VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI Non compositional expressions in English VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES FINAL ASSIGNMENT ON SEMANTICS NON COMPOSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH Post graduate ĐÀO THỊ NGỌC NGUYÊN K17C Instructor HÀ CẨM TÂM Hanoi – 62010 INTRODUCTION This paper does not pretend to be a thorough examination of every aspect of non compositional expressions in English Rather, it is an att.
Trang 1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
FINAL ASSIGNMENT ON SEMANTICS NON-COMPOSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS
IN ENGLISH
Post-graduate: ĐÀO THỊ NGỌC NGUYÊN - K17C
Hanoi – 6/2010
Trang 2This paper does not pretend to be a thorough examination of every aspect of non-compositional expressions in English Rather, it is an attempt to present the notion of non-compositional expressions through an examination of different types of word combinations, including idioms, collocations and clichés
Within this study, by non-compositional expressions, I mean expressions that do not follow the principle of semantic compositionality Therefore, it is advisable to start the paper with a brief discussion about the principle of compositionality in English
1 The principle of compositionality
Compositionality or syntagmatic delimitation of lexical units (Cruise, 1986 2000) is a basic principle in grammatical semantics which claims that single meanings combine together to form more complex meanings That is to be said, we must interpret utterances from our knowledge of the meanings of simple expressions and the constructions used in combining them
Its strong version (Cruse, 2000) says that “the meaning of a grammatically complex form is a compositional function of the meanings of its grammatical constituents” The traditional view is that the relationship is fairly tight: the meaning of a complex expression is fully determined by its structure and the meanings of its constituents— once we fix what the parts mean and how they are put together we have no more leeway regarding the meaning of the whole This is the principle of compositionality,
a fundamental presupposition of most contemporary work in semantics
“a red hat” = a + red + hat
“the girl is playing football” = the + girl + is + playing + football
Proponents of compositionality typically emphasize the productivity and systematicity
of our linguistic understanding We can understand a large—perhaps infinitely large—
Trang 3collection of complex expressions the first time we encounter them, and if we understand some complex expressions we tend to understand others that can be obtained by recombining their constituents Compositionality is supposed to feature in the best explanation of these phenomena Opponents of compositionality typically point to cases when meanings of larger expressions seem to depend on the intentions
of the speaker, on the linguistic environment, or on the setting in which the utterance takes place without their parts displaying a similar dependence They try to respond to the arguments from productivity and systematicity by insisting that the phenomena are limited, and by suggesting alternative explanations
If we know what the words mean, using our knowledge of syntactic and semantic rules we can work out the meanings of sentences, even ones we have not previously encountered The examples are based on Marchand (1969):
watchmaker writing table speech-writer
bookseller waiting room ironing board
The principle of compositionality, however, is not universally valid The reason for this is the existence of expressions not all of whose grammatical constituents contribute an identifiable component of its meaning Think of phrases like a white
elephant: knowing what white means is no help whatsoever in decoding the meaning
of white elephant (In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, while elephant is
defined as a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot
of money Consider the following example: The new office block has become an
expensive white elephant.)
Such combinations are considered non-compositional expressions; within this study, non-compositional expressions in English include: idioms, collocations, and clichés
2 Idioms
An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional-that is, whose meaning does not follow the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed
Trang 4For example, the English phrase to “kick the bucket” means to die A listener knowing the meaning of “kick the bucket” will not thereby be able to predict that the expression
can mean to die Idioms are often, though perhaps not universally, classified as figures
of speech
Idioms typically admit two different interpretations: pure idioms and figurative idioms
Pure idioms are fixed word combinations that have been established through continual use over time They are non-compositional in meaning, and do not permit substitution
of words by similar words Figurative idioms are those phrases that have both a literal and a non-compositional (figurative) meaning The figurative interpretation is the more common, and the literal one is seldom, if ever, applicable
Continuing with the previous example, when we say that someone kicked the bucket,
we usually mean that the person died However, in certain contexts, we could intend this to mean that someone literally kicked some bucket
Below, I give some examples of idioms in English with explanations of their origins
or meanings followed
To let the cat out of the bag
This idiom was probably originated in English marketplaces many years ago Traders would put a cat in a bag and would try to deceive possible customers by saying it was
a pig People would buy the bag without close inspection of the contents, but then they would let the cat out of the bag and realize that they had been deceived, which is the meaning it has nowadays
To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
This expression is used to refer to a member of a wealthy family It was probably originated from an old custom whereby godparents used to present the child at the christening with a silver spoon
Trang 5 Never look a gift-horse in the mouth
This is an old saying and it's related to the way that a horse's age is calculated: by looking at its teeth The expression now means that you should accept a received gift without trying to find a fault in it
Dressed to the nines
This may come from an alteration of "dressed to the eyes", which was written in Old English as "to then eyne" The letter n of then was removed and moreover, eyne was changed to nine Another explanation is that the number ten is considered the ultimate point of perfection Therefore, if someone is dressed to the nines, he must look really smart
It's raining cats and dogs
This is a very old expression linked to the ancient beliefs of sailors and also to Norse mythology Cats were associated with heavy rain and dogs with storms and wind Therefore, this expression was used to refer to severe rainstorms Nowadays, it has become old-fashioned
To catch someone red-handed
This meaning of this idiom is "to find someone when he's doing something wrong" It alludes to the discovery of the murderer so soon after committing the crime that blood
is still on his hands
To bury the hatchet
This comes from the American custom of burying hawks and other weapons as a sign that hostilities between the American Indians and the White had ended Nowadays, this idiom is used to refer to coming to peaceful terms with an opponent
3 Collocations
Trang 6The term ‘collocation’ was first introduced by Firth (1951) On defining the level of meaning created by word combinations or patterns, he stated ‘You shall know a word
by the company it keeps’ (Firth 1957)
Consider this example:
What time is it?
I don’t have the time to go to the party.
It is almost time to go to the airport.
I’ve done the same mistake time and time again
We should get there in time for the start of the meeting.
It can be observed that the word ‘time’ has many senses, but the surrounding words, or
‘collocation’ signals the sense being used It could also be said that the sense in which
‘time’ is used determines the surrounding words
Halliday (1966) and Sinclair (1966) introduced the notion that patterns of collocation can form the basis for a lexical analysis of language alternative to, and independent of, the grammatical analysis
Whatever definition the term ‘collocation’ may be provided by different linguists, collocations, basically, are words which often go together to produce nature-sounding speech or writing However, as collocations and idioms share the characteristics of having arbitrary restriction on the commutability of the elements in word combinations, it is of significance to make any possible distinction between collocations and idioms
The distinction between collocations and idioms, in turn, may be recognized
through an examination of three factors determining the categorization of a lexical combination in English language These factors are the degree of probability that the items will co-occur, the fixity of the combination (i.e grammatical restrictions), and the degree to which the meaning of the combination can be derived from the meaning
of its constituent parts Based on the three factors, a continuum on which the lexical
Trang 7combinations placed can be proposed The continuum suggested by Woods (1981) is
from the least predictable combinations to the fixed ones: idioms –
