Phraseological phrases are the bane of everyone who studies a foreign language, because when faced with them, a person often cannot understand what is being said. Often, in order to understand the meaning of a particular statement, you have to use a dictionary of phraseological combinations, which is not always at hand. However, there is a way out - you can develop the ability to recognize phraseological units, then it will be easier to understand their meaning. True, for this you need to know what types there are and how they differ. Particular attention in this matter should be paid to phraseological combinations, since they (due to in various ways their classifications) create the most problems. So, what are they, what are their distinctive features, and in what dictionaries can you find clues?

Phraseology and the subject of its study

The science of phraseology, which specializes in the study of various stable combinations, is relatively young. In Russian linguistics, it began to stand out as a separate section only in the 18th century, and even then at the end of this century, thanks to Mikhail Lomonosov.

Its most famous researchers are linguists Viktor Vinogradov and Nikolai Shansky, and in English- A. McKay, W. Weinreich and L. P. Smith. By the way, it is worth noting that English-speaking linguists, unlike Slavic specialists, pay much less attention to phraseological units, and the stock of them in this language is inferior to Russian, Ukrainian or even Polish.

The main subject on which this discipline concentrates its attention is phraseological units or phraseological units. What is this? This is a combination of several words that is stable in structure and composition (it is not compiled anew every time, but is used in a ready-made form). For this reason, when parsing a phraseological unit, regardless of its type and the length of its constituent words, always appears as a single member of a sentence.

In each language it is a unique thing associated with its history and culture. It cannot be fully translated without losing its meaning. Therefore, when translating, phraseological units that already have similar meanings that exist in another language are most often selected.

For example, a well-known English phraseological combination: “Keep your fingers on the pulse”, which literally means “keep your fingers on the pulse”, but has the meaning of “keep abreast of events”. However, since there is no absolute analogue in Russian, it is replaced with a very similar one: “Keep your hand on the pulse.”

Sometimes, due to the close proximity of countries, similar phraseological units appear in their languages, and then there are no problems with translation. So, Russian expression“beat the thumbs” (idle) has its twin brother in the Ukrainian language - “byty baidyky”.

Often similar expressions come into several languages ​​at the same time due to some important event, for example, such as Christianization. Despite belonging to different Christian denominations, in Ukrainian, French, Spanish, German, Slovak, Russian and Polish languages a common phraseological unit is “alpha and omega,” taken from the Bible and meaning “from beginning to end” (completely, thoroughly).

Types of phraseological units

On the issue of classification of phraseological units, linguists have not yet come to a common opinion. Some additionally include proverbs (“You can’t live without the sun, you can’t live without your sweetheart”), sayings (“God won’t give you away - the pig won’t eat you”) and language cliches (“warm support”, “work environment”). But for now they are in the minority.

On at the moment most popular in the east Slavic languages uses the classification of linguist Viktor Vinogradov, who divided all stable phrases into three key categories:

• Phraseological fusions.
• Phraseological unities.
• Phraseological combinations.

Many linguists correlate fusions and unities with the term “idiom” (by the way, this word has the same root as the noun “idiot”), which is actually a synonym for the noun “phraseologism”. This is due to the fact that sometimes it is very difficult to draw the line between them. This name is worth remembering, since in English phraseological adhesions, unities, and combinations are translated precisely with its help - idioms.

Question about phraseological expressions

Colleague Shansky insisted on the existence of a fourth type - expressions. In fact, he divided Vinogradov’s phraseological combinations into two categories: actual combinations and expressions.

Although Shansky’s classification leads to confusion in the practical distribution of stable phrases, it allows us to take a deeper look at this linguistic phenomenon.

What is the difference between phraseological fusions, phraseological unities, phraseological combinations

First of all, it is worth understanding that these stable units were divided into these types according to the level of lexical independence of their components.

Phrases that are absolutely inseparable, the meaning of which is not related to the meaning of their components, were called phraseological adjuncts. For example: “to sharpen your lasses” (have a stupid conversation), to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve (to be frank, literally means “to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve”). By the way, fusions are characterized by figurativeness; most often they arise from folk speech, especially outdated expressions or from ancient books.

Are more an independent species, in relation to its components. Unlike adjuncts, their semantics is determined by the meaning of their components. For this reason, puns are included here. For example: “small but daring” (a person who does something well, despite his unimpressive external data) or the Ukrainian phraseological unit: “katyuzi deservedly” (the culprit received a punishment corresponding to his own offense). By the way, both examples illustrate a unique feature of unities: rhyming consonances. Perhaps that is why Viktor Vinogradov included sayings and proverbs among them, although their belonging to phraseological units is still disputed by many linguists.

Third type: free phraseological combinations of words. They are quite noticeably different from the two above. The fact is that the meaning of their components directly affects the meaning of the entire turnover. For example: “heavy drinking”, “raise a question”.

Phraseological combinations in the Russian language (as well as in Ukrainian and English) have a special property: their components can be replaced with synonyms without loss of meaning: “to hurt honor” - “to hurt pride”, “raspberry ringing” - “melodic ringing”. As an example from the language of the proud British, the idiom to show one’s teeth (show teeth), which can be adapted for any person: to show my (your, his, her, our) teeth.

Phraseological expressions and combinations: distinctive features

The classification of Viktor Vinogradov, in which only one analytical type (phraseological combinations) was distinguished by composition, was gradually supplemented by Nikolai Shansky. It was quite easy to distinguish between idioms and combinations (due to their differences in structure). But Shansky’s new unit - expressions (“to be afraid of wolves, don’t go into the forest”) was more difficult to distinguish from combinations.

