https://doi.org/10.25312/j.8943
Artem Velychko https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1299-0377 University in Bialystok
Lexicographic issues in compiling bilingual learner dictionaries of idioms.
Part I: Selecting Polish equivalents for English weather idioms
As the first part of a series devoted to common lexicographic issues arising in compiling bilingual learner dictionaries of idioms, the article comprises two sections concentrating on idiom characteristics and idiomatic equivalent selection. Section one elucidates the notion of idiom by providing its definition and discussing its distinctive features along with semantic and syntactic typologies. Section two, in turn, demonstrates the process of selecting Polish equivalents for English weather idioms by carrying out an illustrative analysis of the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic properties of four idioms. The methodology presented in this work incorporates some elements from Szczepaniak and Adamska-Sałaciak’s study, which involves the functionally oriented methodological framework developed by Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen. An analogous procedure identified 30 Polish idiomatic equivalents for a total of 34 English idioms, whose lexicographic representation is illustrated in the second part of the series.
Keywords: idiom, idiomatic equivalents, functionally oriented methodological instrument, idiomatic typologies, weather idioms.
Publikacja stanowi pierwszą część dwuczęściowej serii poświęconej typowym kwestiom leksykograficznym związanym z tworzeniem dwujęzycznych słowników idiomów dla osób uczących się. Niniejszy artykuł składa się z dwóch rozdziałów skupiających się na charakterystyce idiomów i identyfikacji ekwiwalentnych idiomów. W rozdziale pierwszym przybliżono pojęcie idiomu i przedstawiono jego definicję, ukazując cha- rakterystyczne cechy wraz z typologią semantyczną i składniową. Aby zidentyfikować polskie odpowiedniki angielskich idiomów dotyczących pogody, w rozdziale drugim przeprowadzono przykładową analizę cechów semantycznych, syntaktycznych i pragmatycznych czterech idiomów. Metodologia przedstawiona w niniejszej pracy wykorzystuje niektóre elementy badania Szczepaniak i Adamskiej-Sałaciak, w którym zastosowano funkcjonalnie zorientowany instrument metodologiczny opracowany przez Dobrovol’skiego i Piirainen. Analogiczna procedura pozwoliła zidentyfikować 30 polskich ekwiwalentów idiomatycznych dla 34 idiomów angielskich, których reprezentacja leksykograficzna została zilustrowana w drugiej części serii.
Słowa kluczowe: idiom, ekwiwalenty idiomatyczne, funkcjonalnie zorientowany instrument metodologiczny, typologie idiomów, idiomy pogodowe.
This article is the first in a work of a two-part series devoted to common lexicographic issues arising in compiling bilingual learner dictionaries of idioms. Possible solutions to these issues along with the compilation procedure are exemplified by a dictionary model of weather idioms purposefully created in the course of study. The present paper addresses the problem of identifying Polish idiomatic equivalents for English weather idioms to be included in the dictionary model. Section one of the article starts with a dis- cussion concerning such theoretical aspects of phraseology as idiom definition, features, and semantic and syntactic typologies. Section two illustrates the selection of target language equivalents for source language idioms by utilising the functionally oriented methodological framework developed by Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen (2005). Drawing on the methodology from the study by Szczepaniak and Adamska-Sałaciak (2010), the analysis involves the comparison of semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic features of three Polish expressions to determine the best-fitting equivalent for an English idiom. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of the findings.
Alongside such fixed expressions as phrasal verbs and collocations, idioms constitute an integral part of phraseology. Seidl and McMordie (1988: 13) define idiom as “a num- ber of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meanings of each word”. A similar description of the term is provided by Glucksberg (2001: 68): “a construction whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of its
constituents”. A case in point is the phrase to chase rainbows defined by the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (CIDI) (1998)1 as “to waste your time trying to get or achieve something”. Considered separately, however, the literal meanings of each word this idiom consists of do not produce the figurative meaning of the whole expres- sion. Accordingly, idioms are non-compositional lexical units in terms of the principle of compositionality2, since ordinarily, the linguistic or literal meaning of the idiom and the idiomatic or metaphorical meaning of the same idiom have no apparent connection.
One of the most salient features of idioms is imagery or figurativity (Piirainen, 2015: 18). The aspect of figurativity involves the interpretation of an idiom at two simultaneously triggered levels, that is, literal reading and figurative meaning: a mental picture of an expression arises from the first reading and shapes its metaphorical meaning. Consid- ering that idiomatic phrases are able to possess different degrees of figurativity, Kvetko (1999: 43f) categorises them into phraseological fusions, phraseological unities, and phraseological combinations.
