e'J'F

Sruplss rr Lnncuecrs 41Faculty of Humanities, University of Joensuu

ConocATroNS AND Iotorvrs I

Papers from ihe First Nordic Conferenceon Syntactic Freezes

Joensuu, May 19-20, 2006

Editors: Marja Nenonen and Sinikka Niemi

JOENSUU 2OO7

Grzegorz SzpilaJagiel I onitln Universitv, Krakiw

Idiomaticity in contemporary English-Polishidiom dictionaries

l. lntroduction

The I990s in Poland witncsscd a great lcxicographic boorn as lar as dictionarics ofEnglish idioms were concemed. This rnay be cxplained, firstly, by thc fact that on

the Polish book rnarket, previously dorninatcd exclusivcly by state-ownedpublishing houscs, there appearcd many publishers who had morc frccdotn in thcirchoice of publications, and sccondly, by a growing necd (of thc Polish audiencc)for idiorn dictionarics crcatcd by thc introduction of thc English languagc intoPolish schools at all lcvels as thc rnain forcign language taught thcrcin. Thcrcfbrc.idiorn dictionarics may bc sccn as practical tools that could bc uscd by tcachers and

studcnts, as wcll as all typcs of translators and interpretcrs, to whotn thc political,cconomic and cultural changes offercd unpreccdcntcd opportunitics. Last but notleast, the publication of many idiom dictionarics may bc a rcflcction of thctheoretical intcrest in English phrascology in contrast with Polish phrascology,which, however, and somcwhat surprisingly, is relatively narrow in cornparisonwith othcr languagcs. Dcspitc this fact, howcvcr, English-Polish dictionarics ofidioms by far outnumber thc cxisting dictionarics of idiorns in othcr languagcs.

For almost a dccade now thc author has bccn obscr-ving thc dcvclopnrcnt ofEnglish-Polish and Polish-English idiorns dictionary rnaking, which has rcsultcd inmany rcviews of the dictionarics of idiorns as rvcll as of gcncral-purposc English-Polish and Polish-English dictionarics (cL Szpila 2000a-c, 2002a, 2003. 2004,2005). To boot thc author has also tnanagcd to oflcr an ovcrvicrv of idiorndictionarics in Poland in thc last dccadc of thc prcvious ccntury (Szpila 2002b).Thc author's obseryations could bc sumtnarizcd as tbllows (and thcsc arc only thc

rnost vital points): thc English-Polish dictionarics of English idiorns nccd to spccify

thcir airn of idi.rn presentation; they have to define trreir uscrs; they have tobased.on a crcar principre of idioms "trrrin"ution; they have to select the materaccording to the clcarly spccificd critcria of idioms; thcy have to considcr a chmacrostlucturc; they have to pay duc lrccd to providing'suituur"lluirui"ntr;

tr-,have to cover t'c poryscrnous naturc of idiomi, as welr as to address the questiof false phrascorogicar ,cquivarcncc ara to f.ouiae appropriate quarifiers (Szp2002b: 357). Thc nurnbei of trre postulotci in<ticates tlrat there is much toimprovcd in thc sprrcrc of English-pori.r-, iJir"r dictionaries. Moreover, the autrhas also noticcd that trre idlom dictionuri*'r.ur"r""d morc often than not iqualitativcry infi:rior to gcncrar-purposc dictionarics in prescnting idioms (szpila 2004)' In addition, it has also u.", ou..*"a that as iar as the?escriptionE.glish and Porisrr prrrascorogy in dictionarics is conccmcd, rnost dictionarrsclcct English as thc sourcc

languagc. or, i; ;r,;"" of the l9 dictionarics of idiorthat.have bccn publisrrcd sinci tISz ;n'p;irr,r do porish idioms constirure tlntrigs_'

(tpA, SFZA, pAS1, one of *fr*fr- ir'both English_polish and polisEnglish. Although in this discussion trre *tt o, *ilt .on..itrot.

"*"ruri,.ry on ,English-Polish dictionaries,.rrc is, however, goi"g a rnake passing comments abothc Polish-English idiorns dictionarics o, *"i1. '

As a number of reviews of rcccnt idiorns dictionaries have arready been writtcn,rvhich t,e dctailed rexicographic prcsentation oiliio*. cmproyed in the lexiconsoffcrcd and bccause an overview or the Engris;-porish rexicography has as wrbecn proposcd, in this report the author rvouid iik" ,o fo.u, on -on"

,.r"uunt urp.only, to wit on thc conccpt of idiornaticity una i,r handring in the idiom rexicorundcr scrutiny' Thc followinq tyo points ur" going to beiiscussca,'tt" typ.r,idiornatic exprcssions pr.r"ni"d in the Engliili-potirt idiom dictionaries und,scrutiny, and the idiornaticity olthc polish "q"riuut"n,r.

TJrc. following rernarks arc not to be treatcd as a review of a, or one of tldictionarics' Also onry trrosc aspccts of idionraticity which surface in u, unotyrr, ,thc chosen dictionarics will be discusscd.

