Курсовая с практикой на тему Этимология идиом и фразеологических оборотов

Содержание:

Introduction. 3

Chapter I. Theoretical aspects of the study of English idioms. 5

1.1 The definition of an
idiom.. 5

1.2 Classification of idioms. 11

Summary
to the first chapter 18

Chapter
II. Etymological basics of English phraseological units. 19

2.1
The etymology of the English idioms. 19

2.2
English idioms in use. 28

Summary
to the second chapter 34

Conclusion. 35

Bibliography. 37

Введение:

The richness of a language also becomes palpable when we take a close look
at the idioms and idiomatic phrases used there in since idioms are first and
foremost associated with cultural mind-set.

Idioms derive from the culture of a nation and from daily life. They are
special language forms that convey cascades of culture- specific information
such as religion, history, customs, national identity, speaking manners,
national behavior etc. We can get a better understanding of a certain culture
by investigating the idioms as they hold a cultural background behind
themselves.

They help language learners better understand the culture, penetrate into
the customs and lifestyle of a particular people, and gain a deeper insight
into their history.

An idiom is a figurative
expression which meaning is different from, or more than the sum of, the
meanings of its elements (e.g. kick the bucket).

Idioms were long seen as
dead, frozen metaphors, a view that has been reexamined and challenged during
the past years (Lakoff 1987, Gibbs 1990, 1992: 485, 1993: 57-61, Kövecses and
Szabó 1996). “Dead” refers to the origins of an idiom; idioms are often thought
to carry arbitrary meanings of which metaphorical nature has been forgotten.
This characteristic is also connected to the dispute about how idioms are
accessed and understood.

The basic
principles of phraseology as a linguistic discipline were developed by V. V.
Vinogradov, N. N. Amosova, A. V. Kunin, V. N. Telia, Logan Smith, J. Seidl, W. McMordie
and other scientists. Many
scientists such as A. V. Kunin,
Y. A. Safrin, L. P. Smith, U. Weinreich, J. Strassler, A. Makkai and others paid attention to origin, meaning and use of idioms in English.

In modern information society, people need
well-developed communication competence in all spheres of society. Any aspect
of human activities has a set of special idioms, be it politics, Economics,
law, etc. One of the most important aspects in studying of English idioms is
the etymology of idioms, as it is easier to learn and understand an idiom when
its origin is known. This study is undoubtedly relevant, as it contains idioms
of modern English that reveal the beauty of the language. The relevance of this
topic is determined by the need for more in-depth coverage of the origin of
English idioms in phraseology.

This research aims to investigate the meaning of some
English idioms, their etymology and analysis, in order to classify the origin
of idioms into groups that reflect different topics. This goal involves solving
the following tasks:

 to explain the
concept of “idioms”;

1. to consider sources of idioms;

2. to
understand the aim of the modern usage of idioms;

3. to
distinguish different kinds of idioms;

4. to
identify the etymology of English idioms.

The Object of the study is the etymology of idioms in English.

The subject of the research is the peculiarities of
the use of English idioms.

The methods of investigation included contrastive, distributive,
componential analyses.

The work consists of
introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, and the reference list of the works
used.

The first chapter of
the work, the theoretical part is devoted to the definition of idioms, its classification
in English.

The second part includes questions on etymology and functional
features of idioms.

In
the conclusion of my paper I tried to draw some results from the investigations
made within the main part of my work.

The theoretical value of the research is in elaboration of certain aspects
of English phraseology.

The practical value is in the possibility to apply its results in special
courses of the English language lexicology.

Заключение:

Idioms and
fixed expressions are an inalienable part of each language found in large
numbers in most of the languages. English cultures as most of the western cultures
have their origins in the Geek and Latin heritage; and Christianity as their
cultural background. English language is full of idiomatic expressions because
they are originated from literary masterpieces, the Bible, Greek and Roman
mythologies, historic events, customs, daily life …etc. Speaking about idioms
is just like speaking about culture that is why idioms are particular to a
language, group of peoples, area or region.

