Historical phraseologism

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A historical phraseologism is subject to the same conditions as a contemporary phraseologism . As a sub-discipline of phraseology, historical phraseology deals with these ancient idioms - some of which have survived to the present day.

features

The historical phraseologisms are subject to the same defining characteristics as the contemporary phraseologisms, namely polylexicality, stability and idiomaticity.

  • Polylexicality means that phraseologism must consist of more than one word.
  • Firmness means that phraseologism must show a relative immutability in the word combination.
  • Idiomaticity means that phraseologism has a (partially) figurative meaning.

historicity

While contemporary phraseologisms are readily understood by most speakers in a linguistic community, historical phraseologisms have thresholds of understanding up to the present day, but also between epochs. The identification, classification and presentation of historical phraseologisms can only ever be done with reservations. It is hardly possible to fix the exact point at which a phraseologism emerged.

Idioms and collocations arise from the initial use of a word combination, which then becomes a recurring element. Identifying such a development in historical language levels is often difficult.

The development and evaluation of phraseology behaves differently in contemporary history in terms of both quality and quantity . Epochs arise in which one branch of phraseology is special and another less productive. The reasons for this can be internal as well as external cultural influences. In phases like humanism, other languages ​​(here Latin ) donate areas that are suitable for expanding phraseology, especially since (partial) adoption into one's own language is particularly good. Within culture, it is always innovations at a certain point in time ( industrial revolution , modern sports) that offer space for the expansion of phraseology in their specialist language area.

The use of electronic media turns out to be very helpful for the problem of getting a better grip on historicity. Databases such as the “Middle High German Term Database” or the “Middle High German Dictionaries” are just two examples of the constantly growing range.

Evidence for historical phraseologisms

In order for a word combination in historical texts to be identified as phraseologism, some clues have to be sifted (based on Jesko 2006).

Metalinguistic references in the text: nd. Man sait ('one says') and the like are relatively clear references to phraseologicity in historical texts.

Contemporary language equivalents: If a word combination is equivalent to a contemporary language phraseologism, it is very likely phraseological.

Meaning transfer: The more distant the overall meaning of the word combination is from its individual components, the more likely it is a phraseologism.

Frequency: Recurring phrases are another indication of historical phraseologisms.

Communicative functions: Communicative acts such as greeting, saying goodbye and thanking you as a ritualized component of communication situations refer to routine formulas.

Categories of phraseologisms

(based on burger)

Proverb :
References to basic human experiences, which are consolidated in a specific formulation ( what Hans doesn't learn, Hans never learns again ).
Ex .: mhd. No one nemac have served two masters (“no one can serve two masters”)
Ex .: nhd. Carry the heart in hand (like “ carry the heart on the tongue”)

Common places:
formulate things that are taken for granted and are often used to justify possible situations (
what must be, must be ). E.g
.: mhd. Twêne are one thing ("two are always superior to one")
E.g .: nhd. Day is when the tap doesn't crow ("time doesn't stand still")

Modeling:
have a structural scheme to which a constant semantic interpretation is assigned, whereby the lexical components can be freely assigned ( glass by glass, from city to city ).
Example: mhd. Hût umb hût (to give) (like "an eye for an eye")
Example: nhd. Now and then (still unequal to at least now and then)

Twin formulas:
two words of the same part of speech or twice the same word are combined with a conjunction or preposition ( klipp and clear, thick and bold ).
Ex .: mhd. Hërze unde munt ('with all my heart; intimately')
Ex .: nhd. Hand (s) and füsz (e) ('effectively set up')

Comparative phraseologisms:
contain a fixed comparison ( stupid as bean straw ).
Example: mhd. Vehten as a lewe ("fight like a lion")
Example: dark as night (as "dark as night")

Kinegrams :
In these, conventionalized non-verbal behavior is recorded and coded ( turning up one's nose ). E.g .
: mhd. Umbe den neck vallen ('hug sb . (Stormy)')
ex .: nhd. Avert the eyes / the gaze ('ignore something / sb.')

