1. Typology of fixed expressions

2. Typology of fixed expressions
Fixed expressions are not a unified
phenomenon, no generally agreed set of
categories, no generally agreed set of terms, so
no clear classifications are possible.
This typology is based on reasons why each
potential FEI might be regarded lexicographically
as a holistic unit, i.e. whether the string is
problematic and anomalous on grounds of
lexicogrammar, pragmatics , or semantics.
This led to three macrocategories of FEIs.

3. 3 macrocategories
Anomalous collocations – problematic in
terms of lexicogrammar
Formulae - problematic in terms of
pragmatics
Metaphors - problematic in terms of
semantics

4. Anomalous collocations
Anomalous collocations are problematic
in lexicogrammatical terms – they are
syntagmatically or paradigmatically
aberrant. Therefore, they cannot be
decoded purely compositionally nor
encoded freely.

5. Subclassification of anomalous
collocations
Anomalous collocations are subdivided according to the nature of the
anomaly into:
(1) Ill-formed collocations – break the conventional grammatical rules of
English (e.g. at all, by and large, of course, stay put)
(2) Cranberry collocations – include items that are unique to the string and
not found in other collocations (e.g. in retrospect, kith and kin, on behalf
of someone/something, short shrift, to and fro)
(3) Defective collocations – cannot be decoded purely compositionally
mostly because a component item has a meaning not found in other
collocations or contexts, although it has other compositional meanings; or
because one or more of the component items is semantically empty (e.g.
at least, a foregone conclusion, in effect, beg the question, in time)
(4) Phraseological collocations – consist of cases where there is a limited
paradigm in operation and other analogous strings may be found, but
where the structure is not fully productive (e.g. in action, into action, out
of action; on show, on display; to a ____ degree, to a ____ extent)

6. Formulae
Formulae are problematic because of
their discoursal functions: they are
specialized pragmatically. They generally
conform to lexicogrammatical conventions
of English, and are generally
compositional semantically, although
some similes and proverbs are obscure or
metaphorical.

7. Subclassification of formulae
(1) Simple formulae – routine compositional strings; nevertheless,
they have some special discoursal function or are iterative or
emphatic, as well as syntagmatically fixed (e.g. alive and well, I’m
sorry to say, not exactly, pick and choose, you know)
(2) Sayings – include formulae such as quotations, catch-phrases
and truisms (e.g. curiouser and curiouser, don’t let the bastdards
grind you down, that’s the way the cookie crumbles)
(3) Proverbs – metaphorical proverbs (e.g. you can’t have your cake
and eat it, every cloud has a silver lining), non-metaphorical
proverbs (enough is enough, first come first served)
(4) Similes – institutionalized comparisons that are typically
transparent, but not always, and are signalled by as or like (e.g.
as good as gold, as old as the hills, like lambs to the slaughter,
live like a king)

8. Subclassification of formulae
don’t let the bastdards grind you down = Often
given in the Latin version - 'nil carborundum
illegitimi'. The phrase originated during World
War II. Lexicographer Eric Partridge attributes it
to British army intelligence very early in the war .
The phrase was adopted by US Army general
"Vinegar" Joe Stillwell as his motto during the
war. It was later further popularized in the US by
1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater
curiouser and curiouser = from Alice in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

9. Metaphors
Metaphors are strings that are non-
compositional because of their
semantics: they include pure idioms.
Sublassification of metaphors reflects
degrees of transparency.

10. Subclassification of metaphors
(1) Transparent metaphors – are those that are institutionalized but the
image or vehicle of the metaphor is such that the reader/hearer can be
expected to decode it successfully by means of his real-world knowledge
(e.g. alarm bells ring, behind someone’s back, breathe life into
something, on someone’s doorstep, pack one’s bags)
(2) Semi-transparent metaphors – require some specialist knowledge in
order to be decoded. Not all speakers of a language may understand the
reference. If the institutionalized idiomatic meaning is unknown, there
may be two or more possible interpretations (e.g. grasp the nettle, on an
even keel, the pecking order, throw in the towel, under one’s belt).
Grasp the nettle – means ‘tackle something difficult with determination
and without delay’, but someone not knowing the metaphor might easily
interpret it as ‘do something foolish which will have unpleasant
consequences’.
(3) Opaque metaphors – are pure idioms, and in them compositional
decoding and interpretation of the image are practically impossible
without knowledge of the historical origins of the expression (bite the
bullet, kick the bucket, over the moon, red herring, shoot the breeze)