The idioms
reflect the customs, prejudices, historical facts, everyday realities and
everyday experience of people. According to the expert of English phraseology
Logan P. Smith, idioms "reflect people's life in all its manifestations:
relations between people, life impressions and feelings of people... etc. [8,
p. 110-111]

Traditionally,
there are several main sources of Idioms. Some idioms of the "worldwide
English" have first been seen in the works of writers like Shakespeare,
Sir Walter Scott, Lewis Carroll or even in the paperbacks of contemporary
novelists. An example of Shakespearian quotation can be found in the following
sentence:"As a social worker, you certainly see the seamy side of
life." Biblical references are also the source of many idioms. Sports
terms, technical terms, legal terms, military slang and even nautical
expressions have found their way to the everyday use of English language.

Idioms
include all areas of life. Idioms include medical areas, there are color
idioms, such as 'a black look' or 'be in the black', food idioms 'piece of
cake', business idioms, money idioms, animal idioms and body idioms, such as
'armed to teeth' meaning 'heavily armed with deadly weapons'.

The current
study has generally reached the following conclusions:

1. Idiomatic
expressions are culturally-bound and are related to historical backgrounds.

2. Idiomatic
expression have certain features. Their meaning cannot be retrieved from the
meanings of the sum of words that compose them, and so on.

3. There are
many types to idiomatic expression, some are pure idioms, some may be phrasal
verbs and so on.

4. Idiomatic
expression have a figurative meaning that is different from the literal
meanings of its composing words within the expression.

5. Idiomatic
expressions have a relation with context and their meanings are found to be
easier to figure out when used in context.

6. Some
non-native speakers may imprecisely guess a different meaning to idiomatic
expressions effected by their own cultural background. Idiomatic expressions are used on a daily
basis by native English speakers and that is why idiomatic expressions ought to
be included in EFL teaching materials and should not be neglected.

Фрагмент текста работы:

Chapter I. Theoretical aspects of the study of English
idioms

1.1 The definition of an
idiom Idioms are the feature of each language; they are a
very interesting category of stable verbal combinations that often have
semantic meanings, completely different from the meanings of the words from
which they are composed.

One and the same thought in different languages is
expressed through the verbal formulation chosen according to those
"representations" which have developed in the people speaking this
language. And although each nation has its own approach to understanding the
life situations encountered by any person, regardless of his place of
residence; yet some semantic commonality of reasoning is found in all Nations.

The concept of "idioms" is not yet precisely
defined by linguists. There are different opinions about idiomatic expressions
and phraseological units. Are there any differences between them or are these
concepts complete synonyms.

The science dealing with the study of idioms is called
phraseology. In the Russian linguistic tradition idioms are usually called
phraseological units. In the last 10-15 years, the term "idiom" has
become widespread, "the Greek prototype of which (idioma) gave the name to
phraseological units in the English language (idiom).

The meanings of words and the compositional meanings
of phrases and sentences are routinely generated and used to infer what a
speaker intends to convey. Idiom use and comprehension is an integral part of
everyday conversation, and it is also an integral part of discourse processing.
An idiom is a widely used phrase that, when taken as a whole, has a particular
meaning that you would not be able to deduce from the meanings of the
individual words. The ubiquitous greeting “How are you doing today?” is an example
of an idiom. Normally, how means “in what manner” or “to what degree.” Taken
literally, the question doesn’t make a lot of sense. But fluent English
speakers understand the idiomatic meaning; “How are you doing today?” usually
just means “hello.”

Phraseology consists of three sections: idioms,
idiopathetic (semi-idioms) and Phraseomatica. This division is based on
different types of phraseological units meaning: from more complicated to less
complicated.

Phraseological seam, or idioms - unmotivated units,
acting as the equivalent of words, for example, As easy as pie (легче легкого), The
acid test (серьёзное испытание), Another
cup of tea (совсем другое дело), Behind
closed doors (за закрытыми дверями, тайно).