Definition of idiomatic expressions.

The terms "idiom" and "idiomaticity" are still not consistently identified by scientists. In various writings, they are treated differently. On the one hand, the idiom is defined as a national linguistic and national-cultural-specific language education, which by virtue of their nature, cannot be translated literally into other languages ​​[1, p.98]. On the other hand, the idiom is defined as stable combination of words whose total value does not correspond to the amount of parts and the values ​​ is not deduced out of it. The first definition includes cross-language approach to the phenomenon, and the second - intralinguistic approach. At first glance, these definitions may seem very diverse, but a closer analysis allows us to see the deep affinity between them. Two mentioned meanings of the idiom are not accidentally go together: an ancient Greek word meaning idioma "feature", "originality" [The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English 1988].

Idiomaticity - properties of language units (words, word combinations, sentences), consisting in non - decomposability of their values ​​to the values ​​of units that are singled out in their formal structure, and therefore in the irreducibility of the value of the whole to the parts of their values ​​of the structural - semantic connection. Structural - semantic structure of such linguistic units detects deviations from the general laws of the formation of the constituent units.

Idiomaticity is a semantic non - decomposability of idiomatic expressions into individual components corresponding to its individual structural elements. In other words, idiomaticity is non-deducibility of the meaning of idiomatic expressions from its individual structural and lexical components. Idiomaticity associated with mutations both ways denote the fact of reality compared to the conventional method in which commonly used words, free combination of words and syntactic constructions with free word order. Idiomacity arises as a result of the loss of real semantic and grammatical relationships between the components of idiomatic expressions.

Almost every unit of language has a cross-language idiomaticity (at least relative). The relativity of this property is manifested in the fact that the expression of “A” language may be non-idiomatic with respect to its analog in language “B”, but at the same time, idiomatic versus to its analog in “C” language. For example, French phraseological unit " aire d une mouche un elephant " is non-idiomatic to Russian phraseological unit “ делать из мухи слона ”; as well as to the German “ aus einer Fliege einen Elefanten machen ”, but it is idiomatic towards the English phraseological unit 'to make a mountain out of a molehill'.

Since the end of the XIX century there were two traditions in the study of idiomatic expressions:

· The Anglo-American tradition. Within its framework there are many disparate works, but there is no unified theory of systematic idiom. The representatives of this trend is F. Sweet, J. Bar-Hillel, W. Chafe, Chomsky, F. Palmer, W. MakMordi, W. Vaynraih and others. They interpreted the idiom in the first place, in terms of both interlingual form of expression that is specific for that language. So, George. W. Seidl and Makmordi [2,p.198] included a number of idiomatic units not only reinterpreted set phrases, but also words, characterized by national identity in terms of motivation value (figurative, phonetic, and others).

Listed linguists interpreted the idiom in intra linguistically as a phrase, in which the total value is not derived from the sum of its parts. In lexicographical practice in compiling dictionaries of idiomatic expressions, the representatives of this trend did not follow the strict definitions and included among the many disparate idiomatic expressions education - for example, phrasal verbs such as get up, move in, idiomatic expressions, proverbs, words with metaphorical meaning, onomatopoeic words. Thus, the observed differences in lexicographical practice.

· The European continental tradition. It includes the works of Swiss, French, Soviet and German scientists: F. de Saussure, C. Bally, P. Guiraud, Bulakhovskoy A., F. Fortunatov, B. Fleischer, G. Votyak and others.

At the beginning of the XX century C. Bally pointed to the differences idiomatic collocations from free constructions and proposed a classification of phraseological material, highlighting the three groups of phraseological combinations: conventional combinations, phraseological groups and phraseological unity. They also noted the lack of clear boundaries between the different groups of phrases.

Specific features of idiomatic expressions. As well as any other unit of language, idiomatic expressions have their certain features. This problem occupies significant place in phraseology research. Scientists’ opinions are diverse on quantifying the features of idiomatic expressions. Idiomatic expressions are characterized by the presence of figurative component in their meaning, which has a significant impact not only on the expressive and stylistic parameters, but also on the actual semantics and combinability of an idiomatic expression. The figurativeness of idiomatic expression is regarded as one of its main features.

A diverse range of fixed expressions, called idiomatic expressions, reflects the difficulties faced by both native speakers and language learners meeting with this phenomenon in acts of communication. These idiomatic expressions are complex marks, characterized by specificity of form and meaning, as well as pragmatic and socio-cultural characteristics. Idiomatic expressions are recognized as part of the vocabulary of a particular language and perform specific discursive and communicative functions. The main characteristics of idiomatic expressions are as follows:

1. Stability of the expression and recognition of its representatives in linguo -cultural community, called in the western tradition of institutionalization (institutionalization).

2. The combination of two or more tokens, united by a common value, called separate clearance or composition of (compositeness). Proverbs and sayings, as well as phrasal verbs, according to this criterion, also refers to the idiomatic constructions [3, p.67].

It should be noted that some researchers do not recognize a composite character of idiomatic expressions and believes that the total value of the idiomatic expression is a semantic extension compared with the value of its individual lexical components [3, p.275].

3. Fixity form (frozenness), which indicates the presence of lexical and grammatical constraints affecting the variability of lexical components of idiomatic expressions and its grammatical function.

The presence of fixity say any syntactic and morphological constraints, and also features compatibility with the choice of lexical components of idiomatic expressions [4, p.54].

Rethinking semantic complications, internal idiomaticity is a term used in the foreign traditions as «pattern of figuration» [4, p. 55]. Their value is recognized by native speakers and as a part of the vocabulary of a language. Therefore, while analyzing idiomatic expressions, it is necessary to distinguish two levels of values:

a. The literal meaning of idiomatic expression.

b. Its idiomatic meaning. [4, p.45]

The more divergent the literal and figurative meaning of idiomatic constructions, the more abstract and less motivated by getting the value of idiomatic expressions.

The majority of researchers identify a fixed criteria which sets idiomatic expressions and other multi-word expressions apart:

· Conventionality – idiomatic expressions sound natural in the language; this criterion applies to all idiomatic expressions, always in an obligatory way.

· Figuration – idiomatic expressions utilize words in unusual manner to add vividness, beauty, etc. to what is being said/written.

· Proverbiality – in idiomatic expressions reflected a folk wisdom, and this feature shows that some idiomatic expressions are typically used to depict and to explain implicitly.

· Effect and informality – many expressions may lack these dimensions, however, the point is that they are typically associated with relatively informal and colloquial registers, namely with popular speech and oral culture.

Categorizing idiomatic expressions. It is generally accepted to classify idiomatic expressions according to their meaning (semantically) and structure (structurally).

According to their semantics idiomatic expressions can be divided into five thematic groups: