英语词汇学10_2012_8_.pptVIP

Chapter 10  Lexical Chunks (2) Points for Thinking 1. What is a idiom? 2. Illustrate with examples the classification of idioms. 3. What are the characteristics of idioms in terms of the grammatical aspect? 4. What is a proverb? Can you list some features of proverbs? 5. Of the figurative idioms, what are the differences between metaphorical idioms and similized idioms? 10.1 Definition of Idiom An idiom is generally defined as a phrase whose meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at the meaning of individual words it contains. In modern linguistics an idiom is defined as a complex lexical item which is longer than a word form but shorter than a sentence and which has a meaning that cannot be derived from the knowledge of its component parts. Meaning is thus the decisive, if not the only criterion for idioms. The word forms of an idiom do not constitute lexical units and do not make an isolable contribution to the meaning of the whole, but show a unitary meaning. English idioms are an essential part of the general vocabulary. Idioms reflect the environment, life, history, and culture of the native speakers, and are closely associated with their innermost spirit and feeling. E.g. look up, put aside, do away with, the last straw, at the eleventh hour, as straight as an arrow, give sb. the cold shoulder, make both end meet…. They are stylistically neutral, and quite a number of them belong to informal spoken English. An idiom is a fixed group of words or a single word, or even a sentence, with special meaning that cannot be guessed from its constituents. That is to say the meaning of it must be learnt as a whole. Idioms include the following: set phrases (固定短语)、colloquialisms (俗语)、proverbs (谚语)、slang expressions (俚语) English idioms can be irregular and illogical in structure Diamond cut diamond. adv.?? 棋逢对手 It was diamond cut diamond when the two teams met.?那两队一交锋真是棋逢对手，互不相让 through thick and thin不顾艰难险阻,? 在任何情况下 He dashed throug