11. Collocation and chunking

12. Collocation
Language is strongly patterned: many
words occur repeatedly in certain
lexicogrammatical patterns.
Psycholinguistic research – language is
processed in chunks. The basic unit for
encoding and decoding may be the group,
set phrase, or collocation, rather than
ortographic word.

13. Collocation - definition
‘Collocation is the occurrence of two or
more words within a short space of each
other in a text.’ (J.M. Sinclair, Corpus,
Concordance, Collocation, OUP, 1991)
Collocation denotes frequently repeated or
statistically significant co-occurrences,
whether or not there are any special
semantic bonds between collocating
items.

14. Collocation
Collocation – simple co-occurrence of
items
Anomalous collocation – designates a
class of FEIs, with subtypes (ill-formed
collocation, cranberry collocation,
defective collocation, phraseological
collocation)

15. Kinds of collocation
Collocations are the lexical evidence that words do not combine randomly
but follow rules, principles, and real-world motivations. Different kinds of
collocation reflect different kinds of phenomenon.
The simplest kind arises through semantics: co-occurrence of co-members
of semantic fields, represenring co-occurrence of the referents in the real
world, e.g. word jam co-occurs with other words from the lexical set ‘food’,
such as tarts, butty, doughnuts, marmalade, apricot, strawberry.
A second kind of collocation arises where a word requires association with
a member of a certain class or category of item, and such collocations are
constrained lexicogrammatically as well as semantically, e.g. word rancid,
adj. is typically associated with butter, fat, and foods containing butter or fat.
In other cases, a word has a particular meaning only when it is in collocation
with certain other words, e.g. face the truth/facts/problem. Also, selection
restrictions on verbs may specify certain kinds of subject or object, e.g. the
verb drink normally requires a human subject and a liquid as object.

16. Kinds of collocation
A third kind of collocation is syntactic,
and arises where a verb, adjective, or
nominalization requires complementation
with, for example, a specified particle.
Such collocations are grammatically well
formed and highly frequent, but not
necessarily holistic and independent, e.g.
to be, one of, had been, you know, thank
you very much, are going to be, etc.

17. Two principles underlying language
The open choice principle
The idiom principle
These two principles are diametrically opposed,and both are required in
order to account for language.
The open choice principle – a way of seeing language text as a result of a
very large number of complex choices. At each point where a unit is
completed (a word or a phrase or a clause) a large range of choices opens
up, and the only restraint is grammaticalness.
The idiom principle – a language user has available to him a large number
of semi-prestructured phrases that constitute single choices.
Thus at a point in text where the open choice model would suggest a large
range of possible choices, the idiom principle restricts it over and above
predictable semantic restraints that result from topic or situational context. A
single choice in one slot may be made which dictates which elements will fill
the next slot/s, and prevents the use of free choice.

18. Two principles underlying language
Example: of course – orthography and
the open choice model suggests that this
sequence comprises two different choices:
one at the of slot, and one at the course
slot.
– the idiom principle suggests that it is a
single choice which coincidentally occupies
two word spaces.

19. The idiom principle
This principle is seen not only in fixed strings (e.g. of
course) but also in other kinds of phraseological unit,
e.g. greetings and social routines demonstrate the idiom
principle. Sociocultural rules of interaction restrict
choices within an exchange which may be realized in
fairly fixed formulations.
Sayings, similes, and proverbs also represent single
choices, even when they are truncated or manipulated,
and they may be prompted discoursally as stereotyped
responses, e.g. (every cloud has) a silver lining; no news
is good news – these are predictable comments on
common experiences.

20. The idiom principle
There are also recurrent clauses and
other units that demonstrate the idiom
principle, e.g. from can I come in?, are you
ready? to it’s as easy as falling off a log.
Memorized clauses and clause sequences
form a high proportion of the fluent
stretches of speech heard in everyday
conversation.