collocations-colligations- free combinations
Idioms, on the continuum, stand at one end of the cline They seem to be definable both from their semantic characteristics and the fixity of their constituents They are seen to function semantically as a single unit and tend not to allow for substitution of their elements, nor for grammatical or syntactic alterations Collocations, standing after idioms in the cline, are presented as ‘roughly predictable yet restricted to certain specified items’
For example:
Free combination want a car; read the paper
Collocation shrug one’s shoulder; make a decision
Idiom sweeten the pill; kick the bucket
Kjellmer (1994) regards idioms as a ‘subcategory of collocations’ and defines idioms
as ‘a collocation whose meaning cannot be deduced from the combined meaning of its constituents’
In the following part examples of ‘happy’ collocations in English will be presented as
an illustration for various interpretations a word may have when combined in different collocations
‘Happy’, when combines with a word that has the feature ‘human’ like ‘child’ or
‘family’, reveals the sense of enjoying pleasure, contentment or joy A happy child,
therefore, is a child who enjoys or has happiness
In such phrases as a happy mood, a happy frame of mind, a happy smile, a happy
face, ‘happy’ suggests the expression or refection of happiness
‘Happy’ can convey the meaning ‘giving or causing pleasure’ A happy marriage,
a happy childhood, a happy life, a happy memory or a happy retirement are those that
make you feel happy because there are enjoyable things happened
Trang 8 In other collocations such as a happy coincidence, a happy accident, a happy
experience, a happy position, or a happy land, ‘happy’ becomes synonymous with
‘lucky’, ‘fortunate’, or ‘providential’
When combined with words that have the feature ‘discourse’ such as ‘story’ or
‘report’, ‘happy’ roughly means ‘containing a happy event or events’
Also, ‘happy’ can go with nouns denoting words, ideas, or behaviour, formally
stressing the suitability and appropriateness of words, ideas, or behaviour for a
particular situation A happy turn of phrase is especially well expressed and to
the pointed A happy choice and a happy advice, similarly, meet the
requirements of a purpose or situation Synonyms of "happy" in this sense include "suitable", "appropriate", and "felicitous"
4 Clichés
A cliché (from French name cliché) originally was a printing term for a semi-permanently assembled piece of type which could easily be inserted into the document
being printed It has come to mean a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel By extension, "cliché" applies also to almost any situations, subjects, characterisations, or objects that have similarly become overly familiar or commonplace Their meanings may also be misunderstood leading to them being often misused As a result, many feel that they should not be used and are seen as an indicator of lack of creativity, innovation, or sincerity Because the novelty or frequency of an expression's use varies between different times and places, whether a given expression is a cliché depends largely on who uses it and who makes the judgment
On the other hand, there can also be advantages to using clichés The use of a cliché that is well known to the audience can help keep the storytelling on a fast pace without
as much explanation and elaboration They can also help in connecting with the audience by showing them something with which they are familiar or can relate to There are some characteristics among clichés:
Trang 9 They don't need to be decoded globally.
These phrases are stored as complete units in the brains, being easy to retrieve and easy to decode
Their propositional features of truth or falseness are never seriously examined, functioning as discourse markers
Followings are some common illustrated examples of clichés in English:
‘I’m sure about this.’
‘Ladies and Gentlemen’
‘I won’t take no for answer.’
‘As far as I’m concerned’
‘Behind the clouds, the sun is shining.’
‘I will survive.’
‘Making a bad decision is better than making no decision at all.’
‘You get nothing for free.’
‘No pain, no gain’
‘It’ll feel better when it stops hurting.’
‘Goodbye is not an easy word to say.’
‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’
‘Love hurts.’
‘One lost, ten found’
‘The sun in your eyes made some of the lies worth believing.’
‘Truth is nothing but a feeling that something is true.’
Trang 10In all kinds of text, non-compositional expressions are essential, indispensable elements with which our utterances are very largely made; and even very advanced learners can often make inappropriate word combinations
For English learners, non-compositional expression is an important part of the language to be mastered This is also an area which ‘resists’ tuition, and, therefore, requires special and systematic attention
Trang 111 Kjellmer, G (1994) A Dictionary of English Collocations Clarendon Press
2 Lyons, J (1995) Linguistics Semantics: An Introduction London: CUP
3 Larson, R and G Segal (1995) Knowledge of meaning: an introduction to
semantic theory Cambridge MA
4 Firth, J.R (1997) Modes of meaning Oxford University Press
5 Cruse, A (2000) Meaning in language Oxford University Press
6 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2002) Oxford
University Press