Phraseological units in English newspaper articles

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Introduction

Today the English language is widely spoken throughout the world. It is the language of 21st century the language of informative technologies, so while describing the English language; first of all it should be underlined that the English language is the mother tongue of the global media. To understand English clearly one should know not only its standard vocabulary but also its different styles, dialects, proverbs, sayings, phrasal verbs and idioms, as they are used in any sphere: books, films, newspapers, formal speeches. One, looking through some papers, magazines and journals, will discover the same language to sound quite different, because he will find familiar words with unfamiliar meanings. He will face idioms, phrasal verbs etc.

About phraseology written numerous articles, books, theses, and interest in this of language has not dried up neither researchers nor those who simply indifferent to the word. However, the phraseology as set of all expressions in a particular language - too broad field for such a small work like this.

Scientific development of a phraseology as a linguistic self discipline were laid-known works of academician V. V. Vinogradov. Phraseological units make our speech brighter, emotional, imaginative and expressive. That is why almost all well-known writers, journalists used to create color phraseologies and stylistic coloring of their works, newspaper articles.

The object of this research work is language peculiarities of English newspapers.

The subject is phraseological units in English newspaper articles.

The aim of the work is to determine the specifics of the use phraseological units in newspaper articles.

In this research the following tasks should be solved:

- to consider the particular structure of the phraseology ;

- to investigate what makes newspaper articles expressive and what creates specific newspaper imagery;

- to find out phraseological units and define their functions in the articles on practice.

Nowadays this theme is rather contemporary as every learner must be prepared to meet the challenge simply because phraseological units occur so frequently in the spoken and written English. So the urgency of the present research is that the studying of speech influence, particular through the press, is among important problems of modern linguistics. Importance of linguistic studying of newspaper texts is obvious, in spite of powerful development of such mass media as radio and television, the newspaper continues play an important role in a modern society.

Deduction, induction and descriptive, structurally functional, functionally communicative methods are used in this work.

The theoretical significance of this work is determination role of phraseological units in modern society and describe its peculiarities and classification.

The practical significance is that the work have newspaper materials and the way of analyzing it, what can be used on English classes.

In this research were used materials of famous Russian and English lexicographers such as A. V. Kunin, V. V. Vinigradov, V.Collins, L.Smith and I. V Arnold.

1. Theoