词汇学论文——Probe_into_the_influence_of_the_Bible_on_English_idioms

1、英语词汇学课程论文姓名：宋亚琪班级：08级7班学号：0804110709专业：英语Influence of the Bible on English idiomsAbstract: English idiom is the most vigorous part in the language which was greatly influenced by the religious classic of western society the Holy Bible. This paper probes into the influence of the Bible on English idi

2、oms in two ways: allusion of biblical story and original saying, so as to better understand the cultural connotation of English idioms and relationship between English idioms and the Bible.Key words: English idioms; cultural connotation; the Bible1.Introduction IdiomIdioms refers to the language pec

3、uliar to a people, country, class, community or more rarely, an individual, which have grown out of the linguistic practice of the people ever since the language came into being. Strictly speaking, idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meanings of individual c

4、onstituents.Idioms are rooted in the soil on which the people live and are realized as formulaic phrases in its language system. Therefore the character of the people is clearly branded n its idioms. By comparing idioms of different people with each other, we can find that each peoples characteristi

5、cs, history, cultural tradition, morality, sense of value, geographical environments and other aspects are fully expressed in its idioms. Consequently, in order to understand idioms, we should observe them in relation with such conditions as its religion, history, culture, customs, geography and sen

6、se of value, etc.Features of Idiom1.structural stability Many English idioms are characterized by structural invariability. Their form is often fixed. The word in idiomatic expressions cannot be deleted, added to, in the idiom live from hand to mouth, it is impossible to say live from hand to the mo

7、uth or live from a hand to a mouth; in the idiom to kick the bucket, if the word “bucket” is replaced by “pail”, the meaning of the idiom will no longer mean“die”. 2.semantic unity Idioms are mainly characteized by their semantic unity. Semantic unity means an idiom functioning as a unit of meaning,

8、 and must be learned as a whole. That is, the meaning of the idiom cannot be deduced from the literal meaning of its member words. So, pull one's socks up not at all connected with “socks”, it means to cheer up, work harder, as in “If you want to be considered for promotion next year , you'd

9、 better pull your socks up.” If you want to be promoted next year, you should work harder. Likewise, the meaning of know where the pinches has nothing to do with the meaning of the separate words, it means to know the difficulties. 3.figuraive features Idioms are often forcible, terse and vivid, bec

10、ause they are used figuratively. Idioms are an important thetorical device in language, and they incorporate various figures of speech, among them, most are similes and metaphors. A great many idioms are used in simile and metaphorical style instead of stating in experience or thought outright to ac

11、hieve a better expressive effect. For example, similes, such as, as timid as a rabbit, like a red rag to a bull. Metaphors, such as, to help a lane dog over the stiles: to give up somebody who is in difficulty or trouble.Idiom is a mirror of a nation. They comprise the historical and cultural backgr

12、ound 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 and historical developments. 2.The BibleReligion, as one of special culture morphologies, almost came into being and developed at the same pa

13、ce as human civilization. The Christian Church, instead of the monarch, controlled the whole European society, which then spread Christianity throughout the continent and molded unique European culture during two thousand of years. Religion is very important many westerners. In Britain, almost every

14、one reads the Holy Bible, and most of people go to church on Sundays. Newly-born children are baptized in church. Peoples lives are closely related with religion.The Bible is a library of different literary types rather than a single book. The larger part, the Old Testament, is a collection of Jewis

15、h sacred writings, originally in Hebrew and consisting of teaching, history, prophecy, and poetry. The New Testament, originally in Greek, also includes diverse literary formsletters of Paul and other apostles, historical narrative, apocalyptic writing, and four Gospels which are not history but arr

16、angements of remembered acts and sayings of Jesus.Influence of the Bible on idioms Epurated from the story of the BibleIdioms have grown out of the linguistic practice of a people and are realized as formulaic phrases in its language system. On the other hand, the Bible, as a public chrestomathy and

17、 cultural enlightenment text in western countries, facilitated the development of the English language along the history of thousands of years. More specifically speaking, since every individual is familiar with the classical allusions of the Bible, idioms epurated from them become commonly understo

18、od and circulate as formulaic phrases in such a culture.According to Matthew, as a result of the day of last trail when the Christ separated people one from another, the righteous people would go to heaven while the sinner would go to hell. “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will s

19、eparate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goat.” Therefore, “the sheep” and “the goat” respectively get the connotation of righteous people and the opposite while “tell the sheep from the goat” get the meaning of dividing good or useful people from bad or useless ones,

20、which nowadays, however， is mainly used to distinguish between the efficient enterprises and inefficient ones.The idiom “the hand writing on the wall” is another illustration for this sort. In the Old Testament, Daniel, Chapter 5, Belshazzar and his buddies were on a drunken toot and used golden ves

21、sels from the temple of God which was at Jerusalem to drink wine. Then in the same hour, came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Daniel “in whom is the spi

22、rit of the holy gods” interpreted the handwriting for the king: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighted in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans slain. Refi

23、ned from the Biblical story, the idiom “handwriting on the wall” means a threat of impending doom. As an instance, the sentence “The hand-writing is on the wall for the private company” has the similar meaning as “The bankruptcy of the private company seems certain”. Cited from the original saying o

24、f the BibleIn the mind of Christians, the Bible is not only a religious classic or a prominent masterpiece, but also an unprecedentedly collection of wisdom. The original sayings of Cod or Jesus are being preaching in the church through out the world every Sunday, so that some of the most pious Chri

25、stians even can recite them fluently. Many classic original sayings in the Bible have functioned as important sources of English idioms, which make the topic in question more comprehensive and visualized.The idiom “salt of the earth” comes from Matthew, chapter 5. When Jesus taught his disciples, he

26、 said that, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?” As is known to us all, salt is an important flavoring in food without which peoples health will surely collapse. Therefore, salt is greatly cherished by many nations and sometimes regarded

27、as a valuable gift for guests. Here, “the salt of the earth” can be explained as “the most valuable members of society”, “the finest type of the humanity” or “a person or a group of people having the best character”.When comes to the idiom “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

28、than”, you may think that Jesus really has great sense of humor. According to Matthew, chapter 19, Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Obviously, this expression refers to the difficulty or impossibility of

29、doing things. Based on this, we can paraphrase the sentence “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for Johnny to enter Harvard before he is thirteen” as “It is impossible for Johnny to enter Harvard before he is thirteen”.3.ConclusionThis paper has made a brief introduction

30、 of idioms and the Bible, as well as the inner connection between them. The author also have made efforts in probing two ways in which the Bible have influenced the development of English idioms: allusion of biblical story and original saying. As mentioned above, a language is a mirror of a culture, which is influence