Elisabeth Piirainen - Böcker

This groundbreaking book in theoretical and empirical phraseology research looks at Europe’s linguistic situation as a whole, including 74 European and 17 non-European languages. The occurrence of idioms that actually share the same lexical and semantic structure across a large number of languages has never been demonstrated so clearly before Widespread Idioms in Europe and Beyond. This book answers significant questions regarding hitherto vague ideas about the phraseological similarities between European languages and their cultural foundation, ranging from intertextuality, aspects of European mental, material, and social culture, to culturally based perception of natural phenomena. This inventory, which analyzes 190 out of a total of 380 widespread idioms and includes maps, is valuable for academic teaching and further research in the fields of phraseology and figurative language, areal and contact linguistics, and European cultural studies.

The book continues the work of Widespread Idioms in Europe and Beyond (2012) and also brings new insights into the similarities of the European languages. Using comprehensive data from 78 European and some non-European languages, another 280 “widespread idioms” have been analyzed in terms of their distribution and origins. They are arranged according to their source domains (for example, performing arts, sports, history, war, technology, money, folk belief, medical skills, gestures, and nature). Among them are very modern layers of a common figurative lexicon, including quotes of personalities of recent times. Thorough research on the sources of these idioms goes beyond the entries in relevant reference works and brings new and unpredictable results. All of the data in this book adds new knowledge to the fields of language and culture. We now know which Europe-wide common idioms actually constitute a “Lexicon of Common Figurative Units” and which chronological and cultural layers they may be assigned to. The question about the causes of the wide spread of idioms across many languages now can partly be answered.

The book develops a Theory of the Figurative Lexicon. Units of the figurative lexicon (conventional figurative units, CFUs for short) differ from all other elements of the language in two points: Firstly, they are conventionalized. That is, they are elements of the mental lexicon – in contrast to freely created figurative expressions. Secondly, they consist of two conceptual levels: they can be interpreted at the level of their literal reading and at the level of their figurative meaning – which both can be activated simultaneously.New insights into the Theory of Figurative Lexicon relate, on the one hand, to the metaphor theory. Over time, it became increasingly clear that the Conceptual Metaphor Theory in the sense of Lakoff can only partly explain the conventional figurativeness. On the other hand, it became clear that “intertextuality” plays a far greater role in the CFUs of Western cultures than previously assumed.The book’s main target audience will be linguists, researchers in phraseology, paremiology and metaphor, and cultural studies. The data and explanations of the idioms will provide a welcome textbook in courses on linguistics, culture history, phraseology research and phraseodidactics.

The existence of formulaic patterns has been attested to all languages of the world. However, systematic research in this field has been focused on only a few European standard languages with a rich literary tradition and a high degree of written norm. It was on the basis of these data that the theoretical framework and methodological approaches were developed.The volume shifts this focus by centering the investigation on new data, including data from lesser-used languages and dialects, extra-european languages, linguistic varieties mostly used in spoken domains as well as at previous historical stages of language development. Their inclusion challenges the existing postulates at both a theoretical and methodological level.Areas of interest include the following questions: What is formulaic in these types of languages, varieties and dialects? Are the criteria developed within the framework of phraseological research applicable to new data? Can any specific types of formulaic patterns and/or any specific features of regular (already known) types of formulaic patterns be observed and how do they emerge? What methodological difficulties need to be overcome when dealing with new data?

The existence of formulaic patterns has been attested to all languages of the world. However, systematic research in this field has been focused on only a few European standard languages with a rich literary tradition and a high degree of written norm. It was on the basis of these data that the theoretical framework and methodological approaches were developed.The volume shifts this focus by centering the investigation on new data, including data from lesser-used languages and dialects, extra-european languages, linguistic varieties mostly used in spoken domains as well as at previous historical stages of language development. Their inclusion challenges the existing postulates at both a theoretical and methodological level.Areas of interest include the following questions: What is formulaic in these types of languages, varieties and dialects? Are the criteria developed within the framework of phraseological research applicable to new data? Can any specific types of formulaic patterns and/or any specific features of regular (already known) types of formulaic patterns be observed and how do they emerge? What methodological difficulties need to be overcome when dealing with new data?