From the standpoint of modern English, phraseological fusions are non-motivated idioms because the meaning of each of their elements entirely acquires the meaning of the whole phrase, including its expressiveness and emotional properties. This is observed in the expression to ask/cry for the moon meaning “to want something that is not possible”. Phraseological fusions are distinctive for every language and, therefore, their literal trans- lation into other languages tends to pose difficulties. Phraseological unities, in turn, are partially motivated idioms, displaying semantic duality in that these expressions can be both literal and metaphorical. For instance, the figurative meaning of the idiom to come to your senses is “to start to understand that you have been behaving stupidly”, whereas its literal meaning is “to regain consciousness”. Consequently, without the awareness of context, one is not able to identify the actual sense of this type of phrase. In contrast to the other two categories, phraseological combinations are motivated idioms, with one of their components retaining a direct meaning and the other being used figuratively. The phrase a fair-weather friend, defined as “someone who is only your friend when you are happy and successful”, is a case in point.
Svensén (2009: 190ff) distinguishes between full idioms and semi-idioms in a similar classification. The former are categorised into partly compositional and non-compositional. To some extent, partly compositional idioms are analogous to phraseological unities and feature components, whose figurative senses map onto their literal senses, e.g. to break the ice wherein to break may refer to initiating a conversation and ice may represent discomfort between unfamiliar speakers. Non-compositional idioms, for their part, are somewhat analogous to phraseological fusions, with literal senses of their components not
1 The majority of definitions provided in this article are taken from the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (CIDI).
2 According to the principle of compositionality, “the meaning of a sentence is obtained by combining or com- posing the meanings of its constituent words and phrases” (Brown, Miller, 2013: 93).
representing their figurative meaning, e.g. at sixes and sevens. As regards semi-idioms, they are similar to phraseological combinations in that they can be inferred from the meaning of one of their components, hence, are also motivated idioms.
In terms of syntax, idioms are categorised into sentential (sayings) and non-sentential (proverbs) (Kvetko, 1999: 37). The former type includes idioms that function as fixed phrases, e.g. every cloud has a silver lining. These expressions are frequently reduced or shortened, which is largely attributable to the fast speech process or simply to the obso- lescence of the expression. For instance, the sentential idiom lightning never strikes the same place twice becomes lightning never strikes twice or lightning does not strike twice. Non-sentential idioms are classified into verbal idioms and verbless idioms. The latter are nominal, adjectival, and adverbial. Idioms whose main part is comprised of a noun are defined as nominal idioms, e.g. a windbag. Within a sentence, nominal idioms also serve as nouns (subjects, objects, and complements), e.g. I’m not like those so-called fair-weather friends of yours. Adjectival idioms, in turn, are generally composed of one or more adjectives and often fall under the influence of numerous stylistic devices such as alliteration, e.g. born and bred or free and easy, oxymoron, e.g. passive-aggres- sive, rhyme, e.g. high and dry, etc. Adverbial idioms, which constitute another type of verbless idioms, consist of one or more adverbs, e.g. on the never-never. These idioms often express timing as in the phrase as and when. Other types of verbless idioms include prepositional idioms, e.g. as at/on the stroke of something, interjectional idioms, e.g.
God knows!, and more.
The second type of non-sentential idioms is verbal idioms, which in terms of frequency are inferior only to nominal idioms. Following Tkachuk (2005: 63), not all idioms compris- ing a verb can be considered purely verbal. By way of example, considering its pragmatic functions, it is more appropriate to classify the aforementioned expression God knows! as an interjectional idiom even though it features a verb. Purely verbal idioms such as to pinch and scrape do not occur often. Instead, most verbal idioms consist of a predicate and object, e.g. to ride out/weather the storm or to cut no ice.