Winged words :
These are word combinations that are consolidated through their appearance in books, films, advertising, etc. ( not always, but more and more often ).
Ex .: mhd. Who out of sight, who out of the muet
Ex .: nhd. Vil word little heart

Somatisms :
In somatisms, one part of the body usually stands for the whole person. According to their structure, they belong to metonymy ( a clever mind ).
E.g
.: (sb.) From vuoȝe ûf wâpenen ('completely arming / arming sb .')
E.g .: (clever,) intelligent head ('clever person')

Routine formulas:
With the help of routine formulas, recurring communicative actions that can be called “communicative routines” (I think as far as I know) are mastered.
Example: mhd. Wave got (expression of the wish; 'if so')
Example: nhd. To thank sb. ('Feel / be obliged to sb.')

literature

  • Harald Burger: Phraseology. An introduction using the example of German. 4., rework. Edition (= basics of German studies. 36). Schmidt, Berlin 2010.
  • Harald Burger, Angelika Linke: Historical Phraseology. In: Werner Besch, Anne Betten, Oskar Reichmann, Stefan Sonderegger (eds.): History of language. A handbook on the history of the German language and its research. 1st part, 2nd edition DeGruyter, Berlin, New York 1998, pp. 743-755.
  • Jesko Friedrich: Historical Phraseology of German. In: Harald Burger (Ed.): Phraseology. An international handbook of contemporary research (= handbooks for language and communication studies. 28), 2 volumes. Berlin, New York 2007, pp. 1092-1106.
  • Jesko Friedrich: Phraseological dictionary of Middle High German. Sayings, proverbs and other fixed word combinations in texts from 1050–1350 (= series Germanistische Linguistik. 264), Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006.
  • phrase. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 13 : N, O, P, Q - (VII). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1889, Sp. 1834 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
  • Wernfried Hofmeister: "Mich nimt des michel wunder" - New technique (s) for the text-functional and translation-practical development of historical phraseologisms, illustrated by the 'Nibelungenlied' and Neidhart's summer song 21. In: Ralf Plate, Martin Schubert (Ed.): Middle High German. Contributions to tradition, language and literature. Festschrift for Kurt Gärtner on his 75th birthday. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2011.
  • Horst Haider Munske: How do phraseologisms arise? In: Klaus J. Mattheier, Klaus-Peter Wegera, Walter Hoffman, Jürgen Macha, Hans-Joachim Solms (eds.): Diversity of German. Festschrift for Werner Besch. Frankfurt a. M. 1993, ISBN 3-631-45862-2 , pp. 481-515.
  • Norbert H. Ott: proverb, proverb collection. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages. Volume 7, 1999, pp. 2135-2139.

Individual evidence

  1. Harald Burger: Phraseology. An introduction using the example of German. 4., rework. Edition (= basics of German studies. 36). Schmidt, Berlin 2010, p. 14 ff.
  2. ^ Jesko Friedrich: Phraseological dictionary of Middle High German. Sayings, proverbs and other fixed word combinations in texts from 1050-1350 (= series Germanistische Linguistik. 264), Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006, p. 15 ff.
  3. a b Harald Burger: Phraseology. An introduction using the example of German. 4., rework. Edition (= basics of German studies. 36). Schmidt, Berlin 2010, p. 129 ff.
  4. Wernfried Hofmeister: "Mich nimt des michel wunder" - New technique (s) for the text-functional and translation-practical development of historical phraseologisms, illustrated by the 'Nibelungenlied' and Neidhart's summer song 21. In: Ralf Plate, Martin Schubert (Ed.): Mittelhochdeutsch. Contributions to tradition, language and literature. Festschrift for Kurt Gärtner on his 75th birthday. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2011, p. 394.
  5. ^ Jesko Friedrich: Phraseological dictionary of Middle High German. Sayings, proverbs and other fixed word combinations in texts from 1050-1350 (= series Germanistische Linguistik. 264), Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006, p. 15 ff.
  6. Harald Burger: Phraseology. An introduction using the example of German. 4., rework. Edition (= basics of German studies. 36). Schmidt, Berlin 2010, pp. 41 ff., 106 ff.