2. Concept of idiomaticity

Thc tcrrrr idiomotit'itv is borrowed fro, Fcma,d o (1996:30-3r), who undcrstandit as thc habituar .o-o.",,,r.n.. of spccific wor.rs in a language. Exprcssions wrric

GRzsconz Szpre

' All thc dictionarics refbrrcd to in this papcr are ristcd in the Rererences. In the runnintcxt thcir abbrcviations arc uscti.

344 lotoHaerlclrY lN coNTEMPo

exemplify idiomaticity are called idiomatic' and conscquently they are callcd

icliomaticexpressionsorconventionalizedmttltiwordexpression.s(Fcmandol996:37),tcrmswhichareuscdasumbrcllanamcsforbothidiomsandlrabitualcollocations, into which ult pn'u"otogical units can bc roughly dividcd' Fcrnando

(1996: 32) dividcs idiorns and colloca-tions into scvcral groups dcpcnding on thcir

variancc and sernantics. This division will bc uscd in this discussion as it covcrs a

widc rangc of phrascological units'

Idiornaticity rnay be also understood diffcrcntly' for cxamplc as "what tnakcs thc

cxprcssio.s in a langua!.-rouna appropriaie, and natural in that languagc"

a$;;t;;t, 1996: l). th.Ir" u'" t*o iitl"t of tlrc samc coin' as what co-occttrs

habitually in a language constitutcs at the samc time a group ol institutionalizcd

.*pr"rrion, whichlre accepted by th:.:p::ch cotntnunity mcmbcrs-as. thc tnost

natural modc of linguistic expressitn. This "sccond" undcrstanding of idiomaticity

is rncntioned here as it *iii f" relevant in the description of this charactcristic of

ialo,ruti. cxprcssions in the dictionaries in the present analysis. Naturally, thc tcrm

idiomaricitymayberi.*.aasalinguisticphenomenondcscribedbyanumbcrofcomplcrncntary fu.torc t.i' Cowie, ilackin' and McCaig 1983: xii' Moon 1998: 6-

S, fi'""t" 200i: 3a). ldiomaticity'is treated hcrc in a broadcr scnsc than in somc

oili., opp.ou.t",., to.pt1.ur.ology: narnely'.thc term does not rcfcr cxclusivcly to a

featurc of idioms uton. l-tn.#'semantii inegularity (Dobrovol'skij and Piiraincn

2005:31),nordoesitrefertoafeatureofmetaphorical/figurativc._idiornatic-exprcssions (Gibbs l99a: iOS ff.l. This broa. appioach to idiomaticity, whcrcby it

refcrs to a feature of uff froUitruf word combinations' is justificd by the.character.of

the lcxicons of idiorns ,rJ". ,l*ti"v. The dictionaries do .ot covcr idiorns only,

butbotlrintheEnglishonaporu,componenttheycontainexprcssionswhichcanonly bc callcd word combinations, whiih are ,o.L o. lcss t-rxcd, and thcrcforc thc

understanding of iaiorruti.iiy a4opted hcrc best dcscribcs thc phcnotncnon' The

term idiontati"il-v u, ,r"J iui*of fV "*U*ccs

"the traditional and most widcsprcad

definition,, of it (Rodrifu"*i;ruafiluga 2004..492) as^a.rnismatch bctrvccn thc

form an<I rncaning br;;;y ;t a feui"t of sornc of thc exprcssions labclcd

idiomatic in the scnsc adopted herc'

3. Idiomaticity and idiom dictionaries

3.1. Itliont and idiom dictionaries

As idiomaticity charactcrizcs all idioms and ad<litionally collocations, it should bc

thccharactcristicfcaturcofthecxprcssionsprcscntcdirrthcdictionaricsandtlris

Gnzuconz Szptl-.q,

fcaturc of multiword cxpressions (called idiomaticity or otherwisc) could be chosas a sine qua non in the selection of the material for lexicographic description. Owould think it should be so as most English-Polish dictionaries discusscd here (lspccify in thcir titlc that thcy covcr English idioms, which are a subgroupidiornatic cxprcssions in English which arc characterizcd not only by idiomaticbut also by invariancc of forrn or lcstrictcd variation within thcir lcxical a

grarnrnatical componcnt structure (Fernando, 1996: 3l).r It is useful at this pointscc whcthcr thc authors ofthe dictionaries lrave chosen the tcrm consciously, thatto say, wltcthcr thc matcrial sclcctcd corrcsponds to the abovc definition of idior(idiornaticity, invariance, rcstricted variation), or pcrchance the selcction accorwith any dct'inition of tl.rc cxprcssions they cover either of thc authors' makingas a rcflcction of thc vicws ol phrascologists (nonc of thc authors isphraseologist).

