Holistic Integration：A New Perspective for the Study of English Idioms 英语习语研究新视角：整合处理法.doc

holistic integration：a new perspective for the study of english idioms 英语习语研究新视角：英语习语研究新视角： 整合处理法整合处理法 abstract idioms, which are the quintessence of the english language, are pervasive in our everyday linguistic repertoires. the creation of idioms reflects new ways in which individuals construct concepts of the world and convey them vividly. however, due to the different cultural backgrounds and a low level of linguistic competence in the target language, people who learn english as a second language are at a distinct disadvantage in understanding english idioms, idiom comprehension becomes a great obstacle between the communications of people. in view of this problem, the author of this thesis tries to propose a new method called holistic integration to help people familiar with a wide range of idioms and able to use them appropriately in context. the holistic approach to english idioms is motivated by the theory that holism puts emphasis on wholes rather than the single part and highlights the interdependence of its components. one of the features of this approach is that it integrates information from background knowledge and organizes parts into an organic, unified whole. to be more specific, holism access involves integrating syntactic, semantic, cognitive and social cultural factors into an organic, unified whole when an idiom is processed. the thesis consists of four parts. a preview of each part is provided as follows. part one is devoted to presenting the origins of the idioms by exploring the different background knowledge of cultural diversity. part two is about the features of idioms, which give a broad sense of what an idiom is like and what kinds of characteristics it has, including the general characters and the distinct properties which only belong to idioms and make them unique and singular. part three begins to introduce the holistic approach and brings up some competences in pragmatics, figuration and socioculture. and in order to assist these competences, the holistic approach of idiom comprehension further specifies a variety of strategies the learner can employ. part four is a conclusion about the entire thesis construction and suggest for further exploration. key words: holistic approach; idioms comprehension; flexibility; idiom processing 摘要摘要 习语，作为一种相对固定的表达用语，渗透于人们的日常语言活动，是英 语语言中的精粹。习语的出现反映了人们构建世界观，并形象表达自己的一种 新方式。然而，由于文化的多样性，以及二语习得中对英语习语缺乏理解，使 得习语成为人们交流中的一大障碍。鉴于此，本文作者提出了一种新方法：整 合处理法。这种方法试图让人们了解更多的习语及其它们在语境中的运用。 整体论注重整体而不偏重于单个部分，并强调各个部分之间的相互依赖性， 这是整合处理法的理论依据。 整合处理法的特征之一是将相关背景知识和信息作总体整合，并把各个部 分集中成一个有机统一整体。具体来讲，在处理习语时，将句法、语义、语用、 认知和社会文化等因素整合成有机的统一体。 全文共四部分组成，每部分的概要具体如下： 第一部分通过对文化背景的探讨，提出了习语形成的渊源。 第二部分是对习语形成及其特征的描述，让人们了解了广义的习语的形成， 及习语的特征，包括它与其它短语相同的特征以及它独有的特征。 第三部分提出习语的整合处理法,并指出了习语在语用、修辞以及社会习俗 方面的语言能力要求。为了帮助提高这些能力，本文还提出了一系列的习语理 解策略以便语言初学者运用。 第四部分是结束语，这部分对文章的内容结构作了总结，并在此基础上提 出要进行更深的研究和分析。 关键词关键词：整合处理法；习语理解；习语可变通性；习语处理 acknowledgments this thesis is the joint efforts of both the author and the teachers in foreign languages department. on accomplishing this paper, i would like to express my gratitude to my academic adviser wan li for her insightful guidance, profound knowledge and support throughout the course of writing. with her contribution, this paper has been perfectly finished. thanks again for the great help and other teachers of our department. at the same time, i want to give my sincere thanks to my classmates and friends who gave me a lot of help during the data collecting. last but not the least; i will extend my heartfelt thanks to my parents who have been always supporting and encouraging me. iv contents introduction1 1 the origins of idioms 3 1.1 influence of geographical conditions3 1.2 influence of social customs .4 1.3 influence of religious beliefs.5 1.4 influence of historical allusions6 2 features of idioms8 2.1 general features8 2.2 distinct properties.10 3 holistic approach to english idioms.12 3.1 background study.12 3.2 holistic integration13 3.2.1 developing competence in pragmatics.13 3.2.2 developing competence in figuration .15 3.2.3 developing competence in socioculture16 3.3 intergrating processing strategies.18 3.3.1 repeating the idiom and requesting its information18 3.3.2 analyzing the idioms.18 3.3.3 guessing from the context 19 3.3.4 using the literal meaning19 3.3.5 using the background knowledge20 3.3.6 making a metaphorical extension.20 conclusions.21 bibliography.23 1 introduction what are idioms? “idioms consist of set phrases and short sentences” and “idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meanings of individual elements.”(zhang, 2004: 174) longman dictionary of contemporary english defines idioms as “ a fixed group of words with a special meaning which is different from the meanings of the individual words.” “most phrasal lexemes are idioms, especially a sequence of words which is semantically and often syntactically restricted.” (hu, 2001: 106) in this paper, the study shows that an idiom consists of at least two words, of which the structure is usually stable and the meaning is unpredictable from its formation, that is, an idiom is an expression whose meaning does not seem to follow logically from the combination of its parts and the “the rules of language”. the word idiom comes from greek and means own to peculiar. so an idiom is a mode of expression peculiar to a language which can not be explained grammatically. idioms are not only colloquial expressions, as many people believe. they can appear in formal style and in slang. they can appear in poetry, drama and the bile. it is generally agreed by idiomatologists that the process of “idiomaticization” lies in their development. idiom creation is a matter of great spontaneity. a perspective idiom may be picked up in one sphere of activity, tranfered to another, mentioned occasionally, sized upon for perceived effectiveness, then ehier dropped and forgotten or used on and