"Casually drop the F-bomb in Chinese over spilt milk" : Idiom variation in food idioms in three varieties of English

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Riina Tukala

“CASUALLY DROP THE F-BOMB IN CHINESE OVER SPILT MILK”

Idiom variation in food idioms in three varieties of English

Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences Master’s Thesis December 2020

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Riina Tukala: Casually drop the F-bomb in Chinese over spilt milk – idiom variation in food idioms in three varieties of English

Master’s thesis Tampere University

Master’s Programme in Languages/English December 2020

The aim of this master’s thesis was to study food idioms and their variation in three different varieties of English.

Ten different idioms containing a food element were chosen for this study: spill the beans, icing on the cake, peas in a pod, sell like hot cakes, cry over spilt milk, go bananas, apple of somebody’s eye, take something with a pinch of salt, eat humble pie and cream of the crop. These idioms were studied in British English, Indian English and Hong Kong English, which all represent different circles of English, and English has a different status in these countries. The data for the study were gathered from the News on The Web Corpus. The data consist of news articles from the years 2010-2019. For each idiom, different search queries were performed to find out the possible variations.

This study consists of quantitative and qualitative methods. For each idiom, 5 to 8 search queries were performed in each variety. Then the frequencies for each search query were counted by excluding non- idiomatic tokens from the data. These remaining tokens were then analysed, discussed, and compared in the different varieties.

The results of the study show, that food idioms even in their neutral form are not very common in news articles. British and Indian English users use these idioms more than Hong Kong English users. In the data for Hong Kong English, the idioms were not modified either. British English and Hong Kong English users, however, did modify their idioms. The variations were mostly addition of new words into the idiom or substituting elements for another. The added words were often used to describe the situation or specify the scope of meaning. The substitutes were mostly synonymous to the original word, or words from the same category. In the case of Indian English, a few of the substitutes were local food names. The results also showed, that most often the varieties behaved similarly: if one variety allowed variation, the other varieties also allowed variation. There were some differences between the idioms, however. Some idioms did not allow for any variation, while the others were more open to variation. These differences between the idioms can be explained by the nature of idioms.

Keywords: idiom, idiom variation, world Englishes, corpus linguistics

The originality of this thesis has been checked using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service.

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TIIVISTELMÄ

Riina Tukala: Casually drop the F-bomb in Chinese over spilt milk – idiom variation in food idioms in three varieties of English

Pro gradu -tutkielma Tampereen yliopisto

Kielten maisteriohjelma/englanti joulukuu 2020

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tarkoitus oli tutkia ruokasanoja sisältäviä idiomeja sekä niiden muokkaamista kolmessa eri englannin variantissa. Tutkimukseen valittiin kymmenen eri ruokaidiomia: spill the beans, icing on the cake, peas in a pod, sell like hot cakes, cry over spilt milk, go bananas, apple of somebody’s eye, take something with a pinch of salt, eat humble pie ja cream of the crop. Näiden idiomien muokkaantuvuutta tutkittiin Britannian englannissa, Intian englannissa ja Hong Kongin englannissa. Nämä kolme eri varianttia valittiin tutkimukseen sen pohjalta, että kussakin niistä englannin kielellä on oma funktionsa. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin News on the Web -korpuksesta ja aineisto koostuu uutisartikkeleista vuosilta 2010-2019.

Kustakin idiomista luotiin hakulausekkeita, joiden avulla tutkittiin kuinka laajasti, sekä millä tavoin idiomeja voidaan muokata.

Tutkimus koostuu sekä kvantitatiivisista että kvalitatiivisista menetelmistä. Jokaisesta idiomista muodostettiin viidestä kahdeksaan hakulauseketta, jotka etsittiin korpuksesta jokaisen kolmen variantin kohdalla. Jokaisen hakulausekkeen frekvenssi laskettiin hylkäämällä ei-idiomaattiset ilmaukset. Jäljelle jäävät idiomaattiset ilmaukset analysoitiin ja niitä vertailtiin jokaisessa kolmessa variantissa.

Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että ruokaidiomit eivät ole järin yleisiä uutisteksteissä

perusmuodoissakaan. Britannian ja Intian englannin käyttäjät käyttävät ruokaidiomeja teksteissään

enemmän, kuin Hong Kongin englannin käyttäjät. Hong Kongin englannin tuloksissa idiomeja ei myöskään juuri muokattu. Britannian ja Intian englanneissa idiomien muokkauksia oli havaittavissa. Useimmiten idiomeja muokattiin lisäämällä sanoja idiomiin, tai vaihtamalla osa idiomista toiseen sanaan. Lisättyjen sanojen funktio oli usein kuvaileva tai merkitystä tarkentava. Useimmiten vaihtoehtoiset sanat olivat joko alkuperäisen sanan synonyymeja tai sanoja samoista kategorioista. Intian englannissa vaihtoehtoinen sana oli muutamassa tapauksessa myös paikallisen ruoan nimi. Useimmiten variantit käyttäytyivät samoin: jos yksi variantti salli idiomin muokkauksen, sitä muokattiin myös muissa varianteissa. Idiomien välillä oli

eroavaisuuksia: osa idiomeista ei sallinut muokkauksia juuri lainkaan, kun taas toiset idiomit olivat muokkauksille avoimempia. Idiomien väliset eroavaisuudet selittyvät idiomien luonteella.

Avainsanat: idiomit, idiomien muokkaus, maailmanenglannit, korpuslingvistiikka.

Tämän julkaisun alkuperäisyys on tarkastettu Turnitin OriginalityCheck –ohjelmalla.

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1. Introduction

Idioms are “products of a social and cultural movement, and, if needs be, become obsolete at another”

(Pinnavaia 2010, 27). Only in the recent times idioms have been recognized to share many features that characterize a lexicon of a language. Earlier they were “mistakenly neglected, because they were thought to be something completely astray from ordinary language” (ibid.). Definitions of the concepts relating to idioms are often complex (e.g. Dilin 2003, 672), and the definitions tend to vary from researcher to researcher (Schildmier Stone 2016, 19). Despite the variations in definitions, studying idioms gives plenty of insight into the parts of the language that are below the surface, such as semantics, figurative language, and figurative meanings in general.

According to Al-Khawaldeh et al. (2016, 119), the usage and understanding of idioms is a possible sign of language proficiency. Studying how different English idioms are used in countries where English has a different status than for instance in the USA or the United Kingdom, gives insight into how well English is actually known in those societies, and what is the possible proficiency level of the speakers. One part of language proficiency is the ability to make everyday conversations more intricate and using idioms to liven up the language is one way to do so (Al-Khawaldeh et al. 2016, 120).

In the early stages of an idiom’s life, it only appears in speech acts of people, but as time goes by and the idiom begins to be used more and more in new contexts that still fit the meaning of the idiom, it becomes more standardized and a more fixed part of the language (Pinnavaia 2010, 118).

