THE ROLE OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN MODERN ENGLISH

To date, it is indisputable that phraseological units serve to enrich the language, reflecting its development and the mentality of the people who speak it. Phraseology as a branch of lexicology that studies phraseological units has always been the focus of attention of the most prominent linguists in different countries. Sh. Bally, a Swiss linguist, is considered the founder of this branch of lexicology; interest in it is also high among such foreign linguists as Logan P. Smith, T. Savory and others. The phraseological richness of languages attracted the attention of domestic linguists, among whom one can note A.V. Kunin, E.D. Polivanov, N.M. Shansky, N.N. Amosova.

Phraseology, as a branch of linguistics that studies stable combinations of two or more words, is one of those disciplines that took a long time to form and develop.

According to V.N. Telia, the beginning of the formation of phraseology as a linguistic discipline is the works of M.V. Lomonosov, since he felt the proximity of “phrases”, “idioms” and “sayings” to the word [Telia 1996: 11].

The subject of the study of this science in the broadest sense is phraseology (or phraseological turnover, or phraseological unit). One of the “eternal” questions of phraseology is the question of defining phraseology, its boundaries and classification.

According to N.M. Shansky, “phraseological turnover in the broadest sense is a reproducible linguistic unit of two or more stressed words, integral in its meaning and stable in its composition and structure” [Shansky 1996: 15].

According to many scientists, phraseology has the following features: stability of composition and structure, reproducibility, the presence of at least two words in the composition, stability of the word order, impenetrability and constancy of lexical composition.

In Russian linguistics, most scientists distinguish 3 types of phraseological units after V.V. Vinogradov:

1) phraseological conjunctions (idioms that have lost the motivation of meaning);

2) phraseological units (idioms that retain a transparent internal form);

3) phraseological combinations (turns in which one of the components has a phraseologically related meaning, the equivalents of words are not) .

N.M. Shansky added another type of phraseological units (the typology he proposed includes the classification of V.V. Vinogradov, and also complements it):

4) phraseological expressions (phrases that are stable in their composition and use, which are not only semantically articulate, but also consist entirely of words with a free meaning) [LES 1990: 519].

Phraseological units are at the level of the language where folk wisdom is hidden, as well as the common heritage and cultural experience of the people.

Initially, they appeared in popular speech. The internal content shows what feelings people have experienced, shows relationships, various emotions. The phraseological composition of the language is formed by the combination of various characteristics and the structure of units. At the same time, even the fact that there is now a fairly large problem of phraseological units, there is no single and clear understanding of this topic, and research should be continued for greater systematization.

For example, A.V. Kunin, speaking about phraseological units, said that these are stable combinations of lexemes that have either completely or partially reinterpreted meaning [4, p. 45].

Researcher R.N. Popov said that a phraseological unit is a complex linguistic unit that has a number of ambiguous signs. There can be from 10 to 12 characteristics, and their essence leads to semantic cohesion and indivisibility, while each of the components separately has a different design in this unit [5, p. 112].

A phraseological unit is an independent semantic entity that acts as an element of the language system together with the meanings of words. At the same time, such phraseological units always have a fixed word order, as well as the stability of the grammatical form of the components. A.I. Alyokhina in his research says that all phraseological units are stable, have semantic integrity, as well as separate formality [1, p. 279]. Phraseological units are characterized by the fact that they have various characteristics, and this means that they can be considered from different points of view. That is why there are now many classifications that have been developed by scientists using various principles.

To create phraseological units, not just a separate simple language level is used, but a whole block. A whole lexical meaning is realized in a phraseological unit, and very often a phraseological turn can be correlated with one part of speech. This allows it to act as a single combination of a sentence member, which indicates the expression of grammatical meaning. As an example , the phraseologism “Instead of taking urgent measures the government hosesitting in the fence” can be used. The phraseological unit “itonthefence” has a single lexical meaning “waiting” and performs a common grammatical function of the nominal part of the compound predicate.

It is also characteristic of a phraseological unit that even inside a frozen form, components can change the grammatical meaning. This is especially characteristic if there is a verb component in the phraseology. An example can be such phrases as “I ground my teeth”, “he was grinding his teeth», «let her grind her teeth then». Of course, the components can change even in adjectives. With the help of them, you can add more expressiveness, for example, in the phrase “You are the coolest cucumber ever met”. It follows from this that even though phraseological units look like phrases, in the text they will be similar in their characteristics to the word.

From this we can conclude that phraseological units are modeled phrases with a semantic unity characteristic of them. But unity will not manifest itself in speech, since they will manifest themselves in a ready-made form, and act as a single member of the sentence. The theory of phraseology is not studied deeply enough in the English linguistic literature. At the same time, even in the available works, the fundamental issues of studying phraseological units, their systematization and others are often not touched upon now. In addition, English linguists do not even raise the question of the allocation of phraseological units in the category of a separate linguistic discipline, which justifies the absence of a name for this discipline in the English language. W. Weinreich noted in his works that it is the study of idiomatic language in the Western school that is least studied [3. p. 87].

