CLASIFICATION OF

PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS.
CHITOROG ANA-MARIA
GR. ROMN-ENGLEZ
 1. PHRASEOLOGY AND PHRASEOLOGICAL
UNITS
PHRASEOLOGY IS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTICS WHICH STUDIES DIFFERENT
TYPES OF SET EXPRESSIONS, WHICH LIKE WORDS NAME VARIOUS OBJECTS
AND PHENOMENA.
THEY EXIST IN THE LANGUAGE AS READY- MADE UNITS.
A PHRAZEOLOGICAL UNIT CAN BE DEFINED AS A NON- MOTIVATEDWORD-
GROUP THAT CANNOT BE FREELY MADE UP IN SPEECH, BUT IS REPRODUCED
AAS A READY- MADE UNIT.
IT IS A GROUP OF WORDS WHOSE MEANING CANNOT BE DEDUCED BY
EXAMINING THE MEANING OF THE CONSTITUENT LEXEMES.
A dark horse -
is actually not a
horse but a
person about
whom no one
knows anything
definite.
 A white elephant -
It is a waste of money becau
it is completely
Useless.
- Is to let some
Secret become
known
The green-eyed monster- is jealousy, the image being dra
from Othello
To bark up the wrong tree to follow a false
scent; to look for somebody or something in
a wrong place; to expect from somebody
what he is unlikely to do.
The idiom is not infrequently used in
detective stories:
The police are barking up the wrong tree as
usual, i.e they suspect somebody who has
nothing to do with the crime
The ambiguity of these interesting word-
groups may lead to an amusing
misunderstanding, especially for children
who are apt to accept words at their face
 2. DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE
CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL
UNITS
IDIOMS CONTRIBUTE A LARGE PROPOTION TO ANY
LANGUAGES. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE AFFLUENCE OF IDIOMS
BRINGS ABOUT NUMEROUS WAYS OF SORTING THEM. IN SUCH A
SMALL STUDY, HOWEVER, IT IS BEYONG THE BOUNDS AF
POSSIBILITY TO COVER ALL METHODS OF CLASSOFFING IDIOMS.
THEREFORE, FOCUS WIIL BE PUT ON MERELY TWO MAIN WAYS
OF IDIOM CATEGORIZATION AS FOLLOWS:
1. BASED ON SEMANTIC STRUCTURE
2. BASED ON SYNTACTIC FEATURE.
 BAZED ON SEMANTIC STRUCTURE
SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION
CLASSIFICATION BY BY ALEXANDER LOGAN PEARSALL
VIKTOR KUNIN SMITHS THEMATIC
VINOGRADOV CLASSIFICATION
NOMINATIVE
PHRASEOLOGIC
AL
PHRASEOLOGICAL
UNITS THEMATI
COMBINATION
PHRASEOLOGIC
NOMINATIVE
COMMUNICATIVE
PHRASEOLOGICAL
C
UNITS
AL UNITES
PHRASEOLOGICAL
PHRASEOLOGIC UNITS

AL FUSION COMMUNICATIVE
PHRASEOLOGICAL
UNITS
 Semantic classification by Victor
Vinogradov

Phraseological Phraseological unites - Phraseological fusion

combinations - are are clearly motivated. The - are completely non-
emotional quality is based motivated word-group,
partially
on the image created by representing the
motivated; they the whole, cf: highest stage of
contains one A big pot a person of blending together. In
component used in importance ; phraseological fusion
its direct meaning To lose ones head to the degree of
while the other is be at a loss what to do; to motivation is very low,
be out of ones mind; we cannot guess the
used figuratively: A fish out of water a meaning of the whole
meet the demand, person situated from the meanings of
meet the uncomfortably outside his its components, they
requirements; to usual environment are highly idiomatic
and cannot be
 Semantic classification by Alexander
Kunin
Nominative Nominative
Phraseologic Communicativ communicative phraseological -units
al units - phraseological are represented by
e word-groups,
units - include
which are phraseologica including the ones
word-groups of
neither l units - are the type to
with one meaningful
word, and
nominative represented break the ice coordinative phrases
nor by proverbs the ice is of the type wear and
communicat and sayings broken, that is, tear, well and good.
verbal word- The first class also
ive include (e.g An apple includes word-groups
interjection groups which
a day keeps with a predictive
are transformed structure, such as: as
word-groups the doctor into a sentence the crow flies, and
(e.g pretty away; when the verb is also predictive
 Logan Pearsall Smiths thematic
classification

The traditional and oldest principle for classifying

phraseological units is based on their original content and
might be referred to as thematic. The approach is widely
used in numerous English and American guides to idiom,
phrase books,etc. \ on this principle, idioms are classified
according to their sources of origin, sources referring to the
particular sphere of human activity, of life of nature, of
natural phenomena, etc. Logan Smith gives in his
classification groups of idioms used by sailor, fishmonger,
hunters and associated with the conditions of their
occupation. In this classification we also find groups of
idioms associated with domestic and wild animals and
birds, agriculture and cooking. This principle of
 Interjectional Coonjuctional
Well,I
phrases: phrases: as lond
as, on the other hand
never!.