But, if you delve into the question, you can notice a clear difference, which is based on the meaning of phraseological combinations. Thus, expressions consist of absolutely free words, fully possessing independent semantics (“all that glitters is not gold”). However, they differ from ordinary phrases and sentences in that they are stable expressions that are not composed in a new way, but are used ready-made, like a template: “radish horseradish is not sweeter” (Ukrainian version “radish horseradish is not malted”).

Phraseological combinations (“give your head to be cut off” - “give your hand to be cut off”) always contain several words with an unmotivated meaning, while all components of the expressions are absolutely semantically independent (“Man - that sounds proud”). By the way, this feature makes some linguists doubt whether the expressions belong to phraseological units.

Which combination of words is not a phraseological phrase?

Phraseologisms, from a lexical point of view, are a unique phenomenon: on the one hand, they have all the features of phrases, but at the same time they are closer in their properties to words. Knowing these features, you can easily learn to distinguish stable phraseological combinations, unities, fusions or expressions from ordinary phrases.

• Phraseologisms, like phrases, consist of several interconnected lexemes, but most often their meaning is unable to go beyond the sum of the meanings of their components. For example: “lose your head” (stop thinking straight) and “lose your wallet.” The words that make up a phraseological unit are most often used in a figurative sense.
• When used in oral and written speech, the composition of phrases is formed anew each time. But unities and fusions are constantly reproduced in finished form (which makes them similar to speech clichés). Phraseological combinations of words and phraseological expressions in this matter are sometimes confusing. For example: “to hang one’s head” (to be sad), although it is a phraseological unit, each of its components can freely appear in ordinary phrases: “to hang one’s coat” and “to lower one’s head.”
• A phraseological phrase (due to the integrity of the meaning of its components) in most cases can be safely replaced with a synonymous word, which cannot be done with a phrase. For example: the expression “servant of Melpomene” can easily be changed to the simple word “artist” or “actor”.
• Phraseologisms never act as names. For example, the hydronym “Dead Sea” and phraseological combinations “dead season” (unpopular season), “lying as a dead weight” (lying as an unused load).

Classification of phraseological units by origin

Considering the question of the origin of phraseological combinations, expressions, unities and adhesions, they can be divided into several groups.

Other classifications: version by Peter Dudik

• In addition to Vinogradov and Shansky, other linguists tried to separate phraseological units, guided by their own principles. Thus, the linguist Dudik identified not four, but five types of phraseological units:
• Semantically inseparable idioms: “to be on short terms” (to know someone closely).
• Phraseological unities with a freer semantics of the constituent elements: “soap the neck” (punish someone).
• Phraseological expressions consisting entirely of independent words, for the total meaning of which it is impossible to select a synonym. Dudik mainly includes sayings and proverbs among them: “The goose is not a friend to the pig.”
• Phraseological combinations are phrases based on a metaphorical meaning: “blue blood”, “hawk eye”.
• Phraseological phrases. They are characterized by a lack of metaphor and syntactic unity of components: “big swell”.

Classification by Igor Melchuk

Melchuk’s classification of phraseological units stands apart from all of the above. According to it, it stands out significantly more types, which are divided into four categories.

• Degree: full, semi-phrase, quasi-phrase.
• The role of pragmatic factors in the process of phraseological unit formation: semantic and pragmatic ones.
• Which one does it belong to: lexeme, phrase, syntactic phraseme.
• A component of a linguistic sign that has undergone phraseologization: syntactics of the sign, signifier and signified.

Classification by Boris Larin

This linguist classified them according to the stages of their evolution, from ordinary phrases to phraseological units:

• Variable phrases (analogue of phraseological combinations and expressions): “velvet season”.
• Those that have partially lost their primary meaning, but were able to gain metaphoricality and stereotyping: “keep a stone in your bosom.”
• Idioms that are completely devoid of the semantic independence of their components, as well as having lost connection with their original lexical meaning and grammatical role (analogous to phraseological adjuncts and unities): “out of the blue” (bad).

Common examples of phraseological combinations

Below are a few more fairly well-known stable phrases.

Although the classification of Vinogradov and Shansky does not apply to language, it is possible to select stable phrases that can be classified as phraseological combinations.
Examples:

• Bosom friend - bosom buddy (bosom friend - bosom buddy).
• A Sisyfean labor (Sisyphean labor).
• A pitched battle - a fierce battle (fierce battle - fierce battle).

Phraseological dictionaries

The presence of a large number of classifications is due to the fact that none of them gives a 100% guarantee of the absence of errors. Therefore, it is still worth knowing in which dictionaries you can find a hint if you cannot accurately determine the type of phraseological unit. All dictionaries of this type are divided into monolingual and multilingual. Below are translated the most famous books of this kind, in which you can find examples of set expressions that are most common in the Russian language.

• Monolingual:“Educational phraseological dictionary” by E. Bystrova; “Burning verb - a dictionary of folk phraseology” by V. Kuzmich; “Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. Fedoseev; “Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language” by I. Fedoseev and “Big Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary” by M. Michelson.
• Multilingual:“Large English-Russian phraseological dictionary” (twenty thousand phraseological units) by A. Kunin, “Large Polish-Russian, Russian-Polish phraseological dictionary” by Y. Lukshin and Random House Russian-English Dictionary of Idioms by Sofia Lyubenskaya.

Perhaps, having learned that it is sometimes difficult to immediately distinguish what type of phraseological unit belongs to, this topic may seem incredibly difficult. However, the devil is not as scary as he is painted. The main way develop the ability to correctly find phraseological combinations of words among other phraseological units - practice regularly. And in the case of foreign languages- study the history of the emergence of such phrases and memorize them. This will not only help you avoid getting into awkward situations in the future, but will also make your speech very beautiful and figurative.

Phraseological combinations

Phraseological combinations are such stable phrases, the general meaning of which completely depends on the meaning of the constituent words. Words as part of a phraseological combination retain relative semantic independence, however, they are not free and manifest their meaning only in combination with a certain, closed circle of words, for example: the word tearfully is combined only with the words ask, beg. Consequently, one of the members of the phraseological combination turns out to be more stable and even constant, the other - variable. The presence of constant and variable members in combination significantly distinguishes them from adhesions and unities. The meaning of constant members (components) is phraseologically related. For example, in the combinations burn from shame and melancholy, burn and takes will be constant, since these words will be the main (core) elements in other phraseological combinations: burn - from shame, from disgrace, from disgrace; burn - from love; burn out - from impatience, envy; takes - melancholy, meditation; takes - annoyance, anger; takes - fear, horror; takes - envy; beret - hunting; takes - laughter. The use of other components is impossible (cf. “burn with joy”, “takes a smile”), this is due to the existing semantic relationships within the language system. The meanings of such words are phraseologically related in the system of these phrases (see § 2), i.e. are implemented only with a certain range of words.

Phraseological combinations differ from phraseological adhesions and unities in that they are not absolutely lexically indivisible. Despite the phraseological closedness of phrases of this type, even lexically non-free components can be replaced by a synonym without prejudice to the general phraseological meaning (cf.: lower your head - lower your head; sit in a puddle - sit in a galosh; knit your eyebrows - frown, etc. ). This creates favorable conditions for the emergence of variants of phraseological unities, and often synonyms.

The syntactic connections of words in such phrases correspond to existing norms according to which free phrases are created. However, unlike the latter, these connections are stable, indecomposable and are always reproduced in the same form, semantically inherent in a particular phraseological unit.

Phraseological combinations are a fairly numerous group in composition and very common in use.

Phraseologism- this is a stable combination of words characteristic only of a given language, the meaning of which is not determined by the meaning of the words included in it, taken individually. Due to the fact that phraseological units cannot be translated literally (the meaning is lost), difficulties in translation and understanding often arise. On the other hand, such phraseological units give the language a bright emotional coloring. Often the grammatical meaning of idioms does not correspond to the norms of the modern language, but are grammatical archaisms. An example of such expressions in Russian: “stay on your toes”, “knock your socks off”, “give back”, “play the fool”, “point of view”, etc.

The main features of a phraseological unit. In order to separate phraseological units from others linguistic units, in particular from the word and free phrase, should be determined characteristic features phraseological units.

1. Reproducibility of phraseological units in speech as finished units. Stable combinations exist in language as a set of ready-made, previously created linguistic formations that need to be remembered in the same way as we remember words.

2. Integrity of the meaning of phraseological units is that, despite the dismemberment of the structure, they have a generalized holistic meaning, which, as a rule, is a rethinking of the phrase, which is based on a specific semantic content. Illustrative examples the fact that the meaning of a phraseological unit does not consist of the meanings of its components serve stable combinations, one of the members of which is obsolete and has no use in modern language outside the boundaries of this expression. However, the speaker does not have the feeling that this word is unfamiliar to him, since he knows the general, holistic meaning of the entire phraseological unit. Expressions in which one can trace the connection between the general meaning of a stable combination and the meanings of its constituent components also have a generalized holistic meaning.

3. Constancy of the component composition, stability distinguishes phraseological units from free phrases. A feature of stable combinations is that they are, as a rule, constant in composition and structure, i.e. they contain certain words arranged in a prescribed order. The interchangeability of the components of a phraseological unit is possible only in general linguistic phraseological variants, i.e. in stable combinations that have the same meaning, the same figurative structure, but differ in their lexical and grammatical composition.

4. Equivalence of phraseological units and a separate word means that the stable combination has much in common with the word. Like a word, it is a unit of language, reproduced in finished form, and not created anew each time, has an independent meaning and grammatical correlation, which lies in the fact that a phraseological unit, like a word, refers to a specific part of speech. We can distinguish nominal phraseological phrases (a shot sparrow - an experienced person), adjectives (there are not enough stars from the sky - about an ordinary, unremarkable person) verbal ones (to be stumped - to be in a difficult situation); adverbial (working tirelessly - diligently, tirelessly), interjectional (know ours! - about praising yourself). Many phraseological units in meaning correspond to one word (put it on both shoulder blades - win). Set phrases are close to words in their syntactic function, since they serve as a separate member of a sentence. For example: She turned the head of more than one Adam’s grandson (M. Lermontov);

5. Separate formatting of phraseological units is that it includes at least two verbal components, each of which is grammatically formalized as an independent unit, i.e. has its own emphasis and its own ending. This is the main difference between a phraseological unit and a word.

6. Imagery of phraseology is that many stable phrases not only name phenomena, signs, objects, actions, but also contain a certain image. This applies primarily to those phraseological units, the meanings of which were formed on the basis of a linguistic metaphor, as a result of the similarity and comparison of two phenomena, of which one becomes the basis for comparison, and the other is compared with it. For example, the phraseological unit grated kalach, denoting an experienced person who has seen a lot in life, correlates with grated kalach (the name of one of the varieties of kalach), which is rubbed and kneaded for a long time before baking. This creates the imagery of the phraseological unit. Some phraseological units of the Russian language lack imagery. These include various kinds semantically indivisible combinations, which are compound names and terms (such as coal, agenda, safety pin, eyeball), as well as phraseological units such as matter, win.