Of the 16 dictionaries, 7 dictionaries (SIAM, SPPSIA, IAI, ll, SIAAZ, PSIA, IlTSIZtn do not contain any information on the phraseological or idiomatic statusthc entries. In this case we can only spcculate about the theoretical basis of t

sclection by means of analyzing the matcrial included and describe its range a

characteristic features. In the case of the remaining 9 dictionaries, thintroductions are cithcr limited to the tenninological cnurneration of the matercontaincd thcrcin or dcsigned to elaboratc as far as it is possible on the naturewhat thcy call idiorns or whatcver thcy include as dictionary entries. Some st.

that thcy do not includc phrasal verbs (lPS1, SIA, APSIZ), or that thcy incltprovcrbs, aplrorisms and sayings (APSI, SAIUZIP, S1l). Othcrs, on the other harnarne various kinds of rnultiword expressions, suclr as phrasal verbs, compounsayings and proverbs, and refcr to thcm as idioms (lAWPZl. One dictionary lionly idiomatic comparisons and similes (Ll000lA). Others are more explicitrcgards the naturc of thc entries by trying to provide at least some descriptiontlrcir clraracteristic fcatures. Two (IAWPZ, NAPSI4 specifli that the expressirthcy dcscribc (idioms) are scmantically dcviant, illogical and grammaticapcculiar sh'ucturcs which do not lcnd themselves easily to translation into anotllanguagc. Only one dictionary (S1l) aspires to havc a theorctical introductionwhiclr tlrc tcrm idiom. which covcrs idiorns and habitual collocations in Femandtcrrninology, is dcfincd and its subclasscs cnumcrated and exemplified. In t

I TIrc rcnuirring 4 dictionaries includc in thcir titles such terms as "fixed expressior(,4PYZ. SAIUZIP. TSIZI\ or "sayings" (TSIZln. Onc lcxicon (SFAPPA) is calle<phraseological dictionary, a namc which is uncommon, if used at all, in the dcscriptionEnglish idioms in English rnonolingual dictionaries. The lattcr dictionary is an cxtcnsionSlunik .fiu:eologic:tr.r' polsko-ongielski by thc same author of 1999, in which case thc t

could bcjustilicd by thc fact that thc Polish idiornatic expressions arc described typicalllwhat is callcd in Poland a phraseological dictionary glovnik./iozeologiczn)

'lt

346 Iorouaucrry rN coNTEMpoRARv ENr;lrsH-Por-rsr-r rDroM DrcrroNARrrrs

publication, howcvcr, onc tcnn covcrs all tlrc convcntionalizcd nrultiwordcxpressions. Additionally, yct anothcr dictionary (SFAPPA) uscs thc wcll-cstablishcd Polish tcnninology of rnultiword exprcssions and applics it to Englishphrascology.

It could bc said that thc tcnn idiom, crnploycd in the majority of thc dictionarics as

thc principlc and working tcnn for thc sclectcd and prcscnted rnatcrial, is uscd

cithcr without any rlualification, as iIits undcrstanding wcrc takcn for grantcd, or iscrnploycd to covcr a numbcr of diffcrcnt typcs of rnultiword cxprcssions. Onc thingthat all tlrc dictionarics sccrn to suggcst with rcfcrencc to thc tcnn itliomis that it isa conrbination ol at lcast two words, which is gcncrally an unqucstionablc lcaturcof itlionratic cxprcssions.

3.2. Types of idiomatic expressions and idiom dictionaries

Whcn wc look at the matcrial selccted, spccifically thc hcadwords in thcdictionarics, we can casily sce a widc spcchurn of multiword cxprcssions. Wc can

noticc that thc majority of thcse exprcssions could bc classificd as idiorns inFcmando's undcrstanding, for cxarnplc, cull u sputle o spaclc, go olf ul u tongent(APSI\. blow hot and cold, att someone to the quick (SlA\, leove someone in thelurt'h. pttt someone thtough lheir perces (SPPSll), chev'the rag, pul a hug in

somcone'.s eur (SIAlv'[), weur the pants, greosesonrconeis pulnr (NSIAP), olJ the

c'tt//, house o.f God (PSIA),.flirt u'ith clange4.fi"om cover to cover (APSt), to givc a

fcw exarnples of non-litcral and scrni-litcral idionrs. ln thc classification ofFcmando, thc idiorns includc also litcral idioms of various typcs. rvhich alsofunction as headwords ir-r thc dictionaries undcr discussion, for cxarnplc: conlru(litt. us long as (NSIAP), here we go ugain,./br (ertLtin (APSI).

Thc distinction bctwcen literal idiorns and habitual collocations is by no mcans

clcar-cut and thc only rcliablc critcrion hcre can bc variancc, wlrich in thc casc ofidiorns, both litcral and non-litcral, is ahvays rcstrictcd. Habitual collocalions shorv

cithcr rcstricted or unrcstrictcd variancc. Thcrcfolc, in the dictionarics thc rratcrialdescribcd has to bc morc olicn than not assigncd arbitrarily to cithcr group.Habitual collocations could bc rcprcscntcd by thc following cxatnplcs: tlevelop o

tuste .fbr sth, practic'al joke (NAPS14, level un uccusution ul sot,tcone, go ott un

erruncl (TSIZPV\. But it rnust bc said that thc dictionarics do not ahvays indicatcrcstricted or limitcd variancc of habitual collocations. In thc rnain, it could bc said

that thc dictionarics undcr analysis covcr prcdomir.rantly thc idiorn group ofidiornatic n.rultiword cxprcssions with pcrhaps onc cxccptiou. narncly TSIZIV,

GRztconz Szpta - 34

which, considcring its scope_of matcrial (ovcr 25,000 entries), covers cxtcnsivcrall rnanncr of cxprcssions, irabitual ".li;.;;;;, included.

The periphcra' "r"o "1.]-o]__.]naticity

covers prcpositionar verbs and monotranstivverbs with optional ercments whiir can be'dropped (Fernanao r996: 32). To thigroup belong such expressions.as abstrtin fri,n, d"r"top inro(i-om, shrug one.tlrcttldar.s and c.ltry onels hand.s tp"_rnaolr' "xarnples;.

yct"anotircr group ip.rasal vcrbs, w'ich, howcvcr, "l;ry;;;i;"their particle. These abound in thdictionarics discusscd, indecd some

"'rirr.'"'r.rroc more phrasar verbs than othcrypes of multiwod cxpressions (tAWp^. p"*unao says (rgg6: 42) that phrasavcrbs and scrni-crruscs sccln ro bc thc rnost ravourcd typc o[structurc, as cvincc.by dictionarics and work^s on raio,ruti.iiy."i,^.orro be said thar this is not cntirertruc as, whirc it is truc orscrni-crauscs,,rrost morolinguar cornmon dictionaries cEnglish idioms arc not abunaant il ;r;;;i' verbs (Cambridge InternationcDit.tionur)- ql'ttti.tn.s. ?lbra Ui.rr. L;:,;;;lttr tdiotn.s Di.ioi,r\y,-iil" p"rg,,iDi<.ti.rrar.v o/'Engti.sh tdiotn.s and cottinr'ioi),i;i; ;;,;.;;; i/inilirl. ,, ,r,casc of Engrish-polisrr_dictionarics of idio;;'rhcy either ao-noi in.ira" pnruruverbs at ail (SppStA, srA, ApSt, wst,si Li;liu, srAM, NApSrz, /l.r), contaiplcnty of thern (rAri/pa^o-:inc-lulc ,r,"*rpu.irgiy or on a par with other multiwonexprcssions (sFAppA. psy,

!Ar, rr, Apsir: ii'iuze rstznt srAAZ).As can bscen, the Engrish-porish dictionaries or raioms oo not frequcntly opt for phrasivcrbs a,d prcpositional vcrbs,.regardi"g ,h.,"'.t a peripheral area ofphraseorogor not part ofphrascology at all.

Surprisingly cnough, thcriictionarics also contain_single lexemes as entries, whicarc eit'cr sirnplcVcompl,ex y.ords o, .o,nfornar. flr. ,ir,r, .i"**i"r"a, ,p'raseologicar units is dcuurouterrii,r.r',ri'*'u. scem a parr of phrascorogy invcry broad scnsc of thc term,_but rnoro,rrptr.rnic and other polymorphcmiIcxemcs cannor crcarry bc crassificd una .uli.i'iiloms. So we can t"ruuJii" ,"ra/i,,,'tongfitot sotneone (SAlUZtp\, ",orf_,oo,,r,-ri)rt veut (TSIZW), gorge, rdsunt(NAPS|4, .sub.je.t-tttattet., go'h (ApSIe, ,t rrt,-riir", (pSlA).ln sorne cascs thcris

'o cxplanation for the appearance of such fonns in a given dictionary. In othcrsfcw can bc accounrcu foi ty thc di.do;;rv;;;;cvcn sJ a n g .1 n,",. i o^, ;;i q ;i r;**ffi:iJJ ilf Jl,'.ffi JtrJ l,#llHi::srch lbrrns in thc co,rcxt of phrascologr-ii"a"U, doing so perhaps extend thtlctinition of phrascology to.covcr' ,ll lai,,griugc-spccific lcxical and gramrnaticipcculiar-il ics. cf. Zarg,bu 2004).

It has to bc bor,c in rnirrd that polish.<lictionary makcrc have undoubtedry use,nronoli.gual English dictionarics of idiorns in t'irc prcparation of thcir rcxiconrAlthough thcy do not list such soul'ccs, *. "on

,.nrrr. a crairr that thc latter ar

348 Iorouerrcrry rN coNTtsMpoRARv ENcr-rsH-Por-rsu rDroM DrcloNARrES

reflcctcd in the matcrial selcctcd for prcscntation in English-Polish dictionarics ofidioms with all its conscqucnccs.

4. Idiomaticity of Polish equivalents of English idiomatic expressions

Thc othcr aspcct of idiomaticity which should bc discusscd hcrc is rathcr morcirnportarrt in thc contcxt of contrastivc phrascology. Thc author would likc toconsidcr thc idiornaticity oI thc Polish cquivalcnts of thc English idionraticmultiword cxprcssions and focus on thcir status as cxpressions charactcrizcd byidionraticity and their rclation to thcir English countcrparts.l This aspcct olidionraticity can bc viewed in a twofold manner. On thc onc hand, onc could expcctthc cquivalcnts to slrow idiomaticity and, on thc other hand, one would wish thcrnto bc optirnal equivalcnts. Idcally, cquivalcnts would be both idiornatic and

scrrantically appropriate (cognitivc equivalents) and contcxtually applicablc(translation cquivalcnts). As far as idiornaticity is conccmcd, onc can casilydistinguish two groups of cquivalents, namely idiornatic cquivalcnts and non-idiornatic cquivalents. The lattcr would be dcscriptivc cxplanations of thc rncaningof an English idiomatic multiword cxpression, or single lcxical itcrns of which thcmeaning corrcsponds to that of the English one. Both types of cquivalents can bc

found in the dictionaries analyzcd lrere. Tlrc fonncr (typc of cquivalents) arc

idiornatic cquivalcnts oIvarious typcs.