Prepositional Formal anf Nominal phrases:

phrases; in the functional the root of the
course of classification trouble;

Adverbial phrases: Adjectival Verbal phrases: put

phrases: as good sa
from head to good; red as a cherry;
ones best foot
forward
foot;
 Bazed on Syntactic
feature
Set Set expression functioning like Set
nouns:
Set
expressions N+N: maiden name the expressions expressions
functioning like surname of a woman functioning like functioning
adverbs: beforeshe was married verbs:
NS+N: cats paw- one
like
N+N: tooth and V+N: to take
who is used for the advantage;
adjective:
nail;
Prep+N: by
convenience of a cleverer
and stronger person;
V+and+V: to A+and+
pick and choose;
heart, of
course;
NS N: ladies man a
man who ejoys being with V+ (ones) A: high
+N+prep: to
Adv+prep+A+ and giving attention to
women . snap ones and
N: once in a
blue moon;
N+prep+N: the alarm of
the law, skeleton in the
fingers at;
V+one+N: to
mighy;
Prep+N+or+N cupboard;
N+A: knight errant the
give one the bird
ti fire smb;
(as)
: by hook or by
crook;
phrase is today applied to
any chivalrous man ready
V+subordinate +A+as+
clause: to see
Conj+clause:
before one can
to help andprotect
oppressed and helpless how the land lies N: as old
people; to discover the
 Phraseological units in American
English.
Some examples of phraseological units in American English:
To skate on thin ice Ta take risks
To wear ones heart on ones sleeve to expose ones most intimate feelings.
To have ones heart in ones boots to bedeeply depressed.
To have ones heart in ones mouth to be greatly alarmed by what is expected to happen.
To have ones heart in the right place to be an honest and generous fellow.
A crow in borrowed plumes a person pretentiously and unsuitable dressed.
A wolf in a sheeps clothing a dangerous enemy who poses as a friend.
To be all at sea to be unable to understand.
To sink or swim to fail or succeed.
In low waters, on the rocks to have financial problems.
To be in the same boat with somebody to share the same difficulties and dangers.
To weather the storm -not overcome difficulties
A pain in the butt -a problematic person or thing.
To pass the buck - to blame someone else.
To pass the time to do smith to keep busy
A piece of cake very easy
To play it safe to act to be safe.

 Distictive features of free word groups and

phraseological units

Free word - Phraseological

groups units
1. are formed in the process of speech 1.exist in the language side-
according to the standards of the
language; by-side with separate words;

2.are constructed in the process of 2. are reproduced in speech as

communication by joining together ready-made units;
words into a phrase;
Free word - Phraseological
groups units
3. substitution is possible; 3.no substitution is
possible;

4.each of its components 4.the denotational meaning

preserves its denotational belongs to the word group as a
meaning; single semantically inseparable
unit;
Free word-groups Phraseological units

5 . less structural unity; 5.greater structural

unity;

6.components may have 6.components often have

any of the forms of their just one form of all the
paradigm. forms of their paradigm.
 Free word-groups are but relatively free:
they may possess some of the features
characteristic of phraseological units.
On the other hand, phraseological units
are heterogeneous. Alongside absolutely
unchangeable phraseological units, there
are expressions that allow some degree of
substitution. Phraseology is concerned
with all types of set expressions including
those that stand for certain sentences
Idioms and their
examples
 Conclusion
Phraseology is a kind of picture gallery in which are collected amusing
sketches ofthe nationscustoms traditions andprejudices,
recollections of its past history scraps of folk songs and fairy tales.
Quotations from great poets are preserved here alongside the dubious
pearls of philistine wisdom and crude slang witticisms, forphraseology
is not only the most colourful but probably the most democratic area of
vocabulary and draws its resources mostly from the very depths of
popular speech.
Used with care is an important warning because speech overloaded
withphraseological units loses its freshness and originality.Idioms,
after all, are ready-made speech units, and theircontinual repetition
sometimes wears them out; they losetheir colours and become trite
cliches. On the other hand, oral or written speech lacking
phraseological units loses much in expressiveness, colour and
emotional force.

To test your new-found knowledge here are some

sentences to practice with. Fill in the blank!
A) I cant afford this purse! It _______. I wont be able to pay my rent!
B) His birthday was supposed to be a surprise! I cant believe you _____. Now he
knows!
C) Ha! John has been promising to paint the house for five years. Maybe when
_______.
D) Yeah, itll _______. I need to sign some papers at Jennys school anyway so ill pick
her up for you too.
E) I dont really like going out to bars anymore. I only go _______.
F) Im sorry I cant come into work today. Im ________. I have a sore throat and
runny nose.
G) They tried ________ when installing the pipes for the house and now we have
leaks only one month after purchasing it!
H) We missed our flight to Paris because the connecting flight was late and to ______
they made us pay for a new ticket as if it was our fault!
I) I cant wait to see you perform on stage tonight! ______!
J) Jane is just never on time to work, its really annoying. O wow, ______ here she
comes
K) So were going to London, then Munich, then we will fly out of Athens, right?
M) OK, she might not be the most attractive but
_________. Im sure she is a sweetheart.
N) I have been trying to figure this out for ages.
Thanks so much, youre right. You _______.
O) I cant believe that was our test. I think it was
easier than some of our homework! It was a ______.
Answers
A=6
B=8
C=5
D = 10
E=4
F=9
G =11
H = 12
I = 14
J=2
K =3
L =1
M =13
N = 15
O=7