Structural classification of phraseological units

Professor Smirnitsky offered a classification system for English phraseological units which is interesting as an attempt to combine the structural and the semantic principles. He worked out structural classification of phraseological units, comparing them with words. He points out one-top units which he compares with derived words because derived words have only one root morpheme. He points out two-top units which he compares with compound words because in compound words we usually have two root morphemes.

Phraseological units in this classification system are grouped according to the number of notional words and semantic significance of their constituent parts (against the grain (не по душе), to carry the day (выйти победителем), to have all one’s eggs in one basket). Accordingly two large groups are established:

A. one-summit units (one-member), which have one meaningful constituent (e.g. to give up, to make out, to pull out, to be tired, to be surprised1);

B. two-summit and multi-summit (two-member, three-member, etc.) units which have two or more meaningful constituents (e. g. black art, first night, common sense, to fish in troubled waters).

Within each of these large groups the phraseological units are classified according to the category of parts of speech of the summit constituent.

So, one-summit units (one-top units) are subdivided into three structural types:

a) verbal-adverbial units equivalent to verbs in which the semantic and the grammatical centres coincide in the first constituent, (verb + postposition type), e.g. to art up, to back up, to drop out, to nose out, to buy into, to sandwich in, to give up;

b) units equivalent to verbs which have their semantic centre in the second constituent and their grammatical centre in the first. Some of these units remind the Passive Voice in their structure but they have different prepositons with them, while in the Passive Voice we can have only prepositions «by» or «with», e.g. to be tired of, to be interested in, to be surprised at etc. There are also units in this type which remind free word-groups of the type «to be young», e.g. to be akin to, to be aware of etc. The difference between them is that the adjective «young» can be used as an attribute and as a predicative in a sentence, while the nominal component in such units can act only as a predicative. In these units the verb is the grammar centre and the second component is the semantic centre;

c) prepositional-substantive units (prepositional-nominal phraseological units). These units are equivalents of unchangeable words: prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, that is why they have no grammar centre, their semantic centre is the nominal part, e.g. on the doorstep (quite near), on the nose (exactly), in the course of, on the stroke of, in time, on the point of etc. In the course of time such units can become words, e.g. tomorrow, instead etc.). Prepositional-substantive units are equivalent either to adverbs or to copulas and have their semantic centre in the substantive constituent and no grammatical centre (e. g. by heart, by means of).

Among t wo-summit and multi-summit phraseological units (two-top units) A.I. Smirnitsky points out the following structural types:

a) attributive-substantive ( attributive-nominal ) two-summit units equivalent to nouns a month of Sundays, grey matter, a millstone round one’s neck and many others. Units of this type are noun equivalents and can be partly or perfectly idiomatic. In partly idiomatic units (phrasisms) sometimes the first component is idiomatic, e.g. high road, in other cases the second component is idiomatic, e.g. first night. In many cases both components are idiomatic, e.g. red tape, blind alley, bed of nail, shot in the arm and many others.

b) verbal-substantive ( verb-nominal ) two-summit units equivalent to verbs, e.g. to take the floor), to read between the lines, to speak BBC, to sweep under the carpet etc. The grammar centre of such units is the verb, the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component, e.g. to fall in love. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the semantic centre, e.g. not to know the ropes. These units can be perfectly idiomatic as well, e.g. to burn one’s boats, to vote with one’s feet, to take to the cleaners’ etc.

Very close to such units are word-groups of the type to have a glance, to have a smoke. These units are not idiomatic and are treated in grammar as a special syntactical combination, a kind of aspect.

c) phraseological repetitions equivalent to adverbs, such as: now or never, part and parcel, country and western etc. Such units can be built on antonyms, e.g. ups and downs, back and forth; often they are formed by means of alliteration, e.g as busy as a bee. Components in repetitions are joined by means of conjunctions. These units are equivalents of adverbs or adjectives and have no grammar centre. They can also be partly or perfectly idiomatic, e.g. cool as a cucumber (partly), bread and butter (perfectly).

Phraseological units the same as compound words can have more than two tops (stems in compound words), e.g. to take a back seat, a peg to hang a thing on, lock, stock and barrel, to be a shadow of one’s own self, at one’s own sweet will.

Prof. Smirnitsky also classifies phraseological units according to the functional principle. Two groups are distinguished: proper phraseological units and idioms.

Proper phraseological units are neutral, with non-figurative meanings, non-metaphorical when compared to idioms: get up, fall asleep, to take to drinking.

Idioms are metaphoric, stylistically coloured, units with transferred meanings based on a metaphor: to take the bull by the horns, to beat about the bush, to bark up the wrong tree.

A.I. Smirnitsky was the first among Russian scholars who paid attention to sentences that can be treated as complete formulas, such as How do you do? Or I beg you pardon; It takes all kinds to make the world; Can the leopard change his spots? They differ from all the combinations so far discussed because they are not equivalent to words in distribution and are semantically analysable.

The formulas discussed by N. N. Amosova are on the contrary semantically specific, e.g. save your breath ‘shut up’or tell it to the marines (one of the suggested origins is tell that to the horse marines; such a corps being non-existent, as marines are sea-going force, the last expression means ‘tell it to someone who does not exist because rel people will not believe it’) very often such formulas, formally identical to sentences, are in reality used only as insertions into other sentences: the cap fits ‘the statement is true’(e.g. “He called me a liar.”- “Well, you should know if the cap fits.”)Cf. also: Butter would not melt in his mouth; His bark is worse than his bite.

Prof. Amosova classifies phraseological units according to the type of context. Phraseological units are marked by fixed (permanent) context, which can’t be changed: French leave (but not Spanish or Russian). Two groups are singled out: phrasemes and idioms.

1. Phrasemes consist of two components one of which is phraseologically bound, the second serves as the determining context: green eye (ревнивый взгляд), green hand (неопытный работник), green years (юные годы), green wound (незажившая рана), etc.

2. Idioms are characterized by idiomaticity: their meaning is created by the whole group and is not a mere combination of the meanings of its components: red tape (бюрократическая волокита), mare’s nest (нонсенс), to pin one’s heart on one’s sleeve (не скрывать своих чувств).

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