Although the English and Polish phrascological systerns arc not cntircly dissimilarthey do not overlap on many occasions. Thus, the cquivalcncc bctwccuphraseological units ofboth languages should be viewed as scalar, and thc positionofan cquivalent on this scalc is conditional on many factors (cf. Szpila 2002: 354).Thc English-Polish dictionarics of idioms show incontcstably thc cxistcnce of sucha scale. An attcmpt has bccn rnadc, consciously or unconsciously on thc pall ofthcir authors, to produce dictionarics of idioms in which thc concspondcnccbetwecn English and Polish idiorns could be defincd as exact. A fcrv dictionarics ofidiorns havc bcen published which comprise only thosc Polish idionratic

I Thc author has to eschcw any discussion of gramrnatical compatibility bctwcen Englishand Polish which is again one of thc aspccts of phraseological equivalcnccicongrucncc. Inidiom dictionaries onc noticcs that inconrpatibility of English and Polish idiornaticcxpressions may bc a result of incorrgrucnce at thc levcl of syntactic status. For instancc:

Eng. rlircrr 1rush conas lo slnvc - Pol. tntdne cll'ile (clause vs. noun phrasc). Et'tg. ort u

roll -Pol. rrs:rs/ko wom siq rrzlaje (prcpositional phrasc vs. clausc) (all fiom lll, /4. Suclr

cxarnplcs ale fortunately cxtrcnrely rarc and by no rucans stcm fiom cither semantic orgrammatical peculiaritics of cithcr language.

GnzEc;onz Szptt-e

;ffi:l:l'ffi,ir"J';;.:''l:''"s.whiclr havc direct cguiy3r,cnt1in rhc orrrcr rangupolis, dicrionr,.i", of l.ilrrr has bccn donc for ergfirh. ih.r.r"rl.,,"i.,trr,

rnatcrial, full "ruirol",'''nt

do nol actually choosc. .on vicwing tir"i, *n-,p

hcrc,ogcnous,#*.6;l"T,,i: ;:ff:T:f,"i[1;fl:,0,. i",h:' iirr,,"",

,{dj!!T,:;', ,;iliIIf, ;'",',.l]; ,T,"J,JI;: ::,,,0,:,, ,ricrionarics srrive ro pror

rhc tricri.nari", rr*,rr"ru", .il ,;;;r;l'; r]J,i"1i"l];,,YlT*lm,,rrl,:i.;llikc ro incrudc' what,oiffcrcnccs"i.i*.rr'i",rr,irh arui porish idionrs'cxist,

ridiorrraric rhcv shourd/corr.r ;;;;il;iil"i'*,rn ro bridgc rt,".*-iriing ,y.r"3fr1,il' ;i,o ",i " ?i)l',fi rE ;,;lf ilt"* rm a r i o n, u o,, .q u i,u i.'n rc r,r rwitlrout rny r,rh",i.,.;;;;;"';'"ro'rYrK'' otltcrs usc thc tcnn eqtti,a,Lt000tA. irtpia, isup, st;M;,;;ffi.':l.of Polish counterparts (r,s1iPolish equivalcnts, emphasirlrg ';hii't;u':vts psuS€ to pondcr on the naturcdictionary ir ,o frouia" suitablc (specificallv tj::11',?-","irt.

thing in an idic,ror a r ways po,,ibr

",o^ n:9 idi;il;;' ;ili"ii#[,];,;i,i ;H,::ffi:., f ]"i,Jil,K,(';;y,"r^(,, stAAd ';:;;;ffi;:,.rro,n

whar onc can scc inappropriate an<r ar thc ,:1*l

that. the policv adoptcd i; l; a"u ?.'ln" ,ame tlme idionratic cquivalcnts. ---" ^vr r

Somctilnes' notrvithstancling the idiornaticity of an equivalcnt, it must be conclu<that it is tota'y thc wrong onc. rhis rappens w]ren- thc cquivarcnt is scrnanticarncolnpatibrc with thc source.cxpression,'howcvcr formally simirar trrey both nappcar' For cxarnore' whcn rrrc'p.r;;;;;;.;on i, u phrascorogicar iarse fi.iclikc 'rnu:-t'<. .rig it'c u'ra.sn.vrtt .so.sre (which in Engrish nreans ircstric,--you^socia lly to onc group of p:op]g onry') is p,""rii as- rhc cquivar cnt of .steu. irt .tt1.trit'e (SFAppA. pStA:

