英语词汇学(第八讲)

EnglishLexicology,TheIdiomaticAspectofEnglishWordCombination,第八讲,I.ChunksinEnglish,DefinitionInlinguistics,achunkisaunitoflanguagethatformsasyntacticorsemanticunitbutalsohasitsinternalstructure.Specifically,itreferstoaunitoflanguagelongerthanaword(thoughoftenshorterthanasentence)anditplaysafacilitativeroleincomprehensionandproduction.,Example:A:Whendidyouleavetheparty?B:Igotoutofthereassoonastheyranoutoffood.AfewchunkssententialHowdoyoudo?Themajoritylexicalinkindandphrasalinform,Lexicalchunks,alsocalldlexicalphrasesTherearetwosubtypesoflexicalchunks,notablycollocationsandidioms.,CollocationsinEnglishCollocationisthewayinwhichwordsareusedtogether.Collocationsarethewordsthattendtoco-occurinalanguage-ingrammaticalpatterns,compoundsorfixedphrases.,Example:,Thedoctorperformedtheoperationwhilethecommitteewasholdingadiscussion.,II.EnglishIdioms,1.DefinitionAnidiomisafixedgroupofwordsorasingleword,orevenasentence,withaspecialmeaningthatcannotbeguessedfromitsstructure.,Anidiomisamulti-wordexpressionwhichfunctionsasasingleunitandwhosemeaningcannotbeworkedoutfromthesumofitsseparateparts.Thatis,ithasaholisticmeaningwhichcannotberetrievedfromtheindividualmeaningsofthecomponentwords.tospillthebeans,Idiomsandfreephrases,bluesky,bluejacketbluemoonIhaventseenyouinabluemoon.我很久没见到你了。Wegetupearlyyesterday.ThestudentswillgetupanEnglisheveningnextmonth.arrange;perform,2.ThefeaturesofEnglishidioms,1)VeryshortorratherlongAnIndiansummer小阳春Fortywinks白天小睡Allgoodthingscometoanend.天下没有不散的宴席,2)TakedifferentstructuresA.irregularandillogicalstructureIamgoodfriendswithhim.Diamondcutdiamond.Thedeviltakethehindmost.(irregularmeaning,clearmeaning),B.regularstructure,unclearmeaningTohaveabeeinonesbonnetheadtohaveastrangefixedideaaboutsomething.C.irregularstructure,unclearmeaning(todo)throughthickandthinthroughbothgoodandbadtimes;inspiteofallthedifficulties.,3)Fixedandpartlyfixedidiomsa.Astitchintimesavesnine.一针及时，可省九针；及时处理，事半功倍b.tocometoabadendnasty,sticky,nogood,untimelytakefortywinkshave,enjoy,4)Ithasaspecialmeaning.5)Itisrelativelywidelyused.6)Theyconsistofobsolete（废弃）words.hitherandthither-inalldirectionskithandkin-friendsandrelations7)Theyrepresentasemanticunit.makeuponesmind:decidelookdownon:depise,8)Theyareusuallymadeofcommonly-usedwords.(vividusage,briefinstructurebutprofoundinmeaning)onceinabluemoon千载难逢cryforthemoon异想天开toputthecartbeforethehorse本末倒置toturnuponesnoseat瞧不起；嗤之以鼻,9)Theyarecreatedonthebasisofalliteration,rhyme,euphony(谐音)andrepetition.Alliteration:firstandforemost首要的是partandparcel重要部分timeandtidewaitfornoman岁月不饶人withmightandmain竭尽全力；拼命地,Rhymedineandwine吃喝hereandthereroughandtough粗野蛮横wearandtear损坏；损耗outandabout户外活动,Repetitionagainandagainlittlebylittleoutandout彻底地；不折不扣地overandover(again)throughandthrough完全地；彻头彻尾EuphonyBeggarscannotbechoosers.,3.EnglishIdiomsinDifferentStyles,1)Idiomsusedincolloquialstyle:e.g.:acat-and-doglife-alifefullofquarrelsandargumentsTheyhaveledacat-and-doglifeforafewyears.Itsrainingcatsanddogs:Itisrainingveryhard下着倾盆大雨,tofill/fitthebill-tobeexactlysuitable符合需要；最为合适；管用Thiscarfits/fillsthebillperfectly.Itscheapandgetsgoodmileage.这辆汽车很合适，既便宜行驶的里程数又少。,smellarat-informaltoguessthatsomethingwrongordishonestishappening怀疑某事不对头，怀疑其中有诈Theyknowwehatethemandwillsmellaratifwetrytobenicetothem.他们知道我们恨他们，所以如果我们试图对他们好，他们倒会产生怀疑了。,suitsbdowntotheground-beexactlyrightforsomeone对某人非常合适Yup,thislittlecarsuitsmedowntotheground.好，这辆小汽车对我再合适不过了。,2)Idiomsusedinanysituation:,togoover-torepeatsomethinginordertolearnitorunderstandit再来一遍，温习MaybeifIwentoveritallagainIwouldseewhatshemeant.也许如果我把它再看一遍，我就能明白她的意思。,makeshortworkof-(informal)tofinishsomethingquicklyandeasily,espciallyamealorajob迅速完成；轻松解决（尤指一顿饭或一项工作）Thekidsmadeshortworkofthesandwiches.孩子们很快就把三明治都吃光了。,jointhemajority-passaway离开；去世Unfortunately,hisparentsjoinedthemajoritylastyear.很不幸的是他的父母去年去世了。followthemajority-tofollowthecrowdortheprevalentpractices从众Hehatesthosethatfollowsthemajority.他非常讨厌那些从众的人。,3)Idiomsusedinformalsituations,withtheresultthat-sothat结果Sarawastatschoollastweekwiththeresultthatshemissedanimportanttest.莎拉上星期没有上学，结果错过了一次重要考试。asaresultof-becauseofsomethingthathashappened作为的结果；由于Asaresultofthepilotsstrike,allflightshavehadtobecancelled.由于飞行员罢工，所有航班都被迫取消了。,bereftofhope/meaning/lifeetc.-completelywithoutanyhope,etc.失去希望/意义/生命等Thepartysmanifestoisbereftofnewideas.这个党的宣言毫无新意。,bepossessedof-(literary)tohaveaparticularquality,abilityetc具有（某种品质、能力等）Charleswaspossessedofasoundintellectandahappymanner.查尔斯具有健全的智力和得体的举止。,4)Idiomsusedasslang:,put/tightenthescrewsonsb-informal:toforcesomeonetodosomethingbythreateningthem威逼某人做某事Dontput/tightenthescrewsonthesmallboyanylonger.不要再威胁那个小男孩了。,cutandrun-toleaveasituationsuddenlywhenitbecomestoodifficult,especiallywhenyoushouldhavestayed开溜；临阵脱逃Dontworry.Hewontcutandrun.别担心，他不会临阵脱逃的。,useeverytrickinthebook-touseeverycleverordishonestmethodthatyouknowtoachievewhatyouwant使出各种绝招，使出浑身解数Edusedeverytrickinthebooktogetthatcontract.埃德使出浑身解数得到了那份合同。,halfseasover喝醉酒,语源：In1736,sometimessaidtobefromnotionofashipheavy-ladenandsolowinthewaterthatsmallwaves(halfseas)washoverthedeck.Thissuitsthesense,butthephraseisnotrecordedinthisallegedliteralsense.Halfseasoverhalfwayacrosstheseaisrecordedfrom1551,however,anditwasgivenafigurativeextensiontohalfwaythroughamatterby1697.Whatdrunkennessishalfwaytoisnotclear.,MoreExamplesofIdioms:,TomeetonesWaterloo一败涂地,ItisfromthedefeatofNapoleonatWaterlooin1815,whichmeanstobecompletelydefeated.,Columbussegg哥伦布竖鸡蛋,InthefamousstoryofColumbussegg,theexplorer,irritatedatbeingtoldthathisexploitswereeasy,challengedtheguestsatabanquettobalanceaneggonitsend.Whenallhadfailed,hesucceededbyflatteningoneendbytappingitagainstthetable,atrickthatanywouldthenhavebeenabletorepeat.,Toeatcrow吃下乌鸦,Itmeanstobeforcedtochangewhatonehassaid;admitthatoneiswrong.Theoriginoftoeatcrowisthattowardstheendofthewar1812,aBritishofficerencounteredanAmericanhunterneartheBritishline,gainedcontrolofhismusketandtherebyforcedhimtoeatthecrowhehadjustshot.TheAmericancomplied,butwhenhismusketwasreturned,heforcedtheBritishofficertodothesame.,ItisfromtheGreekmythology.AnAchillesheelisadeadlyweaknessinspiteofoverallstrength,thatcanactuallyorpotentiallyleadtodownfall.Whilethemythologicaloriginreferstoaphysicalvulnerability,metaphoricalreferencestootherattributesorqualitiesthatcanleadtodownfallarecommon.Ithasthemeaningof“theoneweakspotinamanscircumstancesorcharacter”.,Achillesheel致命弱点,LegendofAchilles,InlaterGreekandRomanpoetryanddrama.WhenAchilleswasababy,itwasforetoldthathewoulddieinbattlefromanarrow.Naturally,hismotherThetisdidnotwanthersontodie.SoshetookAchillestoamagicalriverwhichwassupposedtoofferpowersofinvinci