21. Psycholinguistic aspects of
chunking
Research into language acquisition –
suggests that language is learned, stored,
retrieved, and produced in multi-word
items, not just as individual words or
terms.

22. Processing of FEIs
Research into the psycholinguistic processing of FEIs adresses questions
such as: how FEIs are recognized; how they are stored in the mental
lexicon; whether idiomatic meanings are retrieved before, after, or
simultaneously with literal meanings; how variations and inflections are
handled.
In attempting to find out how FEIs are processed, the notion of the ‘idiom
list’ has been incorporated into the hypothesis that idioms are stored
separately in the mental lexicon. The analysis of the literal meaning occurs
separately from the idiomatic meaning. The literal meaning is normally
processed first, and when the processing fails to yield an interpretation for
the context, the ‘idiom list’ is accessed.
According to another hypothesis, idioms are stored and retrieved like single
words and idiomatic and literal meanings are processed simultaneously.
The experiments show that subjects decode idiomatic meanings faster than
literal ones.
There is a third hypothesis, which introduces the notion of the ‘key’ word,
which is a component word in an FEI that triggers recognition of the whole.

23. Lexicalization
With respect to FEIs, lexicalization is the process by
which a string of words and morphemes becomes
institutionalized as part of the language and develops its
own specialist meaning or function.
Lexicalization of FEIs results from a three-way tension
between quantitative criterion of institutionalization, the
lexicogrammatical criterion of fixedness, and the
qualitative criterion of non-compositionality, but there are
problems with all these criteria: institutionalization and
frequency are not enough on their own, fixedness can be
misleading (there is instability of forms), non-
compositionality is dependent on the ways in which the
meanings of individual words are analysed both in
dictionaries and notional lexicons.

24. Diachronic considerations
Instituationalization is a diachronic process – much of the lexical,
syntactic and semantic anomalousness of FEIs results from
historical processes. Cranberry collocations such as to and fro and
kith and kin contain lexical items that were formerly current.
The ill-formed collocation through thick and thin is an ellipsis of
through thicket and thin wood, and of course is an ellipsis of a
matter of course, or of course and custom, or of common course.
FEIs disappear, and others emerge.
Metaphors, initially transparent, come in from sporting, technical,
and other specialist domains, e.g. business metaphors such as
there’s no such thing as a free lunch. As neologisms become
institutionalized and divorced from their original contexts of use, the
explanation or motivation for the metaphor may become lost or
obscure.

25. Diachronic considerations
Some metaphorical FEIs and proverbs may be
traced back to classical or Biblical sayings or
historical events, e.g.better late than never, all
roads lead to Rome, an eye for an eye, burn
one’s bridges/boats.
Catchphrases drawn from cinema, television,
politics, journalism and so on become
institutionalized as sayings and other kinds of
formula – this is an obvious way in which English
fixed expressions realize intertextuality:

26. Diachronic considerations
And now for something completely different
Didn’t she do well
Go ahead, make my day
I think we should be told
I’ll be back
I’ll have what she’s having
Pass the sick bag, Alice
That will do nicely
There is no alternative (abbreviated as TINA)
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship
The white heat of this revolution
We wuz robbed
It takes two to tango (song by Hoffman and Manning)
When the going gets tough, the tough get going (popularized by Joseph
Kennedy)
The opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings (Dan Cook)

27. Diachronic considerations
The catchphrases above are associated with a memorable event or
film sequence, or consistent media use, they are repeated as
commentary devices, greetings and so on, and become situationally
or culturally bound.
In other cases, FEIs become established as pithy ways of
expressing or referring to concepts; hyphenation is an indicator of
the process of institutionalization and lexicalization. The catenation
of strings into quasi-single words signals the writer’s intention to
consider a string as a unit, e.g.:
on a first-come-first-served basis
his charity-begins-at-home appeal
a don’t-take-no-for-an-answer message
Six months ago it (sc. a hotel) changed owners, but remained in the
hello-how-may-I-help-you-realm
The chaos might amuse the man who belonged to the live-fast-die-
young-have-a-good-looking-corpse school.