7. Emotionally expressive coloring phraseological units is manifested in the fact that most phraseological units of the Russian language, in addition to the nominative function, also perform a characterological function: they not only name some objects, phenomena, actions that exist in objective reality, but at the same time evaluate the named objects, phenomena, actions. The emotional and expressive significance of phraseological units in the Russian language is different. Some of them have minimal expression (expressiveness), for example: standing in the ears - “constantly heard.” Others have a pronounced expression and serve as a means of emphatic evaluation of what is being expressed. These are, for example: to be in full swing - “to flow violently, to manifest.” The presence of emotional-expressive coloring in phraseological units can be traced in synonymous phraseological units, which, with a general meaning, can differ in their coloring. For example, about a person who can do everything, they say a jack of all trades (positive assessment), a jack of all trades out of boredom (jokingly ironic assessment), and a Swede, a reaper, and a player of the pipe (jokingly ironic assessment).

8. Phraseology, the non-free meaning of one of the components is a characteristic feature of most stable combinations. For some phraseological units, it manifests itself in the fact that its component has a phraseologically related meaning in the language, the main features of which are the lack of semantic independence and dependence in the choice of the lexical environment. For example, the phraseological nature of the meaning of the word “sworn” is manifested in the fact that it has its meaning only in a certain lexical environment, in combination with the word “enemy”: sworn enemy - “irreconcilable enemy” - and outside of this stable combination it is not used in the Russian language. The phraseological meaning of one of the components of a stable combination of another type is manifested in the fact that this component acquires a special phraseologically related meaning only within the framework of a given phraseological unit, and outside it it can have an independent meaning and be used in many free combinations. For example, the word “white” is used in the language with its own independent meaning in free combinations ( white paper, white snow), however, only within the framework of the stable combination white crow does it acquire its special, phraseologically related meaning - “unlike those around you, standing out for something.”

9. Idiomatic phraseology manifests itself in the fact that its semantically indivisible meaning is not derived from the meanings of its constituent components, taken separately, and does not coincide with them. Hence the impossibility of accurately translating phraseological units into other languages; this can be explained by the presence of specific laws inherent in this particular language. If free phrases are built mainly according to general laws linguistic reflection of extra-linguistic reality, then the use of words as part of a phraseological unit is determined by the specific laws of the system of a given language.

* Issues of semantics of phraseological units in lately are attracting increasing attention from phraseology researchers who, noting the specifics of their semantics, use a variety of names: generalized metaphorical meaning (S. A. Abakumov), semantic monolithicity (P. P. Kalinin), single holistic meaning (V. V. Vinogradov ), semantic idiomaticity (A.I. Smirnitsky), etc. Such an abundance of names to indicate the semantic specificity of phraseological units reflects the undoubted complexity of this phenomenon, associated with insufficient knowledge of the issue itself.

The main feature of phraseological units is their completely or partially rethought meaning. Only a part of phraseological units are identified by individual lexemes, while most of them can be defined only with the help of a phrase or a detailed description. The semantic originality of a phraseological unit lies in the specificity of the combination of components, thus, they act not only as parts of the main semantic components of the phraseological unit, but also as connecting links between them. These components are the minimum units of semantics of phraseological units and perform meaning-determining or meaning-forming functions.

* The classification of phraseological units is based on the sign of semantic unity of components, less or more motivation of the meaning of a phraseological unit. Following Academician V.V. Vinogradov, it is customary to distinguish three main types: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological combinations.

Phraseological adhesions- these are phraseological units that are indecomposable in meaning, their holistic meaning is absolutely not motivated by the meanings of the component words, for example: to hit the bulls, get into trouble, sharpen the lasses, turuses on wheels, headlong, etc. Phraseological units often contain words that are not used independently in modern Russian.

Phraseological unities– these are phraseological units, the integral meaning of which is motivated by the meanings of their components. Examples of unities: pull the strap, swim shallowly, bury talent in the ground, suck it out of your finger, lead by the nose, etc. One of characteristic features phraseological unities – their imagery. The presence of imagery distinguishes phraseological unities from the free combinations of words homonymous to them. So, in the sentence The boy lathered his head with toilet soap, the combination lathered his head - free, it has a direct meaning and is devoid of any imagery; in the sentence I'm afraid that the boss might lather his head for being late, the combination lathered his head is used figuratively and represents a phraseological unity.

Phraseological combinations- these are phraseological units, the holistic meaning of which is made up of the meaning of the components and at the same time one of the components has the so-called related usage. To understand what connected usage is, consider the phrases: fear takes, envy takes, anger takes. The verb to take used in these phrases is not combined with every name of feelings, but only with some, for example: you cannot say “joy takes,” “pleasure takes.” This use of a verb is called bound (or phraseologically bound). Related is the use of the word ticklish in phrases: a ticklish question, a ticklish matter; The adjective ticklish does not combine with other nouns, even those close in meaning to the words question and deed.

As in phraseological combinations, many words that are part of phraseological combinations do not have free meanings at all and exist in the language only as part of phraseological units. For example, the words downcast, kromeshny in modern Russian function only as part of phraseological combinations: downcast gaze, downcast eyes, pitch hell, pitch darkness.

These kinds of phrases, in which a word is used in a non-free, phraseologically related meaning, are called phraseological combinations.

The semantics of a phraseological unit largely depends on its structural organization. Some phraseological units are formed according to the phrase pattern: rack your brains, while others are formed according to the sentence pattern: your hands are itching (whose?), the sky seems like a sheepskin (to whom?). Phraseologisms of the first group have the greatest functional-semantic similarity with the word.

Phraseologisms formed according to the model of a non-predicative phrase can be unambiguous and polysemantic, capable of entering into synonymous and antonymic relationships, united into thematic series based on semantic community, etc.

The overwhelming majority of phraseological units are unambiguous. The development of polysemy is hampered by the fact that phraseological units are often formed as a result of metaphorical rethinking of free phrases of the same composition. As a result of repeated metaphorization of the same free phrase, polysemantic phraseological units appear that have only metaphorical meanings. For example, the phraseological unit wag the tail means:

1. “to be cunning, to be cunning”; “You, brother, excuse me, I’m a taiga man, I’m straight, I don’t know how to be cunning, I don’t know how to wag my tail” (Yu.M. Shestakov);
2. “hesitate in choosing a solution, avoid a direct answer”: “Speak up! Don’t wag your tail... saddlebag” (M.E. Sltykov-Shchedrin);
3. (before whom?) “to achieve someone’s favor through flattery and servility.” “Because of one’s personal, one might say, family calculations, wagging one’s tail in front of the factory owner...” (D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak).

Polysemy is most typical for verbal and adverbial phrases, as they are the most common, and to a lesser extent for nominal ones (adjectival, etc.).

Individual phraseological units are capable of combining opposite meanings. For example, the verb phrase spinning in my head can mean:

1. “constantly in consciousness, agitating the mind.” “A chaotic dream was spinning in my head, which at night was interrupted several times by awakenings” (M.A. Bulgakov);
2. “I don’t remember at all”: “It seems so easy to remember, it keeps spinning in my head, spinning painfully close, but I don’t know what exactly. There’s no way to grab it” (V. Garm).

Antonymic relations in phraseology are less developed than synonymous ones. Only phraseological units enter into antonymic relationships that are correlative on some basis - qualitative, quantitative, temporal, spatial and belonging to the same category of objective reality as mutually exclusive concepts.

The antonymy of phraseological units is often supported by antonymic connections of their lexical synonyms: seven spans in the forehead (smart) - can’t invent gunpowder (stupid); blood with milk (ruddy) - not a drop of blood in the face (pale).

IN special group antonymic phraseological units are distinguished, partially coinciding in composition, but having components opposed in meaning: with a heavy heart - with a light heart. Components that give such phraseological units the opposite meaning are often lexical antonyms. But they can receive the opposite meaning only as part of phraseological units (face - back).

The most striking semantic feature of phraseological units is their ability to enter into synonymous connections and relationships with each other: to lead by the nose, fool one’s head - to act dishonestly, to deceive someone.

Phraseological synonymy is rich and varied. There are about 800 synonymic series in the Russian language. By phraseological synonyms we have agreed to understand phraseological units with an extremely close meaning, correlative, as a rule, with one part of speech, and having similar or identical compatibility.

Phraseological synonyms can be single-structural, multi-structural and similar-structural. Single-structural synonyms are formed according to the same model: Kolomenskaya verst and fire tower - according to the “noun” model. in them p. + adj.” Differently structured synonyms are built according to different models: headlong, flounderingly, with eyes closed. In similar structural synonyms, the grammatically dominant component of the phraseological unit is expressed by one part of speech, and all the rest are differently formed: hang one’s head, lose heart - become despondent, despair.”

Phraseologisms included in the synonymous series may differ in shades of meaning, stylistic coloring, and sometimes all these features at the same time.

Due to polysemy, phraseological units can have synonymous connections in each meaning. In the Russian language there are extensive synonymic series with general values: “to reprimand in harsh terms”: turn on the heat, set the steam, remove the shavings, lather your hair, let it light.

Many synonymous series are semantically close. Thus, phraseological synonyms for not taking an extra step, not to lift a finger (not to make the slightest effort) intersect with two other synonymous rows: to kick the bucket, to play the fool, to spit at the ceiling (indulge in idleness, laziness) and to trim the pavement, to polish the boulevards, elephants loiter (walk, loiter idle).

Phraseological synonymy not only approaches lexical synonymy, but also differs from it. Phraseologisms are much poorer than words in lexico-grammatical terms. Thus, among phraseological units there is no actual pronominal category; in rare cases, phraseological units are correlated with the full forms of adjectives. At the same time, phraseological synonyms often convey aspects of reality that cannot be expressed by lexical synonymy. For example, phraseological units of the synonymous series, the wind whistles in his pockets (who?), an empty pocket (who?), not a penny to his name (who?) can only be interpreted with a detailed description “no one has any money at all, there is no money at all” - signs of wealth."

Phraseological synonyms differ from lexical synonyms in a stylistic sense: phraseological units are distinguished by greater stylistic homogeneity than words of free use. This is explained by the fact that phraseological units are mainly characterized by emotional and expressive connotations.

*The main property of a phraseological unit (PU) as a component of a language system is, first of all, the property of compatibility with other units.

A phraseological unit can have a single, narrow or wide combinability, depending on the semantics of the verb being characterized. The phraseological unit in all eyes (in both eyes, in both eyes) is combined with verbs of visual perception of the semantic category of action, which indicates its narrow lexical-semantic compatibility: Various monovalent, divalent, trivalent, etc. Phrases are characterized only in relation to the number of joining verbs, i.e. only the quantitative aspect of valence is taken into account. The qualitative side of valence, determined by the nature of semantic relationships between combining units, is not revealed with this approach, which necessitates further searches in the field of “power” capabilities of phraseological units. In addition, in some cases in a scientific linguistic text it is possible to use only one of two terms, which indicates a distinction between their use and functions: valence capabilities / combinability abilities, ability to combine, verbal valency (but not compatibility). The use of the term “valence” is recommended to avoid double meaning and ambiguity: compatibility, as we have found out, is divided into several types according to different criteria. “Valence” more successfully meets the requirements for terms, and helps to avoid ambiguity and achieve naming accuracy - in the context of our work - “verbal valence of a phraseological unit.”