As idioms are used to describe situations that occur often and have some social interest (Nunberg, Sag and Wasow 1994, 493), it is no wonder that these idioms contain elements from everyday life.

The daily life and daily customs are good sources for idioms containing elements and items from everyday life (Pinnavaia 2010, 119). This is also where many idioms with food elements originate from. In addition to everyday life, literary works are another source for food idioms. Ancient and modern literature has provided several idioms that are used on a daily basis, and the Holy Scriptures

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have provided idioms for us to use as well (Pinnavaia 2010, 120). Even though some sources for food idioms can be recognized, many remain unknown. This is due to the fact that was mentioned earlier:

idioms are born in speech and only later on will they appear in text, thus the original source tends to stay unknown (Pinnavaia 2010, 122). As idioms come from ancient and modern literature, it is only natural that some of the idioms from those times become obsolete. Obsolete idioms tend to contain words or elements that are no longer used (Pinnavaia 2010, 117). Sometimes, however, new equivalents take the place of the old words in idioms. For instance, the idioms as flat as a flawn and coleworts twice sodden are no longer in use and are labelled obsolete. Neither word is in use nowadays, but the words pancake and cabbage took over, and formed the new expressions as flat as a pancake and I don’t boil my cabbages twice (Pinnavaia 2010, 116). However, there still are some idioms that describe situations or customs that have been lost. Therefore, the communicative function of the idiom is the point that matters the most. Sometimes, when idioms become obsolete and new forms do not take over, it is most likely due to the fact that the idioms simply lost their effectiveness and communicative function (Pinnavaia 2010, 117). This surely links to the fact why certain terms are more prone to become metaphoric than others. Terms that are well-known and have a longstanding presence in a certain language, and are also easily identified by speakers, are certainly terms that are more open to becoming metaphors than new terms that are only known to few (Pinnavaia 2010, 69).

Typically, the function of idioms is to describe, and even explain often occurring situations of particular social interest, such as becoming restless (climbing walls), talking informally (chewing fat) or divulging a secret (spilling beans) (Nunberg, Sag, and Wasow 1994, 493). As was mentioned, idioms can be used to liven up the language, and one genre especially is good at taking advantage of idioms in this sense: journalistic prose. Writers can use idioms to convey different effects, as nowadays news also have a more entertaining function besides just reporting what is happening around the world. Idioms in journalistic prose can be used for instance in controversial themes such as war and famine, and the writer can convey their opinions through well-known expressions, such

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as idioms and their manipulated versions (Pinnavaia 2007, 184). Idioms can be manipulated by adding elements, such as adjectives into it, or by substituting elements for another. Using idioms, especially idioms that have been manipulated through variation, to convey one’s opinions is a way to do it discretely, and not seem biased or prejudiced toward the topic (Pinnavaia 2010, 23). Idiom variation is a way to make idioms fit certain contexts better or to fit new contexts altogether, and to liven up the idioms and bring a new freshness into them and their functions (Pinnavaia 2010, 23). Even without variation, some idioms are more evaluative and thus convey the writer’s opinions more clearly (Pinnavaia 2010, 302). On one hand, with idioms such as the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, negative evaluations of a situation or a person can be made. Idioms such as take the cake and cherry on the cake, on the other hand, can be used to evaluate situations positively (Pinnavaia 2010, 303).

According to Pinnavaia (2010, 303), idioms with food elements can often be used for evaluations, and for this reason they are easily exploitable.

The aim of this thesis is to study how three different varieties of English use and modify different food idioms. The aim is to explore how frequent the chosen food idioms are in the three varieties, what sort of variations the different varieties allow in the idioms, if they allow any, and which idioms allow variation, and which do not. Possible reasons for the variation, or the lack of it, will be explored as well. The varieties chosen for the analysis are British English, Indian English and Hong Kong English. These three varieties were chosen for this study because they represent the three Circles of English in the world (discussed in more detail in section 2.1). The three varieties all have a different function in their respective societies, which makes it interesting to see how idioms are used in those societies, and whether the role of the language affects the use. What is of interest is whether the varieties where English is not the first language, such as Hong Kong English, allow variation that would not be allowed in native Englishes. The thesis will aim to answer the following research questions:

1) What type of variation do the idioms allow in the three varieties of English?

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2) What type of differences are there between the different varieties when it comes to idiom variation?

3) How frequent are the chosen idioms in the three varieties?

The hypotheses for this study are, that Hong Kong English does not use idioms in the texts as much as the other two varieties. Similarly, I hypothesize that a variety where English is a first language uses the idioms more than a variety where English is a second or foreign language. I also hypothesize that Hong Kong English and Indian English allow for more variation than British English, and also the type of variation that would possibly not be allowed in British English. In addition, the last hypothesis concerns the type of variation found in the idioms. The hypothesis is that elements of the idiom would be substituted for other elements, and possibly even elements that are local to the particular country of the variety.

The differences between different varieties of English in their idiom usage and variation are yet to be explored, as well as how different varieties of English with different status in their societies behave when it comes to idioms is yet to be studied. Using corpora for these types of studies is a good way to get data from real-life sources, such as discussions, online texts, or articles in a magazine.

Studying how different varieties treat idioms will be beneficial for instance in teaching. Idiom knowledge impacts language proficiency, and thus paying more attention to how idioms are taught and how students learn them will be beneficial for the future language skills of the students. As mentioned, knowing idioms greatly impacts how natural and lively a conversation is (Al-Khawaldeh et al. 2016, 120). This thesis aims to fill the gap that exists in the study of idiom variation in different varieties of English.

The second section of this thesis will introduce the background theory for the topic, covering World Englishes and the three varieties studied in this study, figurative language, as well as idioms and their characteristics. The second section will also discuss idiom variation and non-native speakers’ idiom learning and usage. In addition to these, the classification of idioms will be

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introduced, and the idioms studied in the current study will be classified based on the classifications presented. Lastly, previous research on the topic of food idioms will be covered. The third section will introduce the data, the corpus and the methodology used in the present study. The analysis of the data will be done in the fourth section. Discussion and conclusions of the thesis will be made in the fifth and sixth sections of the thesis respectively.

2. Background

This section will introduce the central topics of this thesis. First, the concept of World Englishes as well as the three varieties studied in this study will be introduced. Then, the general field of figurative language is discussed, and after that the main topic, idioms, will be discussed in more detail. The concept of idiom will be defined, and some characteristics of idioms will be introduced. Idiom learning and idiom acquisition in non-native speakers will be briefly touched upon to give some background for the analysis section. In addition to these, idiom classification and the concept of idiom variation, that is, how idioms can be modified and to what degree they are modifiable, will be introduced. Lastly, some previous research done on the topic of food idioms will be introduced.