Idioms are often referred to as fixed or set expressions (Brown, Miller, 2013: 172), which means they are combinations of words that can only be altered in minor detail or cannot be altered at all. Consequently, alongside figurativity, idioms are characterised by another essential feature, namely conventionalisation, which represents the notion of idioms being lexicalised with fixed form and meanings (Piirainen, 2015: 18). Thus, the syntactic flexibility of idioms varies from absolute to zero (Glucksberg, 2001: 69). For example, there are idioms which are unable to substitute at least one of their constitu- ents or somehow alter their form. A case in point is frozen expressions (Brown, Miller, 2013: 172f). This term serves as an equivalent to fixed expression, with the difference that it is in some instances confined to combinations featuring words that do not appear
elsewhere. The idiom spick and span, denoting “a very tidy and clean place”, constitutes a frozen expression and a prime example of a fully inflexible idiom since the usage of its constituent spick is infrequent and limited only to the context of this idiom. In contrast, fully or partially flexible idioms can undergo several syntactic alternations depending on their context. For instance, the fully flexible idiom to weather the storm, which signifies “to continue to exist and not be harmed during a very difficult period”, features syntactic variations of tense and number, e.g. we’ve weathered many storms, adverbial modifica- tions, e.g. Becca’s clearly weathered the storm, adjectival modifications, e.g. to weather the political storm, word substitutions, e.g. to ride out the storm, etc. Other alternations include syntagmatic variants, e.g. to have my head in the clouds and to have your head in the clouds, and the substitution of a subject for a pronoun, e.g. Who let the cat out of the bag? It was undoubtedly let out by Ann, and more. In addition, syntactic flexibility of some idiom constituents is reflected in their active and passive forms (Glucksberg, 2001: 69). For instance, the idiom to break the ice, which means “to make people who have not met before feel more relaxed with each other”, can appear in both active and passive forms:
We played a couple of party games to break the ice (active).
Let us make something already that lets the ice be broken finally (passive).
Lastly, the syntactic flexibility of idioms may result from the process of idiomatic der- ivation and conversion, whereby an idiom’s word class changes (see: Tkachuk, 2005: 65).
Dictionaries provide non-idiomatic or idiomatic equivalents for idioms (Szpila, 2007: 348). Non-idiomatic equivalents serve as descriptive explanations of meanings of source language (SL) multiword units or appear in the form of literal translations into a target language (TL). This equivalent type is represented by dictionary definitions, which are discussed in the second part of this series devoted to the treatment of idioms in bilingual dictionaries. This section focuses on idiomatic equivalents, that is, when a SL idiomatic expression has a TL idiomatic variant. An example of idiomatic equivalence is the English idiom to be/feel under the weather with its Polish metaphorical analogue czuć się pod psem, both meaning “to feel sick”.
In order to assess the degree of idiom equivalence, the functionally oriented method- ological instrument developed by Dobrovol’skij and Piirainen (2005) can be applied. The authors distinguish two primary types of idiomatic non-equivalence3, according to which, many idioms either display similarity in terms of their images but differ in meanings or have identical meanings with differing images. Consequently, the functionally oriented analysis is needed to enable lexicographers to assemble a semantic, syntactic, and prag- matic profile of L1 and L2 idioms in question, which, in turn, will help to identify the
3 According to Svensén (2009: 202), metaphorical expressions can express the same, related or completely different ideas in L1 and L2.
best fitting TL equivalents used in analogous contexts (Szczepaniak, Adamska-Sałaciak, 2010: 73). It is worth mentioning that listing all contextual and translational TL equiva- lents does not constitute the purpose of the contrastive scrutiny and is unfeasible due to the limits caused by dictionary functions and target users. On the other hand, Svensén (2009: 198) recommends providing all the most frequent SL variants of idioms in dictio- naries intended for reception and translation from L2 to L1. For this reason, in addition to identifying TL equivalents, it is also key to examine SL idioms so that dictionary users are informed of their possible variation.
Polish equivalents for the English weather idioms were sourced from such paper dictionaries as Angielsko-polski słownik idiomów i zwrotów (Borkowski, 1986)4 and Współczesny słownik frazeologiczny (Fliciński, 2012)5, as well as such online resources as the Cambridge Dictionary website, ReversoContext website, Etutor website, and Bab.la website. Consulting these sources sometimes resulted in finding several possible equivalents for SL idioms. To identify the best option for inclusion in the future dictionary model of weather idioms, the functionally oriented analysis came in handy. As a result, for some English expressions, several Polish equivalents were chosen in case they were semantically appropriate and contextually relevant. A case in point is the Polish idioms oblewają/oblały kogoś siódme poty and coś mrozi/zmroziło komuś krew w żyłach that were both selected as equivalents for the English phrase to feel/go hot and cold (all over) defined as “to be in a state when someone or something shocks or makes you feel so nervous that your body is hot and cold at the same time”. Nevertheless, for most SL expressions solely one TL idiom was identified.