The phraseological units of the English language are characterized by the fact that they are largely related to human activity. A very large number of them have become widespread, for example, in connection with the sea: “to launch into” (to get down to business vigorously), “to be all at sea” (to be perplexed, confused), “to touch bottom” (to reach the limit). In the English spoken language , expressions directly related to hunting also arise: “to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds” (to play a double game). To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

When used in phraseological units of animals, dogs, cats and pigs are often mentioned. An example is a phraseology that acts as the equivalent of the Russian “out of harm’s way” – “to let sleeping dogs lie».

But phraseological units that are associated with the forest can be found quite a few in English. At the same time, the moon, wind, weather and sun gave several of them: “to be under the weather” (get into trouble), “to bless one’s start” (to thank your fate).

In English, a lot of idioms appeared due to the connection with food: “to eat a humble pie” (to swallow a grudge), “to cut and come again” (to eat with an appetite), “to make no bones of” (not to stand on ceremony). It is also characteristic that phraseological expressions are characterized by the theme of the hearth: “to bring home to somebody” (to bring to consciousness), “to set one’s house in order” (to put their affairs in order). Furniture can also act as a basis for phraseological units: “to lay in the shelf” (to throw away as unnecessary), “to fall between two stools” (to sit between two chairs), “to get up on the wrong side of the bed” (to get up from the left foot). Some of the bright phraseological units appeared in the kitchen: “to have a finger in this pie” (to be involved in this case). “to be in a stew” (to be on pins and needles).

According to linguist L.P. Smith, a large amount of humor is characteristic of English phraseological units, while there is quite a bit of beauty hidden there. For example, the expression “coucher a la belle etoile” (sleeping under a beautiful star – sleeping outdoors) in English would not have acquired the same beauty, and would be quite strange. Smith wrote that although metaphors are quite relevant for contemporaries, but for the most part they are national and affect layers of village culture, nature, and in order to gain strength and meanings again, they must return to their origins.

It is generally believed that there are many sources of phraseological units in the English language. For example, A.V. Kunin [4, p. 144] says that all phraseological combinations are divided into several groups:

– native,

– interlanguage borrowings;

– intra-linguistic borrowings borrowed in a foreign language form.

Native phraseological combinations are characterized by the fact that they are most often manifested exclusively in colloquial speech, they have their own flavor, and English culture is also displayed inside. They are characterized by a connection with traditions, various beliefs of the people, as well as historical facts. Examples of these phraseological units can be: “have a bee in one’s bonnet” with the meaning “to be obsessed with an idea”; “bite off more than you can chew” – “take more in your mouth than you can swallow”, take on more things than you can actually do. Some of the phraseological units have a connection with the names Tom, Dick and Harry” – everyone, everyone, the first and the counter. Some of the phraseological units are associated with beliefs: “black sheep” is a black sheep, a disgrace in the family; some of them are associated with historical factors: “As well be hung for a sheep as lamb” – if it is destined to be hanged, then why not decorate a lamb as well. This is an echo of the English law, which assumed that stealing sheep is punishable by death by hanging.

Many writers of their time were able to introduce truly modern and unusual phraseological units into English literature. Among them are Ch . Dickens, W. Scott, of course. William Shakespeare and many others.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the lexical system of the language is characterized by the fact that phraseological units can fill in the gaps. This is necessary in order to be able to explain some phenomena that need to be known. In most cases, with their help, properties, processes, situations and states are known. It follows that phraseology acts as a treasure trove of language. There you can find out how the culture of the people developed, its peculiarities of life. Phraseological units are characterized by the fact that they have a bright national character. At the same time, in English there are not only phraseological units characteristic of the people, but also international ones. English phraseology is considered a combination of both native and borrowed stable lexical units, but the former significantly prevail in the language. A number of phraseological units are characterized by the presence of archaic elements that were inherent in past eras and generations. Due to this, the study of phraseology allows you to learn about changes in the cultural consciousness of the people in a characteristic period. In order to develop linguistics, it is imperative to study phraseological units.

In addition, other sections of general linguistics are studied in this way. Phraseological information, in turn, can, but is still little used by related disciplines. Now in the English language it is worth noting the presence of various semantics and expressiveness of steady units expressed by phraseological units. Due to the fact that many writers and poets both in the UK and around the world write in English, it leads to the creation of new phraseological units. At the same time, their number continues to be constantly replenished. It follows that any phraseology becomes the soul of the culture of a particular language, and they are passed from one generation to the next. When getting acquainted with phraseology, a person can deeply understand not only the history of his own people, but also how horses related to various phenomena, as well as the general worldview.

For the lexical composition of the language, it is phraseological units that act as one of the significant elements, since with their help you can figuratively and accurately convey any thought that will allow you to convey different sides of reality. But phraseological units will not only reflect any phenomenon really, but also give it an assessment. The semantic relation shows that they express objectivity, process, quality, property or method, and also have grammatical categories that are determined by morphological forms and syntactic function in the sentence. 

Әл-Фараби атындағы ҚазҰУ,

Шетел филологиясы және аударма ісі кафедрасы

“7М02312-Шетел филологиясы” мамандығы

1-курс магистранты Төлеуова Аяжае

Ғылыми жетекші: Жапарова Асемжан PhD доктор, доцент м.а