2.1 World Englishes

When discussing language use in different varieties of English, it is important to briefly discuss the history of the varieties in question, as well as the defining characteristics of that variety. This section will introduce World Englishes in general, and the following three subsections will introduce the three varieties used in the study, British English, Indian English and Hong Kong English respectively.

Mesthrie and Mohan Bhatt (2008, 3) point out, that British English is not usually studied within the field of World Englishes, however in this study it is grouped under World Englishes, as the section is introducing the notion of World Englishes, as well as the varieties analysed in this study.

The expansion of English in the world began when English speakers took the language to new parts of the world: first into North America, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean (Nelson 2020, Part I: the historical context). English in these areas rooted deeply, and “became the major, if not the

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single most important language” (ibid.). Slightly later, English was carried by minorities of English speakers into nations and even continents where many different languages were spoken (ibid.). These included for instance South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. In these areas, English still has an important role in for instance education and government. After that, the spread of English “can be said to have taken on a life of its own, as people all over the world have found it to be increasingly a language of access to desired changes in their personal lives and their societies” (ibid.). These people adopted the language themselves without English speakers bringing it to them: “peoples with perfectly workable access to languages in their own lands adopted and adapted English where one would think it unnecessary for them to have done so” (ibid.).

World Englishes can be classified into groups with different types of models. Mesthrie and Mohan Bhatt (2008, 28-30) introduce Braj Kachru’s model of the World Englishes, in which the different World Englishes are divided into three circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle (see picture 1 below).

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Picture 1: The three circles model of English (from Mesthrie and Mohan Bhatt 2008, 30)

The Inner Circle (ibid., 29) consists of nations where English is spoken as a native language. These varieties are “norm providing” (ibid.). The Outer Circle varieties are nations where English has the status of second language (ibid.). These varieties have their own norms for the spoken language, but for the norms of the written language the Outer Circle varieties tend to rely on the Inner Circle (ibid.).

The Expanding Circle, in turn, is a circle of varieties where English is a foreign language, and they

“have not developed internal norms and accordingly rely on external norms” (ibid.).

Different Englishes around the world differ from each other not only in pronunciation, but also in lexical and syntactic terms. Words or phrases can acquire new meanings, and completely new phrases can emerge. Schneider (2007, 87) calls this “lexical co-occurrence”, which leads to the

“establishment of collocational tendencies, and, ultimately, idiom formation”. New colloquial tendencies and idioms can emerge from so-called “near-misses” (ibid.): “structures which,

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presumably in a second-language-learning process, are altered but slightly” (ibid., 87-88). An example of such is given from South African Indian English, where play fools means ‘play fool’

(ibid.).

Nelson (2020, Bilingual Language Play and World Englishes, 1) points out that “numerous studies show that multilingualism fosters linguistic creativity because a multilingual speaker has ‘both more leeway and more means for linguistic creativity than a monolingual person because he/she has more resources to draw on, manipulate and be creative with’”. Based on this assumption, it could be assumed that Outer and Expanding Circle varieties would be more creative in their idiom usage and would modify them more freely and in more intricate ways than Inner Circle varieties.

2.1.1 British English

Around the year 449 the Germanic tribes came to the British Isles and brought a new language with them. It was called Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon. It was a “fusion language to which various of the Germanic invading tribes had contributed, most particularly the Saxons from northern Germany” (Nelson 2020, “Beginnings”). Old English did not resemble modern day English very much. It was “open to the influence of other languages” (ibid.), and it adopted new words from the languages of the area, such as Celtic and Latin, as well as “from the languages of influential figures such as warriors and priests who came speaking no English” (ibid.). Early Modern English developed after the Norman Conquest. It was a different language compared to Old English, and not as heavy, as the complex morphology and word derivations were gone (ibid.). Early modern English developed, then, into Modern English (Davis 2010, 18).

Even though British English is grouped here under one title, the speaking communities in the British Isles are diverse, and many non-standard dialects exist, possibly even a larger number than in the other Inner Circle varieties (Britain 2010, 39).

British English, alongside American English, is a variety of English with the most native speakers, and it is one of the varieties most studied by foreign students (Algeo 2006, 1). Ultimately

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all forms of English have been derived from British English, however, a form of British English that is not spoken today (ibid.). As the other varieties of English are based on British English, British English is a suitable companion to the other two varieties studied in this study.

2.1.2 Indian English

The position of English in South Asian Englishes (SAE), which includes Indian English, has spread wide (Gargesh 2006, 90). It is used in social life, education and as a way of communicating with people from different regions (ibid.). The number of speakers of English in India is even bigger than it is in the USA and UK combined, roughly 333 million (ibid.). In the data Census of India from 1991, 178,598 people across India reported English as their mother tongue, and as a second language, over 64 million people (Sailaja 2012, 2-3).

English is an official language of India, and the official language status was extended in 1963.

As English is an official language of the country, it is used for all official purposes, for instance, for government activities (Sailaja 2012, 4). Primarily English is used in the settings of education, administration, law, science, and mass media (ibid., 5). The use of English in education is not compulsory, but schools with English as the language of instruction are popular (Parviainen 2020, 51). However, as most of these English-medium schools are private, the skills in English are unequal in India (ibid.). Among the educated, English is used as the primary language for communication (Sailaja 2012, 5.). The usage of English among friends and family has some variation, and the topic of the discussion is often a determining factor in the language choice. More official matters, such as politics, education and medicine are often discussed in English, while conversations about relationships and emotions are often had in one’s own language, especially if English is not the mother language (ibid., 6).

Compared to RP (Received Pronunciation), there is some variation in phonology and syntax in South Asian Englishes, including Indian English, but the greatest variation can be found in the lexicon (Gargesh 2006, 102-103). The different South Asian Englishes have introduced local words

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into the English of the area: for instance, crore (10 million) and lakh (100,000) have been recorded in Indian English (ibid.). In addition, names of local foods are prominent in SAE, and different innovations for existing English words, such as finger chips for French fries (ibid.). Similarly, innovative compounds are plentiful, e.g. to airlift, to airstrike and to turnturtle (ibid.). SAE also has some syntactic features which are not found elsewhere, for example using present progressive tense with stative verbs, e.g. I am having a cold instead of I have a cold (ibid., 104). In addition to this, inversion of the subject and the auxiliary verbs are found, as in the sentence What you would like to read? (ibid.). Similarly, some Indian English words have developed different meanings from the meanings in the native varieties. Sailaja (2012, 68) notes that for instance smart means ‘well-dressed’

or ‘cunning’ instead of ‘clever, intelligent, knowledgeable’ (Oxford Dictionary of English, s.v. smart) and hotel means ‘a restaurant’ instead of ‘A building or establishment where travellers or tourists are provided with overnight accommodation, meals, and other services’ (Oxford Dictionary of English, s.v. hotel). In addition, some words that are seen as archaic in British English are still common in Indian English. An example of such is thrice (Mukherjee 2010, 175).