This section illustrates the process of idiom comparison by employing a detailed exam- ination of their semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic properties. It adopts the methodology from the study carried out by Szczepaniak and Adamska-Sałaciak (2010: 74ff), who incorporated the Conventional Figurative Language Theory (Dobrovol’skij, Piirainen, 2005) as well as certain components of Cognitive Metaphor Theory (Lakoff, Johnson, 1980). Nevertheless, instead of adopting the approaches to metaphors proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), this work uses the aforementioned semantic and syntactic typologies of idioms to identify differences and similarities the expressions under investigation dis- play. To simplify the examination, English phraseological typologies are applied to both English and Polish expressions6. Semantic scrutiny involves presenting and comparing idioms’ definitions, semantic categories, and mental images, that is, the interpretation of meanings. The syntactic review demonstrates grammatical categories, variations, and other words or phrases frequently accompanying idioms in question. The pragmatic analysis reveals their register, frequency, and illocutionary function. Then, relying on the obtained data, the objective is to define the degree of idiom equivalence. The analysis will be carried out on the idiom every cloud has a silver lining and its three possible Polish
4 An English-Polish dictionary of idioms and phrases.
5 The Modern Phraseological Dictionary.
6 For a detailed discussion of Polish phraseological typologies, see Skorupka (1967–1968), Lewicki and Paj- dzińska (2001), and Awramiuk, Frąckiewicz and Szerszunowicz (2017).
analogues nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło, szczęście w nieszczęściu, and po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce.
Semantics
The definition by the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (CCDI) is “something that you say, which means that there is something good even in an unpleasant situation”. Additionally, the CCDI records a related phrase every lining has a silver cloud: “every good or pleasant situation has an aspect which is bad and unpleasant”, which could be considered an antonym of the investigated idiom. By and large, the saying is widely known and present in the CIDI (1998), the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms (CCDI) (1995), A Dictionary of American Idioms (DAI) (2004), and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (MWD) (2004).
To draw a mental image of this idiom, it should be noted that it belongs to the group of phraseological unities, which are partially motivated idioms. In a figurative sense, cloud here refers to a problem or difficulty somebody is confronted with, whereas a silver lining plays the role of hope, a positive side or advantage to be taken from an unpleasant situation. A silver lining may be interpreted as lightning or a ray of sunlight piercing a dark cloud and destroying it from the inside. The phrase silver lining was coined by John Milton in his Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle (1634).
Syntax
This idiom is sentential. It appears in several forms in corpora available on English-Cor- pora.org:
Det + N + V + det + Adj + N: Every cloud has a silver lining.
V + det + Adj + N + Prep + det + N: There is a silver lining to every cloud.
Prep + det + N + (V)7 + det + Adj + N: For every cloud, a silver lining or Within
every cloud, there is a silver lining.
Similar to many sentential idioms, every cloud has a silver lining can be reduced to just a silver lining, thus transforming into a nominal idiom. In one of the variations above, namely, there is a silver lining to every cloud, the prepositional object every cloud can be substituted for a contextual adaptation. The corpus data reveals that the phrase all the delays appears in its place in the following sentence:
There was a silver lining to all the delays, at least from a test pilot’s perspective.
Pragmatics
Four corpora available on English-Corpora.org were inspected to identify the pragmatic properties of the idiom. Table 1 details the number of occurrences of the idiom every cloud has a silver lining and all its variations in each of these corpora.
7 The phrase for every cloud, a silver lining is missing the component there is.
Table 1. Occurrences of the idiom every cloud has a silver lining in four corpora
Corpus | Words | Data collection period | Occurrences |
News on the Web (NOW) | 18.1 billion+ | 2010-2023 | 684 |
The TV Corpus | 325 million | 1950-2018 | 37 |
The Movie Corpus | 200 million | 1930-2018 | 30 |
COCA | 1.0 billion | 1990-2019 | 29 |
Although the frequency of the expression in some corpora is low, previous corpus studies demonstrate that idioms are not typically frequent in general-language texts (Svensén, 2009: 191). For instance, a study conducted by Kjellmer (1996: 84ff) reveals that not all idioms commonly included in dictionaries may be present in contemporary corpora. For this reason, the expression every cloud has a silver lining should not be deemed infrequent, particularly as it is well-represented in dictionaries.
