Idioms'Non-idiomatic Features:The Syntactic Motivation of Idiom Variation
Given that the meaning of idioms is not predictable from the literal meaning of their parts,we can broadly define idioms as expressions with a non-compositional interpretation.Since language is a compositional system,this characteristic of idioms might suggest that they are atomic building blocks of language with no internal syntax.However,that turns out not to be the case.In addition to the frozenness in structure,idioms also possess openness in feature,which exhibits similar grammatical properties with non-idioms to some extent.This can be regarded as the significant basis of idioms variation,based on which different idioms exhibit different degrees of compositionality.Generally speaking,the more compositional an idiom is,the more likely it is to change.Therefore,the non-idiomatic features of the idiom's syntax are the important syntactic motivations of its variation,which can be well explained in regard to the paradigmatic associations in the Linguistic System proposed by Schmid(2020).According to the theory of Linguistic System,idioms share paradigmatic associations with non-idioms.Paradigmatic associations make great contributions to the change of language(including idioms)in the form of paradigmatic strengthening,paradigmatic extension,and paradigmatic support.Paradigmatic strengthening helps an utterance type become more and more entrenched and finally generate idioms,but even the most stable and seemingly uniform kinds of utterance types are subject to variation and change on a more microscopic level of description.In a given context the seemingly degenerated structure of idioms will be activated again,which provides the basis for idioms variation.This underlying dynamicity and variability is caused by the continual usualization of utterance types.Another source of idioms variation is analogy-driven paradigmatic extensions.Such extensions seem to be not random but influenced by formal similarity.A novel use of an idiom is often associated with its prototypical one paradigmatically.Idiom variation needs the support of paradigmatic associations.Strong and frequently refreshed paradigmatic associations make a strong contribution to idioms'structure on the cognitive level and persistence on both the cognitive and the collective level.Due to communicative needs a new semantic element may enter an idiom.Then it is the job of paradigmatic associations to adapt and make sure that the structure of the idiom remains intact in order to safeguard successful co-semiosis.Idioms cooperate and compete with their corresponding literal linguistic forms and ultimately exhibit the features of frozenness as well as openness.
idiomsyntaxliteral languagevariationparadigmatic association
万方数据
