Home Linguistics & Semiotics 5. A very complex criterion of fixedness: Non-compositionality
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

5. A very complex criterion of fixedness: Non-compositionality

  • Maria Svensson
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Phraseology
This chapter is in the book Phraseology

Abstract

The terminology used in definitions of different types of fixed expressions (such as idioms, locutions, proverbs etc.) is complex and sometimes ambiguous.Within the field of phraseology, it is therefore subject to discussion. This chapter deals with the complexity of the notion of non-compositionality.Non-compositionality is a criterion that often appears in definitions of fixed expressions. It will be shown that there are four dichotomies of particular interest within the very notion of non-compositionality. These dichotomies are:motivation/non-motivation, transparency/ opacity, analysability/unanalysability and literal/figurative meaning. Other notions of relevance to non-compositionality, such as common meaning, prototypicality, salience and frequency as well as encyclopaedic compositionality will also be described and problematised. Finally, the notions of partial compositionality, holistic or atomistic compositionality, and lexical content or grammatical form, all describing different aspects of compositionality, will be evoked, to further demonstrate the complexity of this criterion of fixedness.

Abstract

The terminology used in definitions of different types of fixed expressions (such as idioms, locutions, proverbs etc.) is complex and sometimes ambiguous.Within the field of phraseology, it is therefore subject to discussion. This chapter deals with the complexity of the notion of non-compositionality.Non-compositionality is a criterion that often appears in definitions of fixed expressions. It will be shown that there are four dichotomies of particular interest within the very notion of non-compositionality. These dichotomies are:motivation/non-motivation, transparency/ opacity, analysability/unanalysability and literal/figurative meaning. Other notions of relevance to non-compositionality, such as common meaning, prototypicality, salience and frequency as well as encyclopaedic compositionality will also be described and problematised. Finally, the notions of partial compositionality, holistic or atomistic compositionality, and lexical content or grammatical form, all describing different aspects of compositionality, will be evoked, to further demonstrate the complexity of this criterion of fixedness.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors xi
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Preface xv
  6. Introduction: The many faces of phraseology xix
  7. Part I. Phraseology: theory, typology and terminology
  8. 1. Phraseology and linguistic theory: A brief survey 3
  9. 2. Disentangling the phraseological web 27
  10. 3. A unified approach to semantic frames and collocational patterns 51
  11. 4. Processing of idioms and idiom modifications: A view from cognitive linguistics 67
  12. 5. A very complex criterion of fixedness: Non-compositionality 81
  13. 6. Reassessing the canon: 'Fixed' phrases in general reference corpora 95
  14. Part II. Corpus-based analyses of phraseological units
  15. 7. Adjective + Noun sequences in attributive or NP-final positions: Observations on lexicalization 111
  16. 8. Phrasal similes in the BNC 127
  17. 9. Foot and Mouth: The phrasal patterns of two frequent nouns 143
  18. 10. The Good Lord and his works: A corpus-driven study of collocational resonance 159
  19. 11. Fixed expressions, extenders and metonymy in the speech of people with Alzheimer's disease 175
  20. Part III. Phraseology across languages and cultures
  21. 12. Cross-linguistic phraseological studies: An overview 191
  22. 13. Figurative phraseology and culture 207
  23. 14. Critical observations on the culture-boundness of phraseology 229
  24. 15. Phraseology in a European framework: A cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research project on widespread idioms 243
  25. 16. Free and bound prepositions in a contrastive perspective. The case of with and avec 259
  26. 17. Contrastive idiom analysis: The case of Japanese and English idioms of anger 275
  27. 18. Automatic extraction of translation equivalents of phrasal and light verbs in English and Russian 293
  28. Part IV. Phraseology in lexicography and natural language processing
  29. 19. Dictionaries and collocation 313
  30. 20. Computational phraseology: An overview 337
  31. 21. A computational lexicography approach to phraseologisms 361
  32. 22. Extracting specialized collocations using lexical functions 377
  33. 23. Combined statistical and grammatical criteria for the retrieval of phraseological units in an electronic corpus 391
  34. Envoi
  35. The phrase, the whole phrase and nothing but the phrase 407
  36. Author index 411
  37. Subject index 417
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.139.10sve

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors xi
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Preface xv
  6. Introduction: The many faces of phraseology xix
  7. Part I. Phraseology: theory, typology and terminology
  8. 1. Phraseology and linguistic theory: A brief survey 3
  9. 2. Disentangling the phraseological web 27
  10. 3. A unified approach to semantic frames and collocational patterns 51
  11. 4. Processing of idioms and idiom modifications: A view from cognitive linguistics 67
  12. 5. A very complex criterion of fixedness: Non-compositionality 81
  13. 6. Reassessing the canon: 'Fixed' phrases in general reference corpora 95
  14. Part II. Corpus-based analyses of phraseological units
  15. 7. Adjective + Noun sequences in attributive or NP-final positions: Observations on lexicalization 111
  16. 8. Phrasal similes in the BNC 127
  17. 9. Foot and Mouth: The phrasal patterns of two frequent nouns 143
  18. 10. The Good Lord and his works: A corpus-driven study of collocational resonance 159
  19. 11. Fixed expressions, extenders and metonymy in the speech of people with Alzheimer's disease 175
  20. Part III. Phraseology across languages and cultures
  21. 12. Cross-linguistic phraseological studies: An overview 191
  22. 13. Figurative phraseology and culture 207
  23. 14. Critical observations on the culture-boundness of phraseology 229
  24. 15. Phraseology in a European framework: A cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research project on widespread idioms 243
  25. 16. Free and bound prepositions in a contrastive perspective. The case of with and avec 259
  26. 17. Contrastive idiom analysis: The case of Japanese and English idioms of anger 275
  27. 18. Automatic extraction of translation equivalents of phrasal and light verbs in English and Russian 293
  28. Part IV. Phraseology in lexicography and natural language processing
  29. 19. Dictionaries and collocation 313
  30. 20. Computational phraseology: An overview 337
  31. 21. A computational lexicography approach to phraseologisms 361
  32. 22. Extracting specialized collocations using lexical functions 377
  33. 23. Combined statistical and grammatical criteria for the retrieval of phraseological units in an electronic corpus 391
  34. Envoi
  35. The phrase, the whole phrase and nothing but the phrase 407
  36. Author index 411
  37. Subject index 417
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 24.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/z.139.10sve/html
Scroll to top button