In terms of stylistic properties, the idiom may be encountered in formal as well as in informal contexts. Normally, the illocutionary function of the expression is to encourage a person who encounters challenges and is too insecure to address the issue:
Every cloud has a silver lining. You’re only 20. What do you know about life?
In addition, it can also be used to boost someone’s morale after something unpleasant has happened:
As the trip’s been cancelled, I’ll be able to go to the match this Saturday. Every cloud has a silver lining.
Semantics
A verbatim translation in English is “there is nothing bad that would not turn out to be good”. According to the website Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN (WSJP PAN)8, the phrase is used to say that “porażki życiowe i niesprzyjające sytuacje często prowadzą w rezultacie do korzystnych zmian”, which in English means “failures and unfavourable situations often result in positive changes”9.
Corpus data available on the website Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego10 reveals that the idiom occurs 766 times in total considering all its variations. The idiom is also commonly known and present in Słownik frazeologiczny języka polskiego11 (1967) and Angielsko-polski słownik idiomów i zwrotów (1986), as well as on the websites Słownik języka polskiego PWN12 and ReversoContext.
8 The Great Dictionary of the Polish Language PAN.
9 Unless otherwise stated, all translations of Polish definitions are provided by the author.
10 The National Corpus of the Polish Language.
11 The Phraseological Dictionary of the Polish Language.
12 The Dictionary of the Polish Language PWN.
The mental image of the expression demonstrates a soft transition from a bad situation towards something favourable. The saying belongs to the category of phraseological unities, also known as partially motivated idioms, hence its constituents złe (i.e. “bad”) and dobre (i.e. “good”) may be regarded as either actual or metaphorical depending on the context.
Syntax
This idiom is sentential and has a short form nie ma tego złego (i.e. “there is nothing bad”), which is followed by an ellipsis after a pause in speech. The words typically preceding the phrase are ale (i.e. “but”), z tego wynika (i.e. “this means that”), jednak (i.e. “however”), jak widać (i.e. “as can be seen”), może (i.e. “maybe”), etc.
Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło [neg (not) + V (there is) + det (that) + Adj (bad) + det (that) + modal V (would) + prep (on) + Adj (good) + neg (not) + V (come out)]
Nie ma tego złego… [neg (not) + V (there is) + det (that) + Adj (bad)]
An example of the shorter version of the idiom in context is the following:
Powiedziała do Zacharego – może nie ma tego złego... (i.e. “She said to Zachary – maybe there is nothing bad…”).
Pragmatics
In many examples, by downplaying issues emerging in the preceding context, the illocu- tionary function of the idiom is to create an optimistic contrast through the information that follows, which is shown in the sentence below:
Wracając z Modlina Kicki spadł z konia i złamał nogę. Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło: leżącego odwiedzała siostrzenica (i.e. “Returning from Modlin, Kicki fell off a horse and broke a leg. There is nothing bad that would not turn out to be good: the niece visited the weakened man”).
Semantics
A word-by-word translation into English is “happiness in unhappiness”. In Współczesny słownik frazeologiczny, the idiom is explained as “coś spowodowało lepszą interpretację jakiegoś negatywnie ocenianego wydarzenia, zdarzenia, niekorzystnej sytuacji, w której ktoś się znalazł”, that is, “something caused a positive interpretation of a netagively as- sessed event, occurence, or unfavourable situation in which someone found themselves”. Słownik frazeologiczny języka polskiego provides this idiom in the form of mieć szczęście w nieszczęściu, that is, “to have happiness in unhappiness”. The combined number of occurrences of the idiom’s variations in the Polish National Corpus equals 621.
The mental image of the idiom is produced through an oxymoron denoting the opposite notions of happiness and unhappiness, which seems to interact in two ways. First, happi- ness can be understood as one of the elements of the notion of unhappiness. The second interpretation presupposes that both elements share the same status and shift from one to the other. The idiom is partially motivated and, therefore, constitutes a phraseological
unity because it might be difficult to determine what exactly happiness and unhappiness are in certain contexts. Nevertheless, it can be partially inferred from the senses of its constituents.
Syntax
Unlike the previously analysed idioms, this expression functions as a nominal one. It is frequently followed by że (i.e. “that”). When separated by a full stop, it may be a separate sentence.