"r'vnufriorr,u#l;;;, D6_ts7). tn orhcr cases rrnco,cct crroicu- or'arr cquiv2rsnl ir ,-"a"t.-lrg-d oy forrnar idcnticarncsssirnilariry, lor cxarnolc. ,1," l.t;o,, lr" o ,,.i i)'i#),rrilop), which rncans .ro

bc rold lo do you' job, or roo ortr ,o rr" r,i*.ii"

"':"1'ro,,r,rn,, rdionrs Dit.tirtttttv). utrarrslarcd as tttictl: {6rki(Eng. go ,tr"riiili.i,li,.,, ,, a suirablc cquivalcnr ofr^.et'ttt<' h,rtp i, en[ti.tr. u,,, ,'"iorii.] i"*ll.lrloi",,, quored abovc.As fal as thc non_icliolnacauscd cithcr bv a san ,,, ,1ll ::li:".1:ll:: *: conccmed, the lack of idiornatici;: xi:i ;tl'::,ili"-,;,"1ff,i,1*lt1|1i:",=,, il:t,iT ff :,::J:fiffi l,::liparl or'rtrc cornpitcrs or idiornaiic cil;;i;;:';:i:I:::il or by arr ovcrsighr on rrtltrtttltlu. atrJ on lltc .rtr,rrr, t tt n t^

'Instancc. givc .someotte lhe tosttotrtttet' and 'on

,t," ,,r*i"isil,iil'"jiii;.i"t rnstancc, give soneone lhe ,

_ are translatcd dcscriptivcly

trans Iations.

' 'fhc Polish idiorn or rron-i.1i.,,,,i. ,ri,.,;,,-^..._ - ,translations. 'tlionratic dictionary cxplanatrons arc provitlcd with thcir litcr

3 50 Iotorr,terlclTy rN C6NTEMpoRARy Er1cL1SH-PoLtSH IDtoM DTCTT11NART ES

'potraktowai kogoS ozigble, obojqtnie; pokazac. 2e kto6 nie 2yczy sobicutrzymywai z danq e5s[4 przyjacielskich stosunk6w, cclowo jq ignoruj4c' (Eng.'treat somcone indifferently, show thcrn onc does not wislr to be on fi-iendly tcrmswith thcm by ignoring them') and'w trakcic karnpanii czy agitacji polityczncj'(Eng. 'during a political campaign'), rcspectively, or pav through the nose and, rhelong und the short of it, for which one dictionary (PS11) providcs thc followingcxplanations: 'zaplacii wyg6rowanq ccng' (Eng. 'pay an unfairly high price'),'wszystko, co moze byi powiedzianc na dany tcrnat'(Eng. .cvcrything that can bcsaid about a par'ticular subject'), again rcspcctively. In such cases the lack ofidiomaticity is justified by a phrascologicat gap in the Polish languagc.

In other cases the dictionaries do not provide idiomatic equivalents, crcating animpression that such do not cxist, for cxample: carrv coals to Newcastle in PSIAbccomes 'robii coS niepotrzebnie'(Eng. 'do something unneccssarily") instead ofrt'ozii' clrzew'o do lasui A stitch in tinte sayes nine in tfie same dictionary is notrendered Zasryj dziurkqpoki mala (Eng.'rnend a wholc bcfore it gcts biggcr') butas 'niewielka ptaca wykonana natychmiast moZc oszczedziC sporych wysilkowp62niej'(Eng. 'a small task carricd out immcdiatcly can savc morc cffor-t latcr').And Too manlt cooks spoil the both is not providcd with its Polish parcmiccquivalent Gdzie kucharek szeii.tam nie nu c'o.je.ic (lAl, ID. Yct anotlrer cxarnplcis tie the trol, w[65s idiomatic equivalent is zy;iclzcrc siq v,gzlem maliefi.rkim (Eng.the same), and whose non-idiornatic cquivalcnt 'pobrai siq'(Eng. 'gct n.rarricd') isuscd in /lS. Obviously, thcrc ariscs a qucstion conccrning the rcasons for thc non-idiornatic choice5, which cannot bc addresscd non-arbitrarily hcrc.

The other pole en the scale of idiomaticity, as has been already said, is non-idiomaticity, represented by free word combinations. The pervcrtcd form of thiscnd is a structur'ally and scmantically incoherent litcral explanation of an idionr'smeaning, which means that the Polish cxplanation is incomprchcnsiblc andtherefore non-idiomatic in thc extended rneaning of thc tenn idiomaric,itt,. This isbest excmplified by IAI, 1/, in which the Polish cxplanations can barcly bcunderstood: cf. "isi w $ladach", "twarde obchodzcnic siq tub pytania", "przcciwnyaspekt sytuacji", "glqboko my(1e6", and lnany othcrs. All thc adduced cxarnplcsopenly flout thc gramrnatical, collocational or stylistic rulcs of Polish.

cornpatibility of idiornaticity in idiorn dictionarics can bc rrrcasurcd as wcll bypragmatic factors, among which stylc and rcgistcr play a significant role. In thedictionaries under analysis wc cornc across English i<Iiorns, whose Polishcquivalcnts belong to a diffcrcnt stylistic lcvct. By way of cxcmplification. lct r.ncquotc tlre provslS lt never roins but porrtr, which has a stylistically appropriatccquivalcnt in Polish in thc fonn of Nies;c.:qic,iu c.lntl:qpurunll (Eng. 'Misfortunes