*The main part of phraseological resources of the Russian language consists of phraseological units of original Russian origin. Among the phraseological units of a colloquial nature there are a significant number of those, the source of which is professional speech, for example: sharpen the lasses, without a hitch (from the professional speech of carpenters), leave the stage, play the first violin (from the speech of actors, musicians).

A few phraseological units came into the literary language from slang, for example, the phrase "rubbing glasses" is a cheating expression.

In the sphere of everyday and colloquial speech, phrases have constantly arisen and arise in which they find social assessment various historical events and customs of the Russian people. For example, the phraseological unit put (or shelved) is associated with the name of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (17th century), by whose order a petition box was installed in front of the palace in Kolomenskoye, but such an innovation did not eliminate red tape, and the people reflected this fact accordingly: shelving means delaying consideration of the issue for an indefinite period.

In addition to phraseological units, the origin of which is associated with colloquial speech, there is a significant number of phraseological units of book origin, both Russian and borrowed. Among them there are very old ones, borrowed from liturgical books, for example: seek and you will find, holy of holies, fiend of hell, in the image and likeness, etc.

The phraseology of the Russian language is being actively replenished with catchphrases of literary origin. For example, the sword of Damocles, the Gordian knot, the Procrustean bed - from ancient mythology; the expression from a beautiful distance belongs to N.V. Gogol; things of bygone days.

In addition to native Russian phraseological units, there are phraseological units of foreign language origin. These are usually tracings from foreign phraseological units, for example: to remain silent (from Latin).

*The visual and expressive capabilities of Russian phraseology are difficult to overestimate. Linguists have written and are writing a lot about the stylistic possibilities of phraseological units. But linguistic material, which is so attractive to any writer or publicist, is not so easy to make serve effectively and with dignity. The stylistic functioning of idiomatic expressions has one extremely important feature, about which the outstanding linguist, Professor B.L. Larin wrote at one time. “As the light of the morning is reflected in a drop of dew,” so, according to the scientist, phraseological units reflect not only the historically established views of the people, but also the social system, the ideology of the era that brings them to life.

In 1955, the collection “Winged Words” by N.S. was published. Ashukin and M.G. Ashukina (3rd ed. M., 1966). The book contains large number literary quotations and figurative expressions, arranged in alphabetical order. The presence of an alphabetical index at the end of the book allows you to use it as a reference book.

Russian phraseology is presented with great completeness in the book published in 1967, edited by A.I. Molotkov “Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language”, containing over 4000 dictionary entries (3rd ed. 1978; 4th ed. 1986). Phraseologisms are given with possible options components, an interpretation of the meaning is given and the forms of use in speech are indicated. Each meaning is illustrated with quotations from fiction. In some cases, etymological information is provided.

In 1975, the dictionary-reference book “Stable verbal-nominal phrases of the Russian language” by V.M. Deribas. This manual contains over 5,000 set phrases, arranged according to their two components (verb - noun). In 1980, the “School Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language” was published by V.P. Zhukov, containing about 2000 of the most common phraseological units found in literature and oral speech. In 1997, the “Dictionary of Periphrases of the Russian Language (based on newspaper journalism)” (A.B. Novikov) was published, which gives phrases such as in an Adam’s suit (naked), blue helmets (UN armed forces), black gold (oil) etc.

Phraseology in the broad sense of the term also includes proverbs and sayings. Most full meeting Russian proverbs is the collection “Proverbs of the Russian People” by V.I. Dahl, published in 1861-1862. (reissued 1957). In 1966, V.P.’s “Dictionary of Russian Proverbs and Sayings” was published. Zhukov (3rd ed. M., 1967), containing about 1000 proverbs and sayings, arranged in alphabetical order by the first word. In 1981, the “Dictionary-Reference Book of Russian Phraseology” was published by R.I. Yarantsev (2nd ed. M., 1985), which included about 800 phraseological units.

Types of phraseological units

The study of the entire set of phraseological units of the Russian language involves their classification according to a wide variety of criteria. V.V. Vinogradov proposed one of the most famous and widespread classifications in linguistics, based on varying degrees of idiomaticity (unmotivated) of the components in the phraseological unit.

There are three types of phraseological units.

1. Phraseological adhesions- stable combinations, the generalized holistic meaning of which is not derived from the meaning of their constituent components, i.e., is not motivated by them from the point of view of the current state of vocabulary: to get into trouble, to be foolish, without hesitation, to eat a dog, out of nowhere, out of nowhere, no matter what, was not there, no matter what and under. We don’t know what a “prosak” is (that’s what a machine for weaving nets was called in the old days), we don’t understand the word thumbs up(wooden blanks for spoons, the production of which did not require skilled labor), we do not think about the meaning of outdated grammatical forms nothing (not at all), doubting (doubting). However, the holistic meaning of these phraseological units is clear to every Russian person. Thus, etymological analysis helps to clarify the motivation for the semantics of modern phraseological fusion. However, the roots of phraseological units sometimes go back to such distant times that linguists do not come to an unambiguous conclusion about their origin1.

Phraseological unions may include outdated words and grammatical forms: Just a joke (not a joke!), the boron cheese flared up (not raw!), which also contributes to the semantic indecomposability of turns.

2. Phraseological unities - stable combinations, the generalized holistic meaning of which is partly related to the semantics of their constituent components, used in a figurative meaning come to a dead end, hit the key, go with the flow, hold a stone in your bosom, take it into your own hands, bite your tongue. Such phraseological units may have “external homonyms,” i.e., phrases coinciding with them in composition and used in a direct (non-metaphorical) meaning: We had to go with the flow rivers for five days. I was so thrown into a bump that I bit my tongue and suffered from pain.