Szczęście w nieszczęściu [N (happiness) + Prep (in) + N (unhappiness)]
Mieć szczęście w nieszczęściu [V (have) + N (happiness) + Prep (in) + N (unhappiness)]
Pragmatics
Being neutral in style, this idiom seems to be characterised by the same function as the idiom Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło13. In addition, the inspection of con- cordance lines in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego revealed that in many sentences, the expression szczęście w nieszczęściu is used to mitigate serious health and life-threatening issues. The following sentence is a case in point:
To było szczęście w nieszczęściu. Wszystkim pasażerom, głównie dzieciom, udało się wyjść z płonącego autobusu, zanim cały pojazd stanął w ogniu (i.e. “It was happiness in unhappiness. All the passengers, mainly children, had managed to get out of the burning bus before the entire vehicle burst into flames”).
Semantics
An approximate English translation of this idiom is “after the storm, the sun (always) comes out”. Notably, this Polish expression is not found in any of the aforementioned sources except for Bab.la and ReversoContext websites, wherein its frequency is limited to appearing in two parallel corpora as a translation for Every cloud has a silver lining. For this reason, the CIDI definition “something that you say which means that there is something good even in an unpleasant situation” for the English idiom every cloud has a silver lining will be adopted to elucidate the meaning of po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce. This expression is also extremely infrequent as indicated by a total number of eight occurrences in the Polish National Corpus.
Being a phraseological unity, that is, a partially motivated idiom, it displays a mental image by and large similar to that of its English counterpart. However, unlike a silver lining, the idiom constituent słońce (i.e. “the sun”) does not affect the disappearance of negative circumstances represented by burza (i.e. “storm”), but rather seems to emerge after the peak of the storm, demonstrating thereby the inevitability of positive changes in life after a person endures the hard times.
13 Henceforward, sentential idioms will be written with a capital letter.
Syntax
This idiom is sentential, and a few sentences identified in the corpus indicate that it is followed by the phrases wiem, że (i.e. “I know that”), trzeba pamiętać, że (i.e. “one should remember that”), and powiem Ci, że (i.e. “I will tell you that”). In one sentence, the noun burza is substituted by the noun deszcz (i.e. “rain”), as well as in another example, the phrase i pojawia się tęcza (i.e. “and the rainbow appears”) is added at the end of the idiom.
Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce [Prep (after) + (N storm) + (Adv (always)) + V
(comes out) + N (sun)]
Po deszczu wychodzi słońce [Prep (after) + (N rain) + V (comes out) + N (sun)]
Po burzy wychodzi słońce i pojawia się tęcza [Prep (after) + (N storm) + V (comes out) + N (sun) + Conj (and) + N (rainbow) + V (appears)]
Pragmatics
Due to the limited contextual data and low frequency, it is difficult to identify all the pragmatic functions the idiom in question performs. What can certainly be stated is that the available examples demonstrate an idiomatic behaviour quite similar to that of the three previous idioms. Further scrutiny is needed to determine whether this idiom is more frequent in other general or specialised corpora and whether it constitutes a calque of an English or other language expression.
The previous section demonstrated semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic analysis of one English and three Polish idioms. This section, in turn, compares the idioms based on the descriptions that emerged as a result of the analysis. The aim is to select the most suitable Polish equivalent for the English idiom Every cloud has a silver lining based on similar semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic characteristics of these expressions.
Except for the nominal idiom szczęście w nieszczęściu, the remaining expressions share the sentential idiomatic class. Notably, in all of them, certain structural changes are possible, with the English one having the biggest number of variations according to the corpus data. Consequently, in terms of structure and syntax, szczęście w nieszczęściu seems to be the least suitable candidate for inclusion in the dictionary model.
As regards semantic criteria, all the idioms are partially motivated and possess a sim- ilar degree of figurativeness. The meanings of these expressions are slightly different, but still, a clear analogy may be drawn between them. Every cloud has a silver lining presupposes that notwithstanding involved difficulties, a certain situation can include positive aspects. Meanwhile, the Polish dictionaries explain Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło and szczęście w nieszczęściu as either referring to a negative event that leads to a more positive event or as a negative event that is interpreted more positively as a result of a subsequent event. On the other hand, suspected to be a calque of another language expression, Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce is not defined by any of the mentioned resources and, therefore, cannot be adequately assessed. Despite that, it is the only Polish idiomatic expression related to the topic of weather and just like the English idiom involves weather metaphors denoting ‘troubles’, ‘hope’, and ‘changes’. The Polish
idioms Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło and szczęście w nieszczęściu, by contrast, assign the notion of ‘good and bad’ as well as ‘happiness and unhappiness’ to favourable and unfavourable situations. As a result, even though in terms of senses and mental images, the idioms Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce and Every cloud has a silver lining possess a higher degree of semantic similarity, the aforesaid issues concerning the former idiom do not allow it to qualify for inclusion in the dictionary model. In turn, the remaining Polish idioms both fit the semantic criteria.