GnzEconz Szplle35

trilii j#:,!,::?"1,;.:;::;,:,T?r{i,fj,;,i1,..fl ,,;::lLT::,"o,n[*colloquial to say t5c v

"':""q lLrrE'' tr not a.spcll. then thc runs'), which ip r: e t t u rs :,, oi.r i u. ;;*l :il r';,':'.[i, i, H"#.,;:! .X;f t;;','i',,,o k,,,

5. Conclusion

Thc author has refcm,tiscrrr.lJ l,

""r, "l,id onlv to onc aspccr

"rl,]ll^.:",:*J, nlmety idiomaticity andpotirh ill;;,.ii",a,1,, rcrcrcncc ro rhc prescntation ofEngtirir_iii"rr,t, English_

cannot bc "*hurrrir.lur,.s.

Idiornaticity has many Oiff...niurp".lr",r",o",C ,,r,.n,r,"angii,r,_;"i;.li';;:i""Jfl J:l,'i#lXJ":,",,fl:Xmli[i**;[:ll,:;l:":1fffi1:i'","#ig- o'''i";;;';;..,'"i"n,",,

somchow .ouiJ r"nccr th"rnajority;;;;;;;t"i'trascologv' but it could also bc.r;; il; i,"."o1,"i*r,.lring

nl;irm;*#t{i:"+.i,1?,Ti_:1,ru#,:tn:*:,,;;HJffii:;*,l*:*ji*;fJ:it,,i*i:i[:i,lH:,,1,;,:1:::::,,y;;;,h;",s*gesw.u,d,r ict iona rics o r idiorns,*,r,r

u. ili"ffi ;ill#ilT T.x.J#:*l:::,lull,r,.o,",i.,i,J il;,::, :XdlH, H:l[:/jil,i,,*",. po." trrc same

-or simirarstudy. - r--""vrrr. r,'dr .arulalry would demand a morc extensivc

Bibliography

Dictionaries

[lorkorvski' piorr. rgg7. At,tgie.r';k*por.rki ,srrwnik idiom6w.i znrotirv / An Engri.sh_

^ i,:{# ?ri';;';', "/"t,tiom';:,,;';;;;.';:',:^poznan: wy<rawni*wo Naukowc

:"'i;!;;?otr' 1 999' N ott'.1' 5 l svr, 1 1, i d i o m riw a n g ie ts ko -p o tsrtl. warszawa: ABC.

:.:::ffi,1i&.Y#ru:ffi::.lH i,'^yi" 200t rdiomv ungiet,kie stownik

Frsrak, Jacck. (cd.) l99g(stA) '-' slowtik idionton. crngiel.tkic,h. warszawa: Graf_pu,kt.

352 lotoHannctry tN coNTEMpoRARv Et tc;t-tst-t-PolrsH rDroM DtcrroNARtES

Gawron, Patryk. 2005. Super ponocnik. Podrqcznv slownik idiomdw ungielskit'h.Warszawa: Rea. (SPPS/I)

Gulland, Daphne M. 2002. Langenscheidt 1000 idiomow angielskiclt. Warszawa:Langenscheidt. ( L I 000 IA)

Jaworska, Tcresa. 1999. Slow,nik .frazeologicznv pol.sko-angielski. Warszawa:Wydawnictwo Naukowo-Techniczne. (SFPA)

Jaworska, Tcrcsa. 2002. Slownik./razeologicznl, ungielsko-pol.ski i pol:;ko-ongicl.rki.Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowo-Tcchnicznc. (Sfe P PA)

Kakictck, Piotr. 1993. Polsko-angielski slov'nik .fiazeologic':nt, I Poli.th-EnglislrP h rer e o I ogica I D ic t ion arv. Warszawa: Encrgia. ( PA S n

Kalu2a, Jan J. 2001. Idioml, angiel.skie t'proklvc'zn.vc'h :uslosurt'unirrc'1. Chicago-Warszawa: Exlibris. (lAl,YPa

Marcinkicwicz, Pawel, and Tadeusz Piotrowski. 2003. Slow'nik idionfiwanren kafi s kic h. P oznafi: LcktorKlctt. (S I A M

Mizcra, El2bieta. (no date). Angielsko-pol.tki slow'nik idiomow. Warszawa: Dclta.(APSI)

Osrnani, Asii and Kelly de Serla. (no <late). ldioml, ongielskie I I ltlionrv ungielskie1/. Dubicko: lnfoa. (IAI. Il

Radzicjewski, Dariusz. 1997. Tematl,cznv slownik idiomow,, :tt,totov i rvvro'eti. Zclodatkiem przl,sliw i sentencji. Wloclawck: Altravox Prcss. (TSIZLV)

Simbierorvicz, Lidia. 2000. Nou'.,- angielsko-polski slov'nik idionfiu, i :lt'totirr.Warszawa: Harald G Dictionarics. (NAPSI\

Slot'nik ungielskich idiomfw i ularh,ch zvr'rotrltr z

Warszawa: Philip Wilson. (SA I UZIP\Slonvril; itliomdv' qngielskic'h ... od A<'id test do Zcro

ineleksem polskim. 2005.