1 See, for example, the differences in the interpretation of phraseology for a coward to celebrate by B. A Larin and N. A. Meshchersky in the book: Mokienko V. M. Slavic phraseology. M., 1989. pp. 18-19.

Unlike phraseological fusions, which have lost their figurative meaning in the language, phraseological unities are always perceived as metaphors or other tropes. So, among them we can distinguish stable comparisons (like a bath leaf, like on needles, like a cow licked its tongue, like a cow’s saddle), metaphorical epithets (tinned throat, iron grip), hyperboles (golden mountains, a sea of ​​​​pleasure, as far as the eye can see), litotes (as big as a poppy seed, grab onto straw). There are also phraseological units that are periphrases, i.e. descriptive figurative expressions that replace one word: far away lands- "far", there are not enough stars in the sky- "close-minded" oblique fathoms in the shoulders- "mighty, strong."

Some phraseological units owe their expressiveness to the pun or joke that forms their basis: hole from a donut, from a sleeve vest, not himself, a week without a year, stabbed to death without a knife. The expressiveness of others is based on the play of antonyms: neither alive nor dead, neither give nor take, neither a candle to God nor a damn poker, more or less; on a collision of synonyms: from the frying pan into the fire, the mind has gone beyond the mind, pouring from empty to empty, around and around. Phraseological unities give speech special expressiveness and folk-colloquial coloring.

3. Phraseological combinations are stable phrases, the meaning of which is motivated by the semantics of their constituent components, one of which has a phraseologically related meaning: to lower one’s gaze (head) (there are no stable phrases in the language “to lower one’s hand”, “to lower one’s foot”). The verb to lower in the meaning “to lower” has a phraseologically related meaning and is not combined with other words. Another example: a sensitive issue (situation, position, circumstance). Adjective ticklish means “requiring great caution, tact,” but the possibilities of its compatibility are limited: it is impossible to say “ delicate proposal", "delicate decision", etc.

The phraseologically related meaning of the components of such phraseological units is realized only in a strictly defined lexical environment. We are talking velvet season but we won't say" velvet month", - "velvet autumn"; general epidemic, but not “endemic morbidity”, “endemic runny nose”; widespread arrests, but not "total rehabilitation", "total condemnation" etc.

Phraseological combinations often vary scowl brows - frown brows; affect feeling of pride - to hurt a feeling of pride; win victory- win top, be patient collapse- be patient fiasco (defeat); fear takes - anger (envy) takes, burn out of impatience- burn out out of shame etc.

In speech there are cases of contamination of the components of phraseological combinations: "plays a role" - "has a role"(instead of matters - plays a role), "take action" - "take steps"(instead of take action - take steps), "give importance"(from pay attention - give importance), "to render meaning"(from give attention - give importance). Such errors are associative in nature and are perceived as a sharp violation of the norm.

This classification of phraseological units is often supplemented by highlighting, following N. M. Shansky, the so-called phraseological expressions, which are also stable, but consist of words with free meanings, that is, they are distinguished by semantic division: Happy hours are not observed; To be or not to be; It's a fresh idea, but hard to believe. This group of phraseological units includes catchphrases, proverbs, and sayings. In addition, many phraseological expressions have a fundamentally important syntactic feature: they are not phrases, but entire sentences.

The desire to separate phraseological expressions from phraseological units themselves encourages linguists to look for a more accurate name for them: sometimes they are called phraseological combinations, phraseological expressions. Clarifying the concept, sometimes it is proposed to include not all proverbs and sayings in combinations of this type, but only those that have acquired a generalized figurative metaphorical meaning and are perceived as units close to phraseological units themselves: man in a case, from the ship to the ball, after the rain on Thursday, finest hour etc.

Thus, in identifying the fourth, last of the considered, groups of phraseological units, scientists have not achieved unity and certainty. The discrepancies are explained by the diversity and heterogeneity of the linguistic units themselves, which are traditionally included in phraseology.

Another classification of phraseological units is based on their general grammatical features. At the same time, the following typologies of phraseological units of the Russian language are proposed.

1. Typology based on grammatical similarity of component composition phraseological units. The following types are distinguished:

• 1) a combination of an adjective and a noun: cornerstone, enchanted circle, swan song;
• 2) a combination of a noun in nominative case with a noun in genitive case: point of view, stumbling block, reins of power, bone of contention;
• 3) a combination of a noun in the nominative case with nouns in indirect cases with a preposition: blood and milk, soul to soul, the trick is in the bag;
• 4) a combination of the prepositional case form of a noun with an adjective: on a live thread, according to old memory, on a short leg;
• 5) a combination of a verb and a noun (with and without a preposition): take a glance, sow doubts, pick up, take hold of the mind, lead by the nose;
• 6) combination of a verb with an adverb: get into trouble, walk barefoot, see right through;
• 7) combination of a gerund and a noun: carelessly, reluctantly, headlong.

2. Typology based on correspondence syntactic functions phraseological units and parts of speech with which they can be replaced. The following types of phraseological units are distinguished:

• 1) nominal phraseological units: cornerstone, swan song. In a sentence they perform the functions of subject, predicate, and object; by the nature of connections with other words, in combination they can control any member and be controlled;
• 2) verbal phraseological units: lead by the nose, look around. In a sentence they act as a predicate; in combination with other words can agree, control and be controlled;
• 3) adjective phraseological units: slanting fathoms in the shoulders, on one’s mind, blood and milk, on fish fur. They have the meaning of a qualitative characteristic and, like adjectives, appear in a sentence as a definition or a nominal part of the predicate;
• 4) adverbial, or adverbial, phraseological units: on a living thread, carelessly, reluctantly, face to face. They, like adverbs, characterize the quality of an action and play the role of circumstances in a sentence;
• 5) interjection phraseological units: neither fluff nor feather!; the hell with it!; neither bottom nor tire!; Good morning! Like interjections, such phraseological units express will and feelings, acting as separate undivided sentences.

