Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied LinguisticsVol. 151 (2006) ► pp.1–14
How many idioms are there in English?
The word idiom and its derivatives idiomatic, idiomatically and idiomaticity are used with a wide range of meanings. Idiomatic English is used to refer to fluent language use that sounds like that of a native speaker. Items loosely classed as idioms include colloquial expressions, collocations, acceptable but unusual expressions, and opaque multi-word units. If linguists are pressed to define what an idiom is, they usually say that an idiom is a multi-word unit where the meaning of the whole unit is not clear from the meaning of its parts. The purpose of this paper is to report on a study where one particular use of the term idiom was very carefully defined and to show what the effects of the application of this careful definition were on coming up with a definitive list of idioms. It is argued that carefully distinguishing idioms from other multiword units makes sense for the teaching and leaming of multi-word units because different approaches are needed for the different types of multi-word units. Phrasal verbs were not included in the study.
References (21)
Boers, F. (2001). Remembering figurative idioms by hypothesising about their origin. Prospect, 16(3), 35-43.
Boers, F, and Eyckmans, J. (2004). Etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning figurative idioms. In P. Bogaards and B. Laufer. (Eds.), Vocabulary in a Second Language: Selection, Acquisition and Testing. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins: 53-78.
Boers, F. and Lindstromberg, S. (2005). Finding ways to make phrase-learning feasible: The mnemonic effect of alliteration. System 331, 225-238.
Cobb, l (1997). Is there any measurable learning from hands-on concordancing? System 25, 3: 301-315.
Geeraerts, D. (1995). Specialization and reinterpretation in idioms. In M. Everaert et al. (Eds.) Idioms: Structural and Psychological Perspectives. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grant, L. and Bauer, L. (2004). Criteria for re-defining idioms: Are we barking up the wrong tree? Applied Linguistics 25(1), 38-61.
Kellerman, E. (1985). If at first you do succeed .. In S.M. Gass and C.G. Madden (Eds.) Input in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House: 345-353.
Moon, R. (1998). Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: A Corpus-Based Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Pauwels, P. (1995). Levels of metaphorization: the case of put. In L. Goosens et al. (Eds.) By Word of Mouth. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Stevens, V. (1991). Classroom concordancing: vocabulary materials derived from relevant, authentic text. English for Specific Purposes 101: 35-46.
Thurstun, J. and Candlin, C.N. (1998). Concordancing and the teaching of the vocabulary of academic English. English For Specific Purposes 171, 31: 267-280.
Cowie, A.P., Mackin, R., & McCaig, I.R. (1993). Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gulland, D.M., & Hinds-Howell, D. (1986). The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Kirkpatrick, E. M., & Schwarz, C. M. (Eds.). (1993). The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
Manser, M. H. (1997). A Dictionary of Everyday Idioms (Second ed.). London: Prentice Hall Europe ELT.
McCarthy, M. J. & Walter, E. (1997). Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Leamers of English. (2001). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seidl, J., & McMordie, W. (1988). English Idioms (Fifth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sinclair, J., & Moon, R. (1995). Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
Speake, J. (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. New York: Oxford University Press.
Stern, K. (1998). Longman Idioms Dictionary. Harlow, Essex: Longman.