Relying on the corpus data, the main pragmatic function of the idioms Every cloud has a silver lining and Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce is to encourage and cheer somebody up in an unfavourable situation. The same applies to the idioms Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło and szczęście w nieszczęściu, but, in addition, they seem to be used slightly more often in a storytelling manner than the remainder. Given this, the corpus analysis revealed that the expression szczęście w nieszczęściu tends to illustrate contexts that involve health and life-threatening events, which is less characteristic of the other three phrases. Table 2 shows the frequencies of the analysed Polish idioms in Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego.
Table 2. Occurrences of the Polish idioms in the Polish National Corpus
Corpus search engine | Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło | Szczęście w nieszczęściu | Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce |
PELCRA search engine: The Full Corpus | 766 | 621 | 8 |
At first glance, it certainly can be said that Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce falls out of the race for inclusion in the dictionary model due to the extremely small number of occurrences. The most frequent is Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło. However, comparing it with szczęście w nieszczęściu, it does not produce a radical difference in frequencies. By taking into account all the details of this scrutiny, the idiom Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło will be selected as a primary equivalent for the English idiom in the future dictionary model. The same decision was taken by Borkowski who provided these L1 and L2 expressions as equivalents in his Angielsko-polski słownik idiomów i zwrotów (1986: 35). Nevertheless, unlike in Borkowski’s work, the second equivalent szczęście w nieszczęściu will likewise be added to the entry. Besides slightly lower frequency, the reason this idiom was not included in the first place is directly related to its distinct syntactic class and frequent usage in contexts of hazardous situations. These issues certainly do not mean that it cannot be treated as an equivalent of the English idiom, but the pragmatic factor, which plays an important role, especially in language production, makes it less fitting compared to the primary Polish equivalent. As regards the expression Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce, it will not be mentioned in the dictionary model since more linguistic data is required to track its origin and determine its actual usage.
An idiom is a figurative lexical unit whose meaning is different from the individual mean- ings of each word it is composed of, with its linguistic or literal meaning differing from the idiomatic or metaphorical one. Bilingual dictionaries may provide either idiomatic or non-idiomatic equivalents of idioms. The former constitute TL idiomatic equivalents, while the latter tend to appear in the form of definitions or TL non-idiomatic translations. In this article, the degree of idiomatic equivalence of TL and SL idioms was assessed through ‘a’ thorough analysis that compared semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic proper- ties of idioms by adopting some elements from the study conducted by Szczepaniak and Adamska-Sałaciak (2010). In addition, English semantic and syntactic idiom categories discussed in the present work were used in the analysis. As a result, for the sentential English idiom Every cloud has a silver lining, two Polish equivalents were identified, namely Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło as a primary equivalent and szczęście w nieszczęściu as a secondary one. The third Polish idiom Po burzy (zawsze) wychodzi słońce was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the dictionary model. Furthermore, the same comparative procedure was applied to other 34 English weather idioms selected for the dictionary model, thus yielding a total of 30 Polish idiomatic equivalents. Notably, though figurative, mental images of these Polish equivalents are not always related to the topic of weather conditions.
The method presented in this article proved useful in identifying TL idioms to be
included in a dictionary. By taking into account their semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic properties, it allows researchers to comprehensively assess the degree of idiom equiva- lence rather than selecting TL idioms based only on similarities according to one of these parameters. In particular, several TL idioms may be similar in meaning but differ in their actual contextual usage or belong to different syntactic categories, e.g. nominal versus sentential, which might also indicate possible differences in their pragmatic functions. The same applies to images of SL and TL idioms, which despite superficial differences regarding their individual components may be used in similar or identical contexts. Conse- quently, when combining and comparing all these parameters, one of the TL idioms would bear more resemblance to an SL phrase and should be regarded as a primary equivalent. Importantly, as this research indicated, occasionally SL idioms may have more than one TL variant, with one of the TL expressions being more closely related to the SL phrase or both sharing a similar status.
