Fixed Expression
A Fixed Expression is a Compound Word that is fixed and takes on a specific meaning.
References
2018
- (Wikipedia, 2018) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_expression Retrieved:2018-3-4.
- A fixed expression is a standard form of expression that has taken on a more specific meaning than the expression itself. It is different from a proverb in that it is used as a part of a sentence, and is the standard way of expressing a concept or idea.
Examples include:
- all of a sudden
- come into mind
- fall in line
- "I can assure you
- so to speak
- surf the web
- Siamese twins or irreversible binomials like mix and match, wear and tear, and rock and roll
- trinomials (3-word fixed expressions); e.g. lights, camera, action ; signed, sealed, and delivered ; and lock, stock, and barrel.
- A fixed expression is a standard form of expression that has taken on a more specific meaning than the expression itself. It is different from a proverb in that it is used as a part of a sentence, and is the standard way of expressing a concept or idea.
2005
- (Moiron, 2005) ⇒ Moirón, M. B. V. (2005). "Data-driven identification of fixed expressions and their modifiability"(PDF) (Doctoral dissertation, GRODIL, Secretary Department of General Linguistics).
- QUOTE: The term fixed expression has been used to refer to a variety of linguistic expressions; among these are idioms, collocations, metaphors, support verb constructions, phrasal verbs, institutionalized phrases, sayings, proverbs and formulaic expressions. Examples of fixed expressions are the English expressions in (1):
(1)
- QUOTE: The term fixed expression has been used to refer to a variety of linguistic expressions; among these are idioms, collocations, metaphors, support verb constructions, phrasal verbs, institutionalized phrases, sayings, proverbs and formulaic expressions. Examples of fixed expressions are the English expressions in (1):
- a. spill the beans, shoot the breeze (idiom)
b. the eye of a needle, the evening falls (metaphor)
c. dogs bark, sound asleep(collocation)
d. make progress, take a bath(support verb construction)
e. Don’t count your chicks before they hatch, Curiosity killed the cat(proverb, saying)
f. The X-er, the Y-er e.g. The more, the merrier (construction)
g. to cost an arm and a leg, listen like a police officer(simile)
h. at school, by and large(institutionalized phrase or set phrase)
- a. spill the beans, shoot the breeze (idiom)
- Some of these expressions are by no means fixed sequences of words, thus researchers adopted other terms like multi-word units, multi-word lexemes, multi-word expressions (Sag et al., 2001), phrasal lexical items (Everaert and Kuiper, 1996) or phrasal lexical entries (Sailer, 2000).
A satisfactory definition of fixed expression is difficult due to the varied and idiosyncratic nature of the data. Aiming at a definition of fixed expression to be adopted by lexicographers, Everaert (1993) proposed the following:
‘A combination of two or more words that must at least satisfy the (a) condition and perhaps, but not necessarily, condition (b) and/or (c):
- (a) the word combination is fixed;
- (b) the combination as a whole has a non-compositional or partially compositional meaning;
- (c) the syntactic/morphological behavior of the fixed expression 1.1. Background 3 and/or its parts is not to be expected given the syntactic/morphologic behavior of the individual words or the combination as a whole (Everaert, 1993, pg. 18).’
1998
- (Moon, 1998) ⇒ Rosamund Moon. (1998). “Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: A Corpus-based Approach." Oxford University Press.
1992
- (Alexander, 1992) ⇒ Richard J. Alexander (1992). "Fixed expressions, idioms and phraseology in recent English learner's dictionaries" (PDF) In: EURALEX '92 - PROCEEDINGS
- QUOTE: Alexander (1978/79) delineated a number of categories of what can be called 'fixed expressions'. This term subsumes 'phraseological units' such as Glaser (1983) discusses. Advanced students encounter difficulties in assimilating these items (Alexander 1985). Alexander (1984 and 1987) distinguished further a number of idiom types: including binomials, compounds, full and semi-idioms, proverbs, stock phrases, allusions, quotations and idiomatic similes and also discourse expressions (e.g. gambits). These disparate units manifest similarities. Three clusters of features link fixed expressions: (1) 'idiomaticity', (2) socio-cultural markedness, (3) pragmatic properties in certain items. These criteria can help to map this 'fuzzy' domain.
1984
- (Alexander, 1989) ⇒ Alexander, R. J. (1984). "Fixed expressions in English: reference books and the teacher" (PDF). ELT Journal, 38(2), 127-134. DOI: 10.1093/elt/38.2.127
- ABSTRACT: A brief discussion of the need to focus on fixed expressions in English is followed by a summary analysis of the types to be found. Thirteen dictionaries and reference works are inspected to ascertain thier coverage of fixed expressions. An anotated bibliography assesses the utility of selected reference works for both teacher and learner.