In terms of idioms, Indian English tends to juxtaposition them in new ways, as exemplified by I am in very good health and hope you are in the same boat (ibid., 105). Apart from such usages, comfortable usage of idioms is rare (Sailaja 2012, 61). Typical behaviour of non-standard Indian English is the literal translation of Indian idioms into English (ibid.).

2.1.3 Hong Kong English

Hong Kong became a colony of Britain in 1842 (Setter et al. 2010, 4), and in 1984 Britain and China signed a Sino-British Joint Declaration, and Hong Kong was returned to be under China’s rule once that lease came to an end, which it did in June 1997 (Setter et al. 2010, 4.). During the colonial period, many workers came from India, which led to Indian English influencing Hong Kong English, especially lexically (English in Hong Kong, xiv). In Hong Kong, English is the dominant language of the government, the legal system as well as business sectors (Setter et al. 2010, 5). Schools also

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teach English as a second language, and at times it is used for instruction (English in Hong Kong, xvi). The English taught in Hong Kong schools is most often British English (ibid.). English is used as a lingua franca in Hong Kong, and, compared to the situation for instance in India, the language is mostly used to communicate to the outside world instead of other inhabitants of the region (Setter et al. 2010,5; Sung 2015, 256). Despite English being taught as a second language, speakers of Hong Kong English exhibit a lot of variation in how proficient they are in speaking the language (Setter et al. 2010, 8).

Unlike many other post-colonial varieties of English, such as Indian English or Malaysian English, Hong Kong English is yet to be recognized as a ‘nativized’ variety of English (Sung 2015, 257). Sung (ibid.) argues that Hong Kong English “can be considered an ‘emergent’ variety of English, given that it is not as far advanced in its development as other ‘new’ post-colonial varieties of Englishes”

Close contact of English and Cantonese in Hong Kong has led to words being borrowed between the two languages (Setter et al. 2010, 6), and many of the vocabulary items in Hong Kong English have been borrowed either from Mandarin or Cantonese (Sung 2015, 261-262), and many items cannot be found in other varieties at all (ibid.). A popular source for new words in Hong Kong English is the innovation of new words (ibid.). These include words such as Chinglish for Chinese English, and as Canto-pop for Cantonese pop music (ibid.). Another source for new words is loan translations from Cantonese. In these loan translations Cantonese morphemes are directly translated, resulting in words such as iron rice bowl (a secure job) and golden rice bowl (a lucrative and secure job) (Sung 2015, 262).

Many of the words in Hong Kong English can satisfactorily be understood in their local context.

Sung (2015, 262) gives the example of an astronaut, which has developed a special meaning in Hong Kong English. An astronaut refers to “a person who left Hong Kong and immigrated overseas with his/her family at the time of the handover to China in 1997 but returns to work in Hong Kong and

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frequently flies between the two places” (ibid.). The close relations of English and Cantonese can also be seen in the morphology and syntax of Hong Kong English (Setter et al. 2010, 43). Cantonese does not have tense inflections in verbs or number inflections in nouns (ibid.) and this affects Hong Kong English for instance in that third person singular verbs are missing the suffix -s, plural suffix - s is optional, past tense is not marked and finally double comparisons of adjectives are common (ibid.). Lastly, a semantic shift can be found in some instances in Hong Kong English vocabulary.

For instance, to sleep late means “going to bed late the previous night” instead of the normal meaning

“waking up late in the morning” and body check has the meaning of a “complete medical check-up”

instead of a move in ice hockey (Sung 2015, 262).

2.2 Figurative language

In everyday life, people generally do not give much conscious thought to whether what they say is literal or figurative. Similarly, people rarely pay attention to the processes that take place when interpreting what other people say. Due to these reasons, Gibbs and Colston (2012) raised the question whether there is anything special about figurative language. However, different types of figurative language are being used every day by everyone to accomplish different types of discourse goals, such as emphasizing something, being polite, or being humorous (Roberts and Kreutz 1994, 162).

Figurative language can also be used to create a feeling of intimacy between speakers, while excluding other speakers from this group (ibid., 159). Some have argued that figurative language can in some instances “be more precise and informative than literal statements” (ibid.), and some ideas or concepts can be difficult to express in literal language. In these situations, idioms are a useful tool (Katz 1998, 121).

Figurative language is generally defined as language where what is said in fact means something else than what is literally being said (Gibbs and Colston 2012, 1; Colston and Katz 2005, x). What phenomena of language actually can be categorized as figurative language is in fact not clear-cut, but some typologies have been developed (Roberts and Kreutz 2994, 159). In the field of

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psychological literature, eight types of figurative language have been categorized. These include hyperbole, idiom, indirect request, irony, understatement, metaphor, rhetorical question, and simile (Roberts and Kreutz 1994, 159). Thus, for instance in the case of irony, saying “Another gorgeous day!” when it is pouring down raining and thundering, does not actually mean what the utterance implies (ibid.).

Previously it was thought that figurative language was more complex than literal language, but nowadays that view has shifted, and it is believed that “figurative language involves the same kinds of linguistic and pragmatic operations that are used for ordinary, literal language” (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001, v). Indeed, according to Roberts and Kreutz (1994, 159), understanding figurative language can be as fast as understanding literal language if enough context is provided. This holds true especially for those figures of speech that are familiar to the speaker (Gibbs and Colston 2012, 1). Similarly, “understanding when and why an utterance is produced is crucial in understanding its meaning” (Roberts and Kreutz 1994, 159), no matter if the utterance is a figurative or a literal one.

As it has been difficult to draw a line between literal and figurative, some scholars have proposed that they actually are ends of a continuum of meaning (Gibbs and Colston 2012, 26). Some cases of figurative language seem more figurative than others. For instance, her kiss the sting of a bee seems more figurative than the idiom kick the bucket which seems to “express something much more closer to ordinary, perhaps literal meanings” (ibid.). In addition, when determining whether a meaning is literal or figurative, much rests on “how a single word is interpreted” (Gibbs and Colston 2012, 20). Meaning, if one word is interpreted differently than how the speaker intended it, the meaning of an utterance can be misinterpreted.

2.3 Idioms

This section will introduce idioms in more detail. As was discussed in the previous section, idioms are an important part of figurative language. This section will start off by defining idioms and exploring some of the characteristic features of them. After that, idioms in the context of idiom

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acquisition for non-native speakers will be discussed, and following that, idiom variation will be introduced.