ever larger scale. gradually, idioms form an essential part of the general vocabulary of the language, in fact, it is difficult to speak or write without using idioms. “idioms are multifaceted linguistic objects, whose study involves various viewpoints and different approaches. they are not only complex, but also in many respects elusive. any attempt to provide categorical, single-criterion definition of idioms is always to some degree misleading and infeasible”. (wang, 2007: 51). in other words, idioms resist simple definition. idioms are characterized by a number of 2 distinct properties: semantic, syntactic, cognitive and sociolinguistic. a definition of idioms must therefore be sufficiently expressive and flexible to handle the full range of combinations of these properties. english abounds in idioms, which are characterized by their colorful and thought- provoking expressions. a right use of them in speech and writing will add much to variety, strength and vividness of the language. “every language is part of a culture. as such, it cannot but serve and reflect cultural needs.”(hu, 2001: 250). idioms, as an important part of language are naturally indispensable to culture. idioms are fixed phrases with particular meanings, and they play an increasingly important role in peoples daily life. both oriental and western people are accustomed to use idioms because they are concise, vivid and humorous. idioms contain a lot of cultural information and reflect the differences in history, geography, religion, custom and thinking mode of different ethnic groups. idiom is a mirror of culture. english idioms are permeated with a strong flavor and intertwined with the influences of vivid national character; it comprises the historical and cultural background as well as the attitude to life and the ways of people. the formation of english idioms is influenced by such cultural factors as geographical conditions, historical developments, customs, religious beliefs, literature and arts of the british nation. from the above mentioned, it is easy to see that idiom comprehension has been the huge problem that lies in the communications and causes lots of misunderstandings and conflicts. from this perspective, the author tries to propose a new method which is called holistic integration. this approach aims at integrating all of the factors including the semantic, progmatic and cultural factors into a whole and then comprehense and interpretate idioms on this basis. in order to accomplish this thesis, the author has read a large amount of books. and some books do help a lot in the data collectings. language and culture by kramsch claire helps the author trace back to the cultural backgrounds of the language and therefore find out different sources of idiom 3 formations. this book has paved the way for the whole thesis to explore the deep reasons why there exist so many misunderstandings in idiom comprehension. in the book language and culture contexts in translating written by nida, the author has learned that language especially the idiom is not only the word activity but also has a close connection with the social context, which requires to understand the idioms concerning the progmatics. what make a great contribution to the accomplishment of the thesis is the book holistic approach forenglish idioms which is written by wangying. most of this paper is inspired by the thought of this book. the book has highlightened that idiom comprehension is a complex activity which requires mapping the thought into the meaning of the phrases and considers its meaning from the different kinds of aspects, such as the semantics, progmatics and linguistic competences. 1 the origins of idioms in english-speaking countries, idioms are pervasive from debates to everyday conversations .a good mastery of idioms becomes a significant symbol of a persons command of the language. however, because of a low level of linguistic competence in the target language, people who learn english as a second language are at a distinct disadvantage in understanding english idioms. we must know the origins of english idioms so that we can learn english well. 1.1 influence of geographicial conditions the generation of idioms is closely connected to peoples living environment. to some extent, “the geography has an impact on idiom formation, and the language would be different in terms of the ecology, the climate and the environment”. (zhuang, 2002: 127). u.k is an island country, and england is the first largest island in europe. it has a winded seacoast. therefore, the position of u.k., an island, has a vital meaning for its own development, and has a huge influence on forming idioms. in english vocabulary, thousands of idioms are related to the water, fish, ship and sea. since britain is an island country, people who live along seacoast and whose livelihood is dependent on the sea will have idioms about water, sailing, island and 4 fish. for example, “ to take the wind out of somebodys sail”, “at sea”, “to trim ones sail to the wind”, “never offer to teach fish to swim”, “full fish”, “sail under false colors”, etc. whats more, climate, agriculture are also another factor in the living condition. while britain is located in western hemisphere, with north temperate zone and marine climate, so “west wind” is the symbol of spring. the west wind blows from the atlantic ocean is warm and gentle, so that britain abounds in rain can be proved in some idioms concerning rain: “to make hay while the sun shines”, “to rain or shine”, “rainy day”, “as right as rain”etc. （chitra, 2000: 35） the british people are good at hunting and fishing, which produced idioms like “ride on the high horse”, “feel like a fish out of water”. there are also many idioms from agriculture. agricultural life has given rise to “beat around/about the bush”, “a hard row to hoe”, “have all ones eggs in one basket”, “put out to grass”, etc. (greene, 1988: 15) 1.2 influence of social customs the custom of one nation is formed through a long history and firmly rooted in peoples mind. it is characterized with national color and acts as an important source of idioms. culture is always embodied in customs and habits. these customs and habits are the representative of the way of living in a certain speech community and they are mirrored in the speaking habit of the language. food is one of the aspects of cultural tradition that are reflected in english idioms. in most european countries, bread, butter, jam, cheese, etc, are their daily food of meals. therefore, there are many which have to do with food and cooking, such as “bread and butter”, “hard cheese” as well as “to butter both sides of ones bread”.