Disambiguation of Japanese Idiomatic Expressions Using Bias in Occurrence of Verbs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirofumi Funato ◽  
Takehiro Teraoka
Keyword(s):  
Idiomatic Expressions

scholarly journals Conceptualizations of the Heart in Jordanian Arabic: A Cognitive Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Omar Bani Mofarrej ◽  
Ghaleb Rabab'ah
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Human Heart ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognitive Perspective ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Levantine Arabic

The present paper examines the metaphorical and metonymical conceptualizations of the heart in Jordanian Arabic (JA) within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The main aim is to explore how the human heart is conceptualized in JA, and to test the applicability of the different general cognitive mechanisms proposed by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) to those found in JA. The data were extracted from Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions in Levantine Arabic: Jordanian Dialect (Alzoubi, 2020), and other resources including articles, dissertations and books of Arabic proverbs. The findings revealed that all the four general cognitive mechanisms suggested by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) are applicable to JA. The findings also showed that the similarity derives from the universal aspects of the human body, which lends tremendous support to the embodiment hypothesis proposed by cognitive linguists. 

scholarly journals Compositional phrasal verbs with up

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Machonis
Keyword(s):  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Break Up

This study examines a corpus of 300 compositional phrasal verbs in English using the particle up. Whereas frozen phrasal verbs clearly do not have the same meaning without the particle and must be listed in the lexicon grammar of idiomatic expressions (e.g., break up the audience “cause to laugh”), compositional phrasal verbs merely add an aspectual element to the simple verb, and particle usage might be better analyzed as a property of the simple verb. Although this meaning is difficult to characterize precisely, it generally indicates direction (ride up the elevator), completion (open up the store), intensity (hype up the book), or combinations (polish up the silverware, completion and intensity). These properties are added to the table of compositional phrasal verbs. Optional particle usage can also identify the meaning of a potentially ambiguous simple verb. For example, the simple verb call “phone” can take the particle up but not out, while the simple verb call “announce” can take the particle out but not up. The simple verb tables, however, will become enormously complex when all English particles (fifteen different particles according to B. Fraser 1976) are taken into account.

Construction of online practice tests to check the acquisition of idiomatic expressions with colours

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanya Ivanova ◽  
◽  
Gergana Petkova
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Test Construction ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Practice Tests ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Long Term Retention ◽  
Knowledge Of Learners ◽  
Selection Of

Idioms are metaphorical expressions that cannot be translated literally. They are widely used in English because they make everyday speech more interesting and entertaining for native speakers. It is assumed that there are about twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in English and one of the most common thematic areas for idioms is colour. Idiomatic expressions are a fun way to enhance the vocabulary and cultural knowledge of learners of English. However, mastering these expressions cause difficulties for students not only because their meaning is not deductible from the meanings of the words comprising it, but also due to the different meaning of colours in the cultures around the world. For instance, purple is usually connected with aristocracy, affluence, and piousness across the globe but in Thailand and Brazil it is the colour of bereavement. In this article we have described an approach to check the acquisition of idiomatic expressions and facilitate their long-term retention by using online practice tests. These tests are designed by the teacher and taken by students on their personal computers or mobile phones at their own convenience. Furthermore, specifically developed criteria for test construction are listed together with typical test questions based on them. Examples of test items are presented to illustrate the process of test creation. Finally, an appendix of a selection of the most widely used idiomatic expressions with colours is compiled.

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