2.3.1 Definitions and characteristics of idioms

“The first difficulty we encounter in regard to idioms is that right from the outset it seems hard to define what exactly is meant by the term ‘idiom’” (Schröder 2015, 191). This point has been argued by several other scholars as well (e.g. Dilin 2003, Schildmier Stone 2016). Even though the definition seems to be difficult to capture, for example the following two have been suggested:

1) “a construction whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of its constituents”

(Glucksberg and McGlone 2001, 68)

2) “’idiom’ indicates a unit of two or more words whose meaning is not the combination of its syntactic elements” (Pinnavaia 2010, 25)

Idioms are often grouped into belonging into the class of fixed expressions (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001, 68; Abel 2003, 329). Fixed expressions can also include for example movie or song titles, names, and compounds (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001, 68). Pinnavaia (2010, 25) notes, that idioms are seen as “a sub-category of the generic category of multi-word units, phraseological units, phrasemes or fixed expressions”. However, how idioms differ from, for example names, which can be seen as fixed expressions as well, is that they are non-logical (ibid.). This means, that their idiomatic meaning cannot be derived from the literal meaning of the idiom (ibid.).

Idioms can involve different types of elements from the world of figurative language. They can involve metaphors, hyperboles and other types of figuration (Nunberg, Sag and Wasow 1994, 494).

The function of idioms is descriptive: they are used to describe, and also to explain, recurrent situations “of particular social interest (becoming restless, talking informally, divulging a secret, or whatever) in virtue of its resemblance or relation to a scenario involving homey, concrete things and relations – climbing walls, chewing fat, spilling beans” (Nunberg, Sag, and Wasow 1994, 493).

Similarly, idioms are rarely used to describe situations that are seen as neutral, such as buying books.

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Such neutral activities thus rarely evoke new idioms, but idioms are born to denote activities with certain social meanings (ibid.). Idioms can be used in a variety of ways both in speech and in writing.

Idioms can be used in poetry, novels and books, and they are used to create a more creative twist (Fathima Shirin 2018, 1).

Idioms can be thought to be placed on a continuum, where “fully idiomatic” is at one end, and

“partially idiomatic” is at the other end. “Not all idioms are idiomatic to the same degree. This means that not all idioms can be characterized by the same linguistic properties” (Pinnavaia 2010, 26). For instance, the basic idea behind an idiom is that it has two readings, a literal and a figurative reading.

While this is true for some idioms, other idioms do not have a literal reading at all, e.g. spic and span (ibid.). The fact that idioms are not idiomatic to the same degree, makes characterisation and description of idioms slightly difficult, and thus it is important to discuss the different degrees of idiomaticity to be able to characterise them more properly.

The terminology around idioms and how their meanings can be interpreted can be at times confusing. Abel (2003, 332) divides idioms into decomposable and nondecomposable idioms.

Decomposability is based on speakers’ own judgements. In decomposable idioms, the components of the idioms play a part in the idiom’s idiomatic meaning. For example, in the idiom miss the boat, meaning ‘be too slow to take advantage of an opportunity’ (Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, s.v.

miss), the verb miss contributes to the meaning (Abel 2003, 333). In nondecomposable idioms, the components of the idiom do not play a part in the idiomatic meaning, as in the idiom kick the bucket.

From none of the three elements, kick, the or bucket, can the meaning ‘to die’ be interpreted (ibid.).

Compositionality is another important term when it comes to idioms. At times, it is used synonymously with decomposability, even though they are not the same. While decomposability is based on speakers’ own judgements, compositionality is a theoretical notion. It is the “assumption about the combination of syntactic constituents and their phrasal or sentential meanings” (ibid.). The literal meaning of an idiom is always compositional, and the figurative meaning of an idiom is always

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noncompositional (ibid.). Idioms that are decomposable, can be partly compositional, but idioms that are nondecomposable are often noncompositional (ibid.). However, there are exceptions, and some nondecomposable idioms have compositional meanings as well, as is the case with the idiom kick the bucket. The noncompositional, or the figurative meaning of this idiom is ‘to die’, and the compositional, or the literal meaning of this idiom is to literally kick a bucket. There are also idioms that do not seem to have literal meanings at all (Pinnavaia 2010, 63; Abel 2003, 333). Pinnavaia (2010, 63) notes the following idioms as examples of these types of idioms: cut the mustard, do one’s nut, dead meat, couch potato and the world’s one’s oyster. Trying to come up with a literal meaning for these idioms seems difficult. For instance, in the case of dead meat, the literal meaning would imply there is living meat.

In addition to compositionality and decomposability, idioms can typically “appear only in a limited number of syntactic frames or constructions” (Nunberg, Sag, and Wasow 1994, 492). This relates to the concept of idiom variation, which will be discussed further in the subsection 2.3.3.

2.3.2 Non-native English speakers’ idiom usage and learning

This subsection aims to give insight into how people learning English as their second or foreign language acquire knowledge of idioms, and how they learn idioms. The ability to use figurative language, such as idioms, in conversations and writing is seen as essential in native-like communication (Siyanova-Chanturia 2011, 252). In fact, if second language learners would not use idiomatic expressions at all in conversations or writing, it would make it difficult to function in an L2 setting (Karlsson 2020, 1). Even the underuse of such expressions would make the L2 speaker seem formal or unnatural (ibid.). Non-native speakers’ knowledge of complex units such as idioms, is limited compared to native speakers, and non-native speakers’ “knowledge of L2 multi-word units, such as idioms and collocations, is not on a par with their knowledge of L2 vocabulary in general”

(Steinel 2007, 450). Idioms and figurative language seem to be one of the most difficult areas of the lexicon for learners of a second language. It concerns comprehension, retention and especially

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productive knowledge, and it affects even the most advanced learners (Karlsson 2020, 1). The most probable reason for this difficulty is the fact that idioms have a “double layer of semanticity” (ibid.), but also the fact that many idioms appear in non-conventional forms plays a part (ibid.).

“Non-native speakers do not develop as many idiom entries as native speakers, because the frequency with which non-natives encounter idioms is lower” (Abel 2003, 348). As they encounter English idioms less often than native speakers, non-native speakers have difficulties in using them, and it can lead to non-native speakers completely avoiding them in their speech or writing (Irujo 1986, 287). Considering the cognitive development behind idiom acquisition, native speakers follow a pattern of when they start recognizing idiomatic expressions, and when the recognition and usage of those expressions develops even further. For second language learners, the cognitive processes behind idiom acquisition are not as clear, since “when a student starts encountering L2 figurative language, a(n) (adequate) cognitive level for idiom processing already exists in that student’s mother tongue” (Karlsson 2020, 11).

