Main sources of phraseological units

A.V. Koonin classified phraseological units according to the way they are formed. He pointed out primary and secondary ways of forming phraseological units.

Primary ways of forming phraseological units are those when a unit is formed on the basis of a free word-group:

a) Most productive in Modern English is the formation of ph u by means of transferring the meaning of terminological word-groups (e.g. «launching pad» in its terminological meaning is «стартовая площадка», in its transferred meaning - «отправной пункт», «to link up» - «cтыковаться, стыковать космические корабли» in its transformed meaning it means -«знакомиться»);

b) a large group of ph u was formed from free word groups by transforming their meaning, (e.g. «granny farm» - «пансионат для престарелых»,)

c) ph.u. can be by means of alliteration,(e.g. «a sad sack» - «несчастный случай», «culture vulture» - «человек, интересующийся искусством»).

d) ph.u. can be formed by means of expressiveness, especially it is characteristic for forming interjections, (e.g. «My aunt!», «Hear, hear!»)

e) ph.u. can be formed by means of distorting a word group, (e.g. «odds and ends» was formed from «odd ends»),

f) ph.u can be formed by using archaisms, (e.g. «in brown study» means «in gloomy meditation» where both components preserve their archaic meanings),

g) ph u can be formed by using a sentence in a different sphere of life, (e.g. «that cock won’t fight» can be used as a free word-group when it is used in sports (cock fighting), it becomes a phraseological unit when it is used in everyday life, because it is used metaphorically),

h) they can be formed when we use some unreal image, (e.g. «to have butterflies in the stomach» - «испытывать волнение», «to have green fingers» -»преуспевать как садовод-любитель»).

i) ph u can be formed by using expressions of writers or politicians in everyday life, (e.g. «corridors of power» (Snow), «American dream» (Alby), «the winds of change» (Mc Millan)).

Secondary ways of forming ph u are those when a ph u is formed on the basis of another ph u; they are:

a) conversion, e.g. «to vote with one’s feet» was converted into «vote with one’s f eet»;

b) changing the grammar form, e.g. «Make hay while the sun shines» is transferred into a verbal phrase - «to make hay while the sun shines»;

c) analogy, e.g. «Curiosity killed the cat» was transferred into «Care killed the cat»;

d) contrast, e.g. «cold surgery» - «a planned before operation» was formed by contrasting it with «acute surgery», «thin cat» - «a poor person» was formed by contrasting it with «fat cat»;

e) shortening of proverbs or sayings e.g. from the proverb «You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear» by means of clipping the middle of it the ph u «to make a sow’s ear» was formed with the meaning «ошибаться».

f) borrowing ph u from other languages, either as translation loans, e.g. «living space» (German), «to take the bull by the horns» (Latin) or by means of phonetic borrowings «meche blanche» (French), «corpse d’elite» (French), «sotto voce» (Italian) etc.

Phonetic borrowings among ph u refer to the bookish style and are not used very often.

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