The second part of this series deals with the lexicographic representation of idioms in the English-Polish dictionary model of weather idioms, discussing macrostructural, medi- ostructural, and microstructural issues of compiling the learner dictionary of idioms. The series culminates in model entries featuring English and Polish idioms selected through the analysis illustrated in this article.
Awramiuk E., Frąckiewicz M.K., Szerszunowicz J. (2017), Frazeologia w kształceniu języ- kowym, Białystok: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku.
Brown K., Miller J. (eds.) (2013), The Cambridge Dictionary of Linguistics, New York: Cambridge University Press, doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139049412
Borkowski P. (ed.) (1986), Angielsko-polski słownik idiomów i zwrotów, Poznań: Wydawnic- two Naukowe UAM.
Dobrovol’skij D., Piirainen E. (2005), Figurative language: Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives, Amsterdam: Elsevier, doi: 10.1515/9783110702538
Fliciński P. (ed.) (2012), Współczesny słownik frazeologiczny, Poznań: Wydawnictwo IBIS, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28762.08643
Glucksberg S. (2001), Understanding Figurative Language, New York: Oxford University Press, doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195111095.001.0001
Kjellmer G. (1996), Idiomen, kollokationerna och lexikonet, “LexicoNordica”, no. 3, pp. 79–91. Kvetko P. (1999), Anglická frazeológia v teórii a praxi, Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského. Lakoff G., Johnson M. (1980), Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lewicki A.M., Pajdzińska A. (2001), Frazeologia, [in:] J. Bartmiński (ed.), Współczesny język polski, Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS, pp. 315–334.
Makkai A., Boatner M.T., Gates J.E. (eds.) (2004), A Dictionary of American Idioms, (4th edition), Hauppauge: Barrons Educational Series.
Milton J. (1634), Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, London: Humphrey Robinson. Mish F.C. (ed.) (2004), The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Springfield: Merriam-Webster.
Piirainen E. (2015), Widespread idioms in Europe and beyond. New insights into figurative language, [in:] J. Szerszunowicz, B. Nowowiejski, P. Ishida, K. Yagi (eds.), Intercontinental Dialogue on Phraseology, Linguo-Cultural Research on Phraseology, v. III, Białystok: Wy- dawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku, pp. 17–19.
Seidl J., McMordie W. (1978, 1988), English Idioms and How to Use Them, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sinclair J. (ed.) (1995), Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms, Birmingham: Collins Cobuild.
Skorupka S. (ed.) (1967–1968), Słownik frazeologiczny języka polskiego, v. I–II, Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna.
Svensén B. (2009), A Handbook of Lexicography. The Theory and Practice of Dictionary-Ma- king, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Szczepaniak R., Adamska-Sałaciak A. (2010), Telling it straight: a comparison of selected English and Polish idioms from the semantic field of speaking, “Studia Anglica Posnaniensia”, no. 46/1, pp. 71–93, doi: 10.2478/v10121-009-0029-y
Szpila G. (2007), Idiomaticity in contemporary English-Polish idiom dictionaries, [in:] M. Ne- nonen, S. Niemi (eds.), Collocations and idioms 1. Papers from the First Nordic Conference on Syntactic Freezes, Joensuu: Joensuun yliopisto, pp. 342–353.
Tkachuk T. (2005), Idioms inside out: money in English idioms, “Brno studies in English”,
v. 31(1), pp. 63–72.
Waiter E. (ed.) (1998), Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Internet Sources
Bab.la, https://en.bab.la/ [accessed: 5.11.2023].
English-Corpora.org, https://www.english-corpora.org/ [accessed: 7.11.2023]. Etutor, https://www.etutor.pl/ [accessed: 4.11.2023].
NKJP: Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego, http://nkjp.pl/ [accessed: 7.11.2023]. ReversoContext webiste, https://context.reverso.net/translation/ [accessed: 7.11.2023]. Słownik języka polskiego PWN, https://sjp.pwn.pl/ [accessed: 5.11.2023].
The Cambridge Dictionary website, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ [accessed: 4.11.2023]. Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN, https://wsjp.pl/ [accessed: 7.11.2023].
Ten utwór jest dostępny na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa-Na tych samych warunkach 4.0 Międzynarodowe.