Irujo (1986) conducted a study on Spanish speaking students on how the students use their first language knowledge in understanding and producing idioms in a second language, in this case English. In the study, the role of transfer, that is, how the “forms and patterns of the native language are imposed on the second language” was crucial (Irujo 1986, 288). The study showed, that non- native English speakers “use their native language to comprehend and produce idioms in the second language, [and] they also used target language-related strategies” (Irujo 2986, 295). The students’

target-language strategies included for instance substituting a word for another with a similar meaning (kill two birds with one rock, hit the nail in the tip) (ibid., 296). At times, the students’ confusion came from other idioms in English, such as kick the towel, where to throw in the towel was confused with the idiom to kick the bucket (Irujo 1986, 296). Sometimes the students would use an incomplete idiom (to cost an arm for to cost an arm and a leg) or different idioms from the expected one, either acceptable equivalent or an unacceptable non-equivalent (ibid.). The study showed that first language

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interference varied by the student: some showed little interference for any of the idioms, while others showed higher levels of interference. (ibid.). As the students were of similar proficiency level, there is a possibility that “some learners may consciously try to keep their two languages separate and thus reject second language forms which are too close to those of the first language” (ibid.).

In addition to the fact that if the first language of the learner is related to the second language, it helps the learner produce and comprehend idioms, non-native speakers who are exposed to English idioms, for instance in literature, learn those idioms faster and develop idiom entries, especially if they encounter the same idiom more frequently (Abel 2003, 349). In another study, Abel (2003) asked native and non-native speakers to categorize idioms either as decomposable or nondecomposable. It turned out, that native speakers tended to categorize the majority of the idioms as nondecomposable, while non-native speakers judged the same idioms more often as decomposable. Those non-native speakers who are exposed to idioms more than other learners, start to judge idioms as nondecomposable (ibid.). If a learner encounters an idiom they are not familiar with, they try to put together the meaning of the idiom through the literal meaning of the constituents. (ibid.). This shows that “non-natives actually ‘decompose’ idioms, whereas natives do not have to consider the constituent meaning, because they activate their existing idiom entry” (ibid.). In another study conducted by Siyanova-Chanturia (2001, 265) the processing times of idioms and novel language

“suggest that idioms are not represented in the mental lexicon of a non-native speaker in the same way they are represented in the lexicon of a native speaker”.

The differences in idiom learning between native and non-native speakers is not only due to language problems, but general issues such as frequency affect the idiom learning process (Abel 2003, 348). The more frequently an idiom is encountered in everyday life, the more likely a mental entry is developed for that idiom (Karlsson 2020, 21).

Discussing the differences between non-native speakers and native speakers in their idiom usage and in the acquisition of idioms is important when analysing and discussing the findings of the

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present study. If there are major differences in the usage and acquisition between speakers, it most likely shows in the results in some way.

2.3.3 Idiom variation

Idioms seem to behave like phrases in some respect (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001, 69). Idioms can be modified and varied in discourse, and even 40% of idioms have lexical variations or “strongly uninstitutionalized transformations” (Pinnavaia 2010, 273). Even though many idioms can be altered, there are “some idioms among the most frequent that seem to be quite resistant to change: inflectional changes being the only adaptations found” (ibid., 279). Also, research on phraseology, which includes idioms, has shown that idioms “show a greater degree of formal and semantic flexibility” than was previously thought (Langlotz 2006, 10). The aim of this subsection is to introduce the different ways in which idioms can be modified.

Idiom variation is “a phenomenon of language in use” (Langlotz 2006, 175). Thus, real-life data, for instance from corpora, are needed to observe these variations idioms show. Each idiom can be assigned a base form, which in short is the simplest form that an expression can take while retaining its meaning and function (ibid., 176). Most often idioms are used in their base form. Langlotz (2006, 176) uses the term neutral use to indicate “the standard use of an idiom according to its base-form”.

When the use of an idiom differs from this neutral use, the idiom is altered in some way. Idiom variation can be divided into formal and semantic variations. Variations made with the tools of formal variation often change the meaning of the idiom, while other variations create “more subtle meaning adaptations” (Langlotz 2006, 180) Formal variation can be divided further into morphosyntactic, syntactic and lexical variations (Langlotz 2006, 179). In morphosyntactic variation, the idiom is modified by means of inflection. These include the inflection of verbs, nouns, determiners and different quantifiers (ibid.). Syntactic variation “involves changes in the constructional organization of the base-form” (ibid, 180). These include for instance postmodification, passivization and clefting (ibid., 180). Lexical variations are often lexical substitutions. Constituents of an idiom can be

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substituted for synonymous or non-synonymous alternatives (ibid.). The constituents that are most often substituted are verbs, nouns, and determiners (Pinnavaia 2010, 274). The noun replacing the original can either belong to the same semantic field as the original, or to a completely different field.

A noteworthy point to make is, that the noun substitution does not change the meaning of the idiom (ibid., 275-276). The verb substitutions are “less metaphorically prominent than the noun substitutions” (ibid.). Some verb substitutions are synonymous to the original, some completely different, and others are near-synonyms with changes in register (to not care a fig and to not give a fig) (ibid.). If an adjective is substituted in the idiom, the adjective can be synonymous or antonymous.

The adjectives can also have different meanings (tough/smart cookie) (ibid., 277). Determiners can be replaced as well, mainly indefinite determiners can replace definite ones, and all definite and indefinite possessive determiners, such as his can be replaced by nouns, such as John’s (ibid.).

Semantic variation, in turn, is divided into polysemy, ambiguation and meaning adaptations (Langlotz 2006, 179). Polysemous idioms consist of idioms which have a “lexically invariant form but two conventional meanings” (Langlotz 2006, 181). Semantic variation achieved through ambiguation is a “creative process of playing with the semantic potential of idioms” (ibid.). In the context of use, ambiguation affects both the idiomatic and the literal meaning of the idiom. As an example, a slogan if you like wine, have a good nose (ibid.) is a good example of ambiguous variation.

The idiom have a nose for something, meaning ‘being good at discovering precious and interesting things’ “is ambiguated by activating the literal meaning have a good nose” (Langlotz 2006, 181). A wine enthusiast, who is good at discovering good wines, “must also depend on his or her nose” (ibid.).

In meaning adaptations, on the other hand, the idiomatic meaning of the idiom is modified and lexicogrammatical alterations are made as well. Meaning adaptations can be achieved by intensification, specification, antonymy and perspectivisation (ibid.). Intensifications can be achieved for instance “by elaborating the underlying image by [a] premodifying adjective phrase” (ibid.). For example, the idiom upset the applecart can be modified into overturning the most ponderous

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applecart (ibid). Specification is used when the scope of meaning is narrowed down. This can be accomplished by the usage of postmodifiers. (ibid., 182). Meaning adaptations can also include addition and possibly deletion. In addition, “conventional structures are amplified” (Pinnavaia 2010, 278). The added constituents are often adjectives (to sow one’s (wild) oats) or adverbs ((really) take the biscuit) (ibid). Addition by adverbial elements is a way of intensification. Specification is a form of addition as well, since elements are added into the idiom to make a part of the idiom more specific.