It is possible to systematize phraseological units according to other criteria. For example, from the point of view sound organization all phraseological units are divided into those ordered by their phonics and neutral. The first combine phraseological units with a pronounced rhythmic organization: neither a stake nor a yard, quieter than water below the grass, not a single crow; with rhyming elements: Fedot is not the same, naked as a falcon; with audio repeats(assonance and alliteration): little girl and little girl, keep your mouth shut, this way and that, here and there.

An interesting classification of phraseological units according to their origin. In this case, it is necessary to highlight the original Russian phraseology, which will include common Slavic phraseological units (goal like a falcon, neither fish nor fowl, take it to the quick), East Slavic (neither stake nor yard, under Tsar Pea, plant a pig), Russians themselves ( with gulkin's nose, with the whole world, put it on the back burner, in full Ivanovo, reel in the fishing rods, pull the gimp). The first have correspondences in other Slavic languages, the second - only in Ukrainian and Belarusian, and the third are characteristic only of the Russian language.

A special group includes phraseological units borrowed from Old Slavonic language: the forbidden fruit, the promised land, the fiend of hell, manna from heaven, a byword, daily bread, by the sweat of the brow, bone from bone, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the Babylonian pandemonium. Their source was Christian books (Bible, Gospel), translated into Old Church Slavonic.

A significant part consists of phraseological units that came into the Russian language from ancient mythology: Achilles' heel, Gordian knot, Procrustean bed, sword of Damocles, Augean stables, dragon's laws, tantalum's torment, between Scylla and Charybdis, wheel of fortune, gardens of Babylon. Most of these phraseological units are also known in other languages, so it is worth emphasizing the international nature of winged combinations, which have their roots in antiquity.

Many phraseological units were borrowed from European languages ​​at a later time. These are mainly those who have become winged quotes from world famous works of art: To be or not to be(W. Shakespeare); Abandon hope, everyone who enters here.(A. Dante); storm in a teacup(C. Montesquieu), princess and the pea(G. H. Andersen). Some winged words are attributed to great scientists and thinkers: But still she spins(G. Galileo); All I know is that I don't know anything(Socrates); I think, therefore I exist(R. Descartes).

Some phraseological units are calques - a literal translation from the source language: blue stocking, time is money, kill time (French tuer le temps), honeymoon (French la lune de miel), break it on your head (German aufs Haupt schlagen ), this is where the dog is buried (German: Da ist der Hund begraben).

Phraseological combinations

A phraseological combination is a stable expression in which one of the components has a literal (dictionary) meaning, i.e. These are partially motivated phrases. Phraseological combinations are stable phrases, but their holistic meaning follows from the meanings of the individual words that make them up.

Compared to phraseological adhesions and unities, phraseological combinations are semantically divisible, i.e. in their composition, replacement or substitution of individual words is allowed. In Russian, for example, in the phrases " burn with love, hate, shame, impatience" word " burn out" is a constant member with a phraseologically related meaning.

In English the phrases: " to show one"s teeth" - "snarl" (literally - "show your teeth"). Semantic independence in this combination is demonstrated by the word one"s- "someone's". It can be replaced with words such as: my, your, his etc.; " to talk through one"s hat" - "talk nonsense, talk nonsense" (literally speaking through a hat); " to burn one"s fingers" - "get burned on something" (literally, burn your fingers).

Phraseological unities

Phraseological unity - expressions with a single integral meaning, which arises by merging the meanings of lexical components.

Phraseological unity is characterized by imagery; Each word should have its own meaning, but in the end, they acquire a figurative meaning. As a rule, phraseological units of this type are tropes with metaphorical meaning (for example, " gnawing on the granite of science", "splurge", "go with the flow", "keep a stone in your bosom", "go into your shell", "suck it out of your finger", "blood and milk"). Single words, which are part of it, are semantically independent, and the meaning of each of the components is subordinated to the unity of the general figurative meaning of the entire phraseological expression as a whole. It should be noted that with a literal translation, a foreigner will only be able to guess the meaning of the phrase.

Just like idioms, phraseological units are semantically indivisible, their grammatical forms and syntactic structure are strictly defined. Replacing a word as part of a phraseological unity, including the substitution of a synonym, leads to the destruction of the metaphor (for example, granite of science o basalt of science) or change expressive meaning: falling for the bait and getting caught in the net are phraseological synonyms, but express different shades of expression. But, unlike idioms, unities are subject to the realities of modern language and allow the insertion of other words between their parts in speech. For example, “bring” (oneself, him, someone) to a white heat, “pour water into the mill” (of something or someone) and pour water into (one’s own, someone else’s, etc.) mill. In English there are examples of phraseological units: come to a dead end, hit the key, hold a stone in your bosom, lead by the nose; English " to know the way the cat is jumping" - "know which way the wind blows" (literally -

"know where the cat will jump"). Expression " to be born with a silver spoon in one"s mouth" has the meaning “to be born in a shirt” (literally to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth); " at the drop of the hat - " immediately, at the same hour, at the slightest provocation" (literally at the moment the hat fell); " to keep a dog and bark oneself" - "do the work of your subordinate" (literally bark, curse, vent irritation, anger).