- Giang / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages Idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms in English. - Defining the concepts of “idiomatic variants” and “synonymous idioms. - Criteria for the distinction between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms - Forms and signs of idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms. - Sharing the same point of view, Thomas Hill considered an idiom as a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of several words. - The fixed characteristics of an idiom can be realized as follows:. - Structure: The fixed characteristic of structure of an idiom is expressed by the fixed order of the components forming an idiom.. - Are the idioms above the idiomatic variants or synonymous idioms? What criteria make a clear distinction between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms? What are the forms and signs of idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms? 2. - Idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms in English 2.1. - What is meant by “idiomatic variants”? Variant is something that differs in form only slightly from something else, as a different spelling or pronunciation of the same word [3]. - It means that the forms of the words change but their contents are the same. - Basing on the structures of synonymous idioms, we can give the concept of idiomatic variants as follows: Idiomatic variants are idioms having the same contents and grammatical structures or having different components belonging to the same field of meaning. - What is meant by “synonymous idioms”? Synonymy (synonymia in ancient Egyptian) means “the same name” and displays the relationship between two expressions which are literal but not identical [4]. - Literality is the correspondence or something in the same denotatum (events, objects), or something in the same significance (something displayed belongs to the language). - In other word, expression A and expression B are synonymous if their outsides are not the same (form A is different from form B) but their insides are the same (content A = content B). - Synonymous units including synonymous words and idioms are the exceptions of the synonymous expressions. - It can be said that Russian linguists have recorded great achievements of synonymy, especially synonymous idioms. - In modern Russian, synonymous idioms are considered as idiomatic groups of words which have the same contents but different expressive colours belonging to different functional styles of the language. - Therefore, synonymous idioms are idioms having the same contents but different structures or having the same structures but different components belonging to different fields of meaning. - Idioms are language units functioning as words. - Therefore, synonymous idioms are more complex than synonyms of words because they are connected with idiomatic variants. - Criteria for the distinction between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms In order to make a clear distinction between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms, we focus on two criteria: meanings and grammatical structures. - Meanings are based on the same or different images. - Grammatical structures are based on the same or different structures. - For example, to take into one’s head and to take into one’s mind are considered as idiomatic variants. - These idioms have the same meaning and grammatical structure. - Moreover, their meaning is based on the same image. - In other word, head and mind are two components belonging to the same field of meaning. - We consider as angry as a bear and as angry as a bull as synonymous idioms because bear and bull belong to different fields of meaning. - The differences between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms can be shown as follows: (Diagram 1, 2).. - Idiomatic variants. - Synonymous idioms. - Forms of idiomatic variants” and synonymous idioms 2.4.1. - Forms of idiomatic variants Basically, from the criteria for the distinction between idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms, we can refer to the following basis groups. - Idiomatic variants basing on the change of their component orders (A and B = B and A), e.g. - Idiomatic variants with their components replaced by synonyms, e.g. - Idiomatic variants with their components replaced by words or expressions having the same lexical-semantic field, e.g. - to get a share of the cake - to get a slice of the cake. - Basing on the meanings and the forms of idiomatic variants and their base idioms with their components replaced by words or expressions having the same lexical-semantic field, we can consider this kind of idiomatic variants as an intermediary between variation and synonymy. - Forms of synonymous idioms Idioms are said to be synonymous when they have the same contents but different structures or have the same structures but different components belonging to different fields of meaning. - Basing on the two criteria (meanings and structures), we can refer to the following groups. - Synonymous idioms having different structures (Form A ≠ Form B. - to have a head on one’s shoulders - to have one’s head screwed on the right way. - Synonymous idioms having the same figurative contents basing on different images, e.g. - Signs of idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms 2.5.1. - Signs of idiomatic variants It is easy to realize that the components, especially verbs and nouns, of an English idiom can be replaced by units which are synonymous or belong to the same field of meaning. - For example, the verb scream in the idiom to scream blue murder can be replaced by the verb cry, but the meaning of the idiom is still the same. - We can see this in a lot of idioms such as to get one’s blood up - to have one’s blood up, to welcome with open arms - to greet with open arms, and to find the length of someone’s feet - to know the length of someone’s feet which are idiomatic variants. - The idiomatic variants in English are the other forms of idioms whose meanings are the same as the original idioms. - In other word, when one (or more components) of the original idiom is (are) replaced by another (other components) belonging to the same field of meaning, we consider this the idiomatic variant. - These can be concretized as follows. - A verb (a verb phrase) replaced by another belonging to the same field of meaning, e.g. - to get one’s back up - to set one’s back up - to put one’s back up. - A noun (a noun phrase) replaced by another belonging to the same field of meaning, e.g. - to take into one’s head - to take into one’s mind. - An adverb replaced by another belonging to the same field of meaning, e.g. - A conjunction replaced by another belonging to the same field of meaning, e.g. - An adjective replaced by another belonging to the same field of meaning, e.g. - A preposition replaced by another, e.g. - to escape by the skin of one’s teeth - to escape with the skin of one’s teeth. - Signs of synonymous idioms It can be said that synonyms are different words with identical or at least similar meanings. - In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation. - Two idioms are said to be synonymous if they have different structures but the same contents. - not to turn a hair (verbal phrase) and without turning a hair (prepositional phrase) are synonymous idioms. - This kind of synonymous idioms is not very common in English. - As we know, idioms are the language units which are about the same as words. - Two idioms are also said to be synonymous idioms if they have different components belonging to different fields of meaning, but their contents are the same. - For example, the following idioms are synonymous with each other although they have different meaning colours:. - Synonymous idioms as drunk as. - Conclusion - Idioms are considered as variants of each other when they have the same contents and grammatical structures or have different components belonging to the same field of meaning. - Idioms are said to be synonymous when they have the same contents but different structures or have the same structures but different components belonging to different fields of meaning. - Forms and signs of idiomatic variants and synonymous idioms in English can be summarized as follows: Idiomatic variants Forms. - Signs Idiomatic variants basing on the change of their component orders. - A and B = B and A Idiomatic variants with their components replaced by synonyms. - a verb (a verb phrase), a noun (a noun phrase), an adverb, a conjunction, an adjective Idiomatic variants with their components replaced by words or expressions having the same lexical-semantic field. - a verb (a verb phrase), a noun (a noun phrase), an adverb, an adjective, a preposition Synonymous idioms Forms. - Signs Synonymous idioms having different structures. - Form A ≠ Form B Content A = Content B Synonymous idioms having the same figurative contents basing on different images. - The American heritage dictionary of the English language, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2000. - same contents - different structures