Deletion happens when “conventional structures are truncated” (Pinnavaia 2010, 278.). The idea behind the idiom remains, even though a part of the idiom is removed, as in the proof of the pudding (is in the eating) (ibid). Deletion is a way of modifying the idiom with lexicogrammatical modifications, however the meaning of the idiom does not change, while in other meaning adaptations the meaning of the idiom changes slightly. In perspectivisation, “verbal idioms vary their lexical or syntactic structure systematically to focus on the scene or action by the literal meaning from an alternative perspective” (Langlotz 2006, 182.). A closely related variation type is permutation, in which the elements of the idiom are reversed (Pinnavaia 2010, 278). This type of variation is not very common, but one example given by Pinnavaia (ibid.). is the idiom you can’t have your cake and eat it. A permutated version of the idiom is you can’t eat your cake and have it.

Some idiom variations are more common than others, and some are more institutionalized than others. Thus, the variants can be divided into institutionalized variants, usual variants, occasional variants, systematic variants, erroneous variants, pun variants, and pseudo-variants. Institutionalized variants are official in the sense that they have been recorded in dictionaries (Pinnavaia 2010, 274).

Usual variants are “frequently recurring idiom variants” (Langlotz 2006, 177). Occasional variants are variations of an idiom that are not regular and cannot be predicted from the idiom’s structure (Pinnavaia 2010, 287). They are non-recurrent, and they appear in actual use (Langlotz 2006, 177).

The variants have been generated from the context of use, and the purpose of the variants is wordplay (ibid.). Systematic variants are variants that have become regular and are grammatical, and erroneous

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variants are non-intentional, “an idiomatic slip-of-the-tongue” (ibid.). Pun variant is “an idiom variant that exploits the formal and semantic structure of the base-form for the sake of wordplay” (ibid).

Pseudo-variants are variants that can only be interpreted literally, and the idiomatic meaning is lost (ibid.).

Decomposable idioms are idioms that are most open to variation (Pinnavaia 2010, 290). The idiomatic meanings of decomposable idioms are learnt off by heart with repeated use: “the idiom constituents, from which the metaphoric referents emerge, acquire semantic autonomy” (ibid.). The reason why these types of idioms are more easily varied is

The cognitive awareness of the semantic independence of some idiom constitution, along with the perception that there is a relationship between them and their metaphoric counterparts, consequently makes these units, and the idioms to which they belong, more susceptible to adaptation. (Pinnavaia 2010, 290)

The differences in the variation of idioms can possibly be explained by “one element that all of these idioms have in common: these resistant-to-adaptation idioms all have nondecomposable semantic structures” (Pinnavaia 2010, 279.) To put it differently, the idiomatic meanings of the idioms are independent of the literal meanings of its constituents.

A problem with idiom variation is, that while certain alternations done to one idiom can be hardly noticeable, the same variation done to another idiom can render it ungrammatical or can “lead to a completely different communicative effect” (Langlotz 2006, 183).

2.4 Idiom classification

Idioms can be classified into different categories based on their structure and lexical properties. This section will first introduce idiom classification based on the classifications made by Adam Makkai (1972), and after that classifications made by other scholars will be shortly introduced. These two classifications are introduced separately, as Makkai’s (1972) classification describes the structure of the idioms, while the other classifications concentrate more on compositionality and less on the structure. The last part of this subsection will classify the idioms studied in the present study based on the classifications introduced in this section.

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Classifying idioms into groups based on their syntactic or semantic structures is important later on in the study, when analysing the idioms and their ability to be varied in journalistic prose.

2.4.1 Makkai’s classification

Makkai’s (1972) classification of idioms is based on their structure and properties. First, he identifies two idiomaticity areas in English, the first idiomaticity area being the lexemic stratum, and the second being the sememic stratum (Makkai 1972, 117). The idiom class of the first idiomaticity area is the class of polylexonic lexemes (ibid.). The idioms belonging to the second idiomaticity area, then, are part of the polysemonic sememes class (ibid.).

First, a lexemic idiom is “any polylexonic lexeme which is made up of more than one minimal free form or word … each lexon of which can occur in other environments as the realization of a monolexonic lexeme” (Makkai 1972, 122). To make this more understandable, a lexemic idiom consists of more than one minimal free form or word, and these can occur outside of the idiom independently by themselves as well. The basic characteristic that we have encountered with idioms already, is a characteristic of lexemic idioms: even though the elements of the idiom are familiar to us, the idiom is not understood based on those elements alone. Not only can they be not understood, but a wrong reading can misinform the reader (Makkai 1972, 122). Lexemic idioms can be divided into six sub-classes based on their syntactic structure: phrasal verb idioms, tournure idioms, irreversible binomial idioms, phrasal compound idioms, incorporating verb idioms and pseudo- idioms.

The first of these sub-classes, the phrasal verb idioms, consist of a verb + adverb “with the understanding that certain adverbs also occurring as ‘prepositions’ are merely transitive adverbs”

(Makkai 1972, 135). Phrasal verb idioms encounter some problems. The construction can be literal only, as in go away, or it can have both a literal and an idiomatic meaning, as come up does. The phrasal verb idiom can also have several idiomatic meanings and a literal meaning (e.g. put up), or several idiomatic meanings and no literal meaning at all (e.g. work up) (Makkai 1972, 135). Even

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though the basic definition implied that the phrasal verb idiom consists of two constituents, many contain three, such as come up with or get away with. Leaving the constituent with out of the idiom, would produce idioms that do not occur: come up with a suggestion → *come up a suggestion and get away with murder → *get away murder (Makkai 1972, 145).

The second sub-class of lexemic idioms is tournure idioms, which are polylexonic lexemes of

“a larger size-level than a phrasal verb insofar as it consists of at least three lexons that are lexemes elsewhere” (Makkai 1972, 148). Tournure idioms can also contain the definite article the or the indefinite article a (ibid., 152). These are called nonrepresentative lexons, and the removal, addition or changing for another is not allowed (ibid., 153). For instance, in the tournure idiom kick the bucket, the definite article the cannot be changed into an indefinite article a without losing the idiomatic meaning.

Tournure idioms have a phrase-like structure, such as to X the Y, to X a Y, to be (adv.) at X or Y (ibid., 149), and these structures are the basis for the classification of tournure idioms into further sub-classes.

Third class of lexemic idioms is the class of irreversible binomial idioms. Binomials consist of

“part A and B joined by a finite set of links l the order of which (in the majority of cases) cannot be reversed” (Makkai 1972, 155). Most binomials in English are idioms (Makkai 1972, 158). Binomial idioms include for example by and large, spick and span and kith and kin.

The fourth class of lexemic idioms is phrasal compound idioms. These are idioms that consist of compounds that are idiomatic, such as the White House (Makkai 1972, 165). This class can contain idioms with a structure of adjective + noun, such as blackmail, or noun + noun, such as book worm or flea market (Makkai 1972, 321-326). Phrasal compound idioms can also be more phrase-like, such as two nouns connected by a preposition and optionally an article (hole in the wall, fish out of water) (Makkai 1972, 334).