(claire, 2000: 19) on the other hand, many idioms are also relevent to animals. in english vocabulary, there are numerous idioms like, “to help a lame dog over a stile”, “love me, love my dog”,“dog days”,“as strong as an ox” ,“birds of a feather”, etc. another important custom element that plays a key role in the course of forming idioms is social fashions. the social fashion is traditional habit or is popular in a period of time in society; it contains living habit, etiquette, tradition, behavior 5 standards, and ways of social communication and so on. everyone lives in the environment of social fashion and traditional habit, and the atmosphere of this environment influences their daily life. and these influences at the same time reflect the language, especially the english idioms. for example: let ones hair down: to relax after a period of tense. in the past time, in whatever occasion, the english womens hair were very clean and tidy, which comb up in the forehead, only when they were alone could they allow to let their hair down. therefore, people use the idiom of “let ones hair down” to express their relaxation after a long time of working and tense situation. take off ones hat to someone: pay ones respect to someone. long ago, the english people wore the hat as a fashion. when they greeted with people in the social occasion and showed the respect to someone, they took off their hat. for this reason, “take off ones hat to someone” extends the meaning to show the respect to someone. go down the aisle: get married, enter into matrimony. the westerners almost believe the christianity, their weddings always hold in the church. when the wedding starts, the father of the bride always companies with her walk down the aisle. therefore, the idiom “go down the aisle” is produced to indicate “get married”. 1.3 influence of religious beliefs religion, which is the manifestation of the culture and reflects the vital part of human thought, is an important source for idioms. most of westerners are christians, who believe that the world was created by god. they think that god is of mighty power and sacred. god, christ, devil, adam and some educational segments of the stories in bible are passed down, because of peoples favor or even some historical and political causes, but most of all are religious beliefs. many british who believe in christianity all read the bible. therefore, numerous idioms have come into peoples colloquial speech, and have become mottoes. for example: “judass kiss” means “with the best of intention or forsake. “turn the other cheek” is from the new testament, jesus advice: resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turns to him the other also. “build up on the sand” metaphorical meaning is unstable foundation. there are quite a few english idioms from religion. such as: “benjamins mess, “raise cain apple of sodom, “handwriting on the wall”, “god 6 preserve us” etc. although this kind of religious idioms is originated from the unrealistic imagination, they briefly convey the realistic meaning, after a long time transformation and evolution, they have become the oridinary words to express people feeling about the present life. 1.4 influence of historical allusions britain is an ancient country with a long history, which mainly comprises allusion, myths, poem, ancient books and records etc. among them, allusion that reflects the national character is the most important. idioms from history culture are the gems of human cultural heritage. it is worthwhile for us to study them in depth. english idioms have their legends and anecdotes about historical figures which have provided rich and varied materials, and consequently give a national color to the idioms. it is necessary to learn the english allusion, which can not only enlarge peoples scope of knowledge and widen field of vision, but also is useful for them to trace back to the idioms origins, which will be studied from the following points: historical events, fables, mythologies and literary works. 1.4.1 historical events “in most language, people embellish their speeches or writings with references to characters or events from the history, that is to say, idiomatic expressions, to some extent, are closely connected to a countrys history”(nida, 2000: 74). quite a few idioms are generated from the history. the following examples can illustrate it. “to meet ones waterloo” is from the defeat of napoleon at waterloo in 1815, which means completely defeat. “dunkirk evacuation” is from the world war ii and originally means the retreat of the english-french troops forced by the german. but now, the expression means to retreat in disorder. “columbuss egg” is originated from the famous story of columbuss exploration. the explorer, irritating at being told that his adventure were easy, challenged the guests at a banquet to balance an egg on its end. all had failed, but he succeeded by flattening one end by tapping in against the table, this is a trick that any would then have been able to repeat, however, it now means repetition is easier than innovation. 7 it is known that rome and denmark once invaded britain for a long time, so the conqueror influenced on the english idioms to a certain extent, “six of one and half a doze