Idioms: Motivation and etymology

Глава из Kuiper K. (ed.) Yearbook of Phraseology. Berlin, New York (DE GRUYTER MOUTON), 2010 (2010). - Pages 73–96AbstractOne of the questions in idiom research is the extent to which the image componentof a figurative idiom fixed in its inner form reaches into its lexicalizedmeaning and consequently its pragmatics. This paper explores two hypotheses:that traces of the image component of idiom semantics can have an effect onthe usage of the given idiom, and that, in certain cases, its etymology (as acontributor to its imagery) can thus influence an idiom’s usage conditions. Totest these hypotheses we will use data drawn from large text corpora.Keywords: idiom motivation; etymology of idioms; image component; intertextuality;usage restrictions.