Itorrr ... 1999. Warszarva:

Philip Willson. (SIAAAWolfrarn-Romanowska, Danuta, Kaszubski, Przerrryslaw, and Martin Parker. 1999.

I d i o m.v p o l.s ko - a n g i e I s ki e. P o I is h- E n gl is h I d i o nt s. Warszawa: PWN. ( /Pl )Wy2yfiski, Tomasz. 2000. Potlrqc':trv .slownilt iclionfiw angiel.skic'h. The Conrpuct

Dic'tionarv o/'Icliomatic English. Warszawa: Swiat KsiE2ki . (PSIA)

References

Cowic, Antlrony, P., Ronald Mackin, and Isabcl R. McCaig. 1983. O.rlbrdclic'tionun, of'current idiotnulic' English. Volume 2: Phrascs, c'luu.se uttdsentetrce idioms. Oxfrod: Oxford Univcrsity Prcss.

Fcrnando, Chitra. 1996. ltliottts and icliomatic'it.t'. Oxlbrd: Oxford Univcrsity Prcss.

Dobrovol'skij, Drnitrij, and Elisabcth Piiraincn. 2005. Figurutive lunguttge: Cross-c'u I I utu I uncl c't'oss- I ittgu ist i<' per.s pet'tlvc.i. Oxford: Elscvicr.

GRzEcoRz Szprle

Gibbs, Raymond, W. Jr. 1994. Ttrc poetics of mincl. Fiot,*^t;..^.- ,-

fr #gri*',^!yfii:;i*!:_,,::xxit;i,:i{:,:i*:i:"|,1j j:",j,1Moon, Rosarnun<i. t'tt tulotnatoto-9,). Z,iljna: Zilina University prcClarcndon n...I:rt

Fixetl expre,ssion.s*and Ar;;";;Wiirr. ooRodrfgucz-An izabala

^ vor. r . ".r.

o, pfrilj:1ih;XXi j$!'Tll,.lr fty.vctope,tia or tingui.,s onorn u ra, M a rion o. ob o. ii- r; t,

" ;i- i' ;,,1,)"1.^york:

Fi tzroy Dcar6om.York: Pctcr Lang.

""' "' "'? ttustc writing oJ Americun Eng.

:':]i.iff :: r;,i ?ll];,Xk:", 1, 1 !i#t #;";,; :,,,., p. t s k.. a n g i e t s k i

"t "'lt,Liii:ry r:nf *m;l,T * v, p o t's ko - a n g i e t.s k i e/p o t i.r h - E n sParkcr. Ki'ut'totnik N^aq/i/ctl.gic.:n.,, 1.122_tlTj.

Kaszubski Piorr and MISzpila,.Crzcgor.z. 200Uc. Rcvicw of Nou.v slor^ . piorr Do.rariski. ol,",li'i,ir";":":::".:!:::,,! :!:,!!* ongietsko_potski,s.pir,. c;;;s;';;";o{^:,",;i::J,,::f:;,;,;,ir*;::t t23 t2!4,'

,u":'IL'^*t,,0,,.1E',l',::;"f :";;;;{.x:l;i:i:t::=,x:,llr:*:::::r.1,#:

X,l!!f[,,,'l;i!rli"i,"*",,':r,,rl],,"ii, io* ,; pots:czv:tia n ie,i,ti nt,

^'cr, ropi.r. r. :ib_: iirrlil:T, ffiI]_1,.*r #1,:;' ;:'!;: #tJr*ry, r

Szpila. .Crzcgorz. 2003. Rcvicw "i'i;;;;;.#,Marcirrkicwic. uuu rra.r.z piolrowski. y?,,,d* ,rl\,r,tkui.skich, by pat

406. r ,urrowsKt. Ku,ut.talnik Neolilologic:ny 3.4(Szpila, Grzcgorz.200,

^ angiersk-o_,,"r,u;;'n,fi:,;i;:):,rT;:;:ff-5:J-.ji w wicrki,n srownit'"?.1i;'u*.."1:,,i1?l; R:",i".)' :il;'","'f'ffi,;1ie urr. by Asir osrnani av n,, p

^ or#, Ju.

-''n;, l';;;'

- t',1'd

r! e o' / i

!,o t o s i t' : n.i t .l 0 6 - I 0 8.

0poraoro.rr".nri' n BonPocY o esr6opc )KBHBareHr3.'lgl_lg.i .

eIaHflu rpil cocraBn"nr, .rourp, . f,r",rr,rt.rp*"nZargba, Lcon. 2004. Idiolnatyka kulrurowa a Iffi u,i'i-r'o',1l,:w-;.;::ii::,!;:;i:!f "'J=fi ilJ#"il,i[u

by Lcon Za r.sba. r i r _ n t . Krak 6w : *r,**r#riL,j,u :,1:i:;:: .n" r,. u., i i "i.,