The blue wbate was the big daddy of the ocesn. [Slang; 1960s]

(AHDI, 2003: 99)

The Brieish dictionariess list the meanings of idioms without any Hmitations. In these dictionaries, we fi nil cases when the shadings oO the same meaning are presented as on individual meaning. For example:

without fail

pi] If Stirntfthlnji liuppcm without tail, it ¿ijwitys happen^ * Every Tuesday aflirmmn, without faii, Hcitfa uxnl lo visit htrfitfhrr.

^something thai you say in order to enipli№i??t}iat wirwfthlJie ivill twdcwof will happen * 'You wiJf mff( mt ol thc airport, went you?' Uon't worry, Ft I be Chertirithoutfail.'

(CIDI, 2002, 125)

The example demonstrates a significant degree of subjectivity in establishing polysemy of idioms. In our opinion, to distinguish the

meanings of the idiom «without fail" is difficult enough.

Anothe r additional co mponnnt of an ennry which acoording to R.A. Ayupova we should pay attention is variance ol" FPs. In spite of containing American, British, Australian versions of idioms, the studied dictionroies do not inPorm about graphical variance of idioms. Only the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms co ntains data concerning grammatic al forms ef some components of idioms, for instance:

HeTCheTThey can whittle for It! (CIDI, 2002, 422);

taKe a/ltsWieir toll (Ibid, 396);

as If there w at'we re no tomorrow (ibid).

Lexical (a tall story/tale (Ibid, 383), burn to a elndir Also, burr to a crisp. (AHDI,

2003, 147), balance the accounts 1. Lri. and balance the books (DAI, 2005, 32), spare {or save) someone's blushes (ODI,

2004, 31) and in a less degree morphological (pass the hat around/round (CIDI, 2002, 79), bullshit artist Also, bull artist. (AHDI, 2003, 143)) variants of idioms are presented in the British and American dictionaries under consideration.

Various additional words are used optionally within a single idiomatic expression inDictionary of American Idioms and Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. These words are included as a part of some idioms since they are so typical of conventional usage. Moreover, idiomatic exptessiona seem difficult simply because tlney are shortened versions of a longer expression that would be eaaier too understand in its fula foam. The followinr exemples illusbra)e optional words:

The dicttoneries do not record combinations, word lints with which an idiom can be used. Partly the data can be taken from examples provided in entries. The situation concerning the references to the grammatical valency of idioms is more favorably in the dictionaries. Each dictionary involves so-called wild card terms. As a rule, they are represented by someone, something, one's. All of the wild card terms are descriptive of the kind of words or phrases they can stand for. Wild card terms are mostly nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases. There is no way that these terms could be listed in an index. Therefore, the user is advised to save time by first looking up a vefb, adverb, or preposition rathee than a noun or pronoun. The Dictionary of American Idioms contains marks pointing at the definite grammatical features of components of idioms. The entry head, for instance break something dawn* (DAI, 2005, 60), contains a dagger ft) that indicates that the "down" can be transported to a position just after the vert). Among others phere ie an asterisk (*). For example: breast of someone or something tIbid, 2). Ii metns thht the expression csn usually

stand alone, at least in a casual conversation but it can be preceded I)}2 the appropriate verbs given within the; entry:

*abreastof someoneor something 1. Li r. keeping even with someone or something. ("Typically: be ~;get ~;keep Stay ™.) □ i had to run hard to stay abreast of Sally. 2. Fig. knowing the news about someoneor something. ("Typically: be get keep stay □ The

press corps h ríí ro keep abreast of the president.

Some orammatical feaiuies are lpbeled at examples in the Cambribge International Dictionary of Idioms. Fo n tnstance:

the grass root»

the ordinary people in <s society or poijtical organization 3iid not the leaders • (often + ofi The feeling among the grass rootsof the. party is that the leader* aren't radical erwugh.

grass-roots • (always before noun) He's popular enough wilJtln the leadership but fee doein't have much grass-roots support.

(CIDI, 2002, 1(62), i.eohe dictionary denotes that this idiom cs often foSlowed by the preposition "of" and "grass-roots" as an adjective is always used before the noun it describes. or

grin like a Cheshire cat * (usually ill continuous, tenses) What hatxycu got to look so riappy about, teajkilts round here grinning itkts a Cheshire cat?

(Ibid, 164), i.e. this idiom is usually used in continuous tenses.

The Oxford Diptionary off Idioms and the American Hhritage Distienary off Idioms make a retrospective journey in the history of the origin of idioms as well as its use and its individual components. The (Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms gives comments on specific words which are in the combination of groups of idioms which all use the same figurative meaning of the words. In such cases, a note explains the figurative meaning and all idioms which follow it have that meaning. For instance:

Blood it also u&ed in the following Fhrases to refer to the connections that exist between members of the same

Blood is thicker than water.

EOtnethitig that you e^y which means family relationships are strong.tr and more important than other hinds of relationships, such as being friends

• 'i'hiy Sity blo&d Is thicker than ivatei; so fwui come so many families hate each

a blood brother

a man who has promised to treat another man as his brother, often In a ceremony In which they cut tiiiim^lves sjid mix their blood together * We were blood brothers -1 teas tvady to die for him.

(Ibid, 40) Also idioms which are very common and useful for learners of English are highlighted in the dictionary, for instance

blew-by-blew

a blow-by-blow description of an event pives ever}' <leiaU of hew it happened

* She gave me a blow-by-blow account of

her car crash.

(Ibid) There are also photocopiable exercises at the back of the dictionary.

Thus, the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms and the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms involving hittorical, culturological data gives opportunity to have vast information about the idiom of interest. In addition to the principle of presoription, the principle of training and methodological practicability is added in the Dictionary of American Idioms

and the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. Their entries are aimed not only to explain and show how to use idioms, but also to help those who are learning the English language.

Conclusion

The comparative analysis of significative and denotative, connotative and additional components of an entry showed the following features the American and British dictionaries of idioms:

• deficiency offiritish- American, American or British common lexicographic stendaeds of fdiom description. As a result, we wece observing a spontaneous, inconsistence and, in common, non-systemic choice, interpretation and presentation of idioms;

• lack of structural and linguistic date, namely, information about semantic relations, lexical valency and syntagmatic relationship the studied idioms to appreciate better their meanings and use easier in discourse in both the American and British dictionaries;

• existence the tendency to make a full, manifold, polyfunctional characteristics of a lexical item in both American and British lexicographic practice;

• sonstructiveness the trend to make dicrionaay integral part of the didactic material for studying English in both lexicographic practice

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К проблеме лексикографического описания идиом в английском языке: сравнительный анализ

Ю.С. Перевезенцева

Нижегородский государственный технический университет

им. Р.Е. Алексеева Россия, 603950, Нижний Новгород, Минина, 24

В статье сравниваются две практики лексикографического описания идиом: британская и американская. В центре внимания оказываются современные и наиболее авторитетные американские и британские словари идиом. Предметом изучения является словарная статья, а объектом - её сигнификативно-денотативные, коннотативные и дополнительные компоненты. Проведенное исследование выявляет достоинства, недостатки и перспективы сравниваемых лексикографических практик.

Ключевые слова: идиома, словарь, лексикографическое описание, британские и американские словари идиом.

Научная специальность: 13.00.00 - педагогические науки, 10.00.00 - филологические науки.