The fifth class is incorporating verb idioms, in which “the first lexon of these complex lexemes is a noun or an adjective in other environments, and a literal re-encoding of many reveals a related structure where the verb leads the construction which is either followed by a direct object and/or an

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appropriate choice of prepositional phrase” (Makkai 1972, 168). Examples of such idioms are to baby- sit and to eavesdrop.

The last class of lexemic idioms are called pseudo-idioms. This class includes idioms where one constituent is a cranberry morph, which is a form with no independent meaning outside the structure in which it appears in, such as kith and kin. (Makkai 1972, 169).

Sememic idioms are most often sentence-like structures, “polylexemic construction[s], whose aggregate literal meaning derived from its constituent lexemes functions additionally as the realization of an unpredictable sememic network” (Makkai 1972, 128). Sememic idioms can include culture-bound expressions such as get to first base; institutionalized forms of politeness, such as may I, and would you mind; questions which are in fact proposals to do something, such as why don’t you…; certain greetings, for example how do you do? and how are you?; and idioms which try to lessen the impact of a statement, such as I wasn’t too crazy about it or it really wasn’t my cup of tea.

As the idioms studied in this study do not include sememic idioms, they will not be discussed in further detail here, but it is important to make note of them.

2.4.2 Other classifications

The other classifications have been compiled in the table 1 below. These are the classifications made by Pinnavaia (2010), and Glucksberg and McGlone (2001) with examples of each category. The categories devised by the two authors are in fact quite similar, however Glucksberg and McGlone (2001) do not make a note of the kind of idiom where part of the idiom has a literal constituent and the other part an idiomatic one. Pinnavaia (2010) has two of these types of idioms, compositional and partially compositional.

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Table 1: Other idiom classifications

Meaning Example

Non-compositional idioms (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001)

Idiom meaning cannot be derived from

constituents

Cheesecake ‘pinup art’

Compositional-opaque (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001)

Constituents can constrain idiom

interpretation and use

Kick the bucket ‘to die’

Compositional and

transparent (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001)

Idiom constituents and

idiom meaning have a connection

Spill the beans ‘reveal a secret’

Quasi-metaphorical (Glucksberg and McGlone 2001)

Meaning conveyed through allusion

Crossing one’s bridges before coming to them

‘doing something prematurely’

Compositional (Pinnavaia 2010)

Combination of literal and idiomatic senses

Go bananas ‘go crazy’

Pseudo-compositional

(Pinnavaia 2010) Literal meanings of constituents

contribute to meaning partially

Bed and breakfast ‘a system of accommodation’

Partially compositional

(Pinnavaia 2010) Constituents’

literal meanings combine with

extended idiomatic meanings of the

particular constituent

To rain cats and dogs

’to rain heavily’

Non-compositional (Pinnavaia 2010)

Idiom meaning cannot be derived from

constituents

Lemon ‘a faulty product’

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2.4.3 Classifying the present study’s idioms

This section will classify the idioms studied in the present study based on the classifications made in the previous two subsections. This study studies ten different idioms: spill the beans, icing on the cake, peas in a pod, sell like hot cakes, take something with a pinch of salt, go bananas, cry over spilt milk, apple of someone’s eye, eat humble pie and cream of the crop. The classification of the idioms can be seen in table 2 below. The idioms were classified based in their type, compositionality, decomposability and part of speech. In part of speech, the following parts of speech were identified:

verb phrase (VP), noun phrase (NP), prepositional phrase (PP).

Table 2: Classification of the present study's idioms

Type Compositionality Decomposable Part of Speech Spill the

beans

Tournure idiom Compositional and transparent

Partially decomposable

VP + NP Icing on the

cake

Phrasal compound idiom

Non-compositional Nondecomposable NP + PP Peas in a

pod Phrasal

compound idiom Pseudo-compositional Partially

decomposable NP + PP Sell like hot

cakes

Tournure idiom Pseudo-compositional Nondecomposable VP + NP Cry over

spilt milk

Tournure idiom Non-compositional Nondecomposable VP + PP Go bananas Tournure idiom Compositional Partially

decomposable

VP + NP Apple of

sb’s eye Phrasal

compound idiom Non-compositional Nondecomposable NP + PP Take sth

with a pinch of salt

Tournure idiom Non-compositional Nondecomposable VP + PP Eat humble

pie Tournure idiom Non-compositional Nondecomposable VP + NP Cream of

the crop

Phrasal compound idiom

Non-compositional Nondecomposable NP + PP

As can be seen from the table 2 above, the idioms of the study consist of tournure idioms and phrasal compound idioms, and they are either noun phrases with a modifying prepositional phrase, or verb

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phrases with a modifying prepositional phrase or noun phrase. Most of the idioms are noncompositional.

2.5. Previous work on food idioms

For instance Laura Pinnavaia (e.g. 2010, 2015 and 2007) has studied food and drink idioms rather extensively. For instance, in her study “We are what we eat: Analyzing food and drink idioms in English, French, German, and Spanish” (2015), the aim was to study what sort of food and drink words were idiomatically productive and are some words more productive than others. She was also studying the impact of culture on idioms. She explored which idioms were culture-bound and what cultural values, implied by the more productive food or drink words, are shared by more than one language. The results showed that the words that most often produce idioms are to some extent very similar in all four languages. Some words were only productive in one language, for instance bean and cherry in English, carotte and oignon in French, Fett in German and ajo, hierba, and pimiento in Spanish. According to Pinnavaia (2015, 466), these four different cultures have similar word items (such as apple, bread, and potato) in their idioms, since they have a similarly developed way of thinking. The results showed, that “there exist many shared terms, cultural values, and idioms in the field of food and drink” (Pinnavaia, 2015, 466) between these four languages.

Another study by Pinnavaia (2007) studied food and drink idioms in journalese texts, mainly in The Times. Food and drink idioms were searched in articles published in The Times between the years 1785 and 1992 (Pinnavaia 2007, 179). The study showed, that the idioms do not start to appear in the magazine until the year 1820, and then do not appear again after the year 1987. Certain events, such as the First and Second World Wars seemed to be more encouraging to the usage of idioms (Pinnavaia 2007, 182). Certain food items (e.g. apple, bread, butter, carrot, fat, nut, salt) produce more idioms than others, and it was concluded that these words are “prototypes” of the food category they represent (Pinnavaia 2007, 183). The idioms found in these journalistic texts showed also a great variety of flexibility. The study showed that these idioms were varied on phrase, as well as clause level

"Casually drop the F-bomb in Chinese over spilt milk" : Idiom variation in food idioms in three varieties of English

Riina Tukala