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Idioms By Izzy Cohen Note: For teachers of English and advanced students. An analytical article about idioms and their origin. Well-researched, well-written and well-presented with tongue in cheek, this is guaranteed to set you thinking. Whether you agree, or not, we would like to hear your comments. |
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| leblanc [ leblanc@163.org ] wrote: ... Some cognitive linguists argue that idioms make sense because they are motivated by conceptual structures independent of language, while some argue (B.Keysar B.M.Bly, 1999) that people understand idioms because they had already learned the true meanings of idioms and that the above-mentioned conceptual structures do not exist. Gibbs et al. demonstrated that mental imagery plays an important role in the comprehension of idioms. Are these mental images spontaneous when we encounter idioms? Or they are just a medium for those who are not familiar with the idioms? I think an idiom (in English) is generated and understood by an English speaker in much the same way as any other foreign word or expression, e.g. "bon appetite", "deja vu", or "e pluribus unum". The difference is when we say, or write an obviously foreign expression, we know it is "foreign" and we expect the listener/reader to recognize it as such and understand it. An idiom is a word or (usually) a phrase from an ancestral or foreign language that has become (re)spelled as common words of the target language. This "definition" is in complete agreement with the etymology of the word "idiom"... from Greek for: something that you (borrow and) make your own. There are several classes of idioms: Class 1 - "clear text" foreign words/phrases that have been
Class 3 - Translations into the target language of foreign-1 puns that
had been transliterated into foreign-1 from "clear text" foreign-1 or foreign-2 words/phrases.
In order to machine-translate idioms without table look-ups, one needs
to determine the original source-language and sometimes to determine an intermediate language from which a translation was made. |
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Izzy's Notes:-
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Language Notes |
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| I have never heard this one; this does not mean it does not exist. Nevertheless, there is an idiom: to be left holding the baby. This can be interpreted literally and metaphorically, but whichever way, it means someone must take responsibility. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is also used when a child is too shy to speak. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grilled cheese on toast is known as Welsh Rarebit, but pronounced Welsh rabbit and considered by many to have the spelling of 'rabbit' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Discussion & Observations |
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| Bibi's Comment: I have to be honest with you. I do not agree with all you
say; however, that is good, because it leads to healthy discussion and perhaps other teachers will
feel the same. Many of our idioms reflect our former way of life and are therefore linked to our history. Izzy's Cohen: Of course there are some of these, but they really are few and far between. For example: 'Wrong Way Corrigan', but one doesn't hear that expression very often any more. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/corrigan/EX16.htm Bibi's Comment: I have never heard this expression, but that does not mean it does not exist - somewhere or other. Nevertheless, it is not in common use. Izzy Cohen: Do you also feel that there was not sufficient contact to enable these phrases to be borrowed into English? Bibi's Comment: There was definitely sufficient contact between Londoners and the Jewish community, but not all over England. Around Whitechapel and surrounding areas, there was a huge Jewish community which dominated traditionally for centuries. Forest Gate shops and Stratford market had a high level of Jewish traders. There are less now. Izzy Cohen: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/med.html First account of Jews in England: 691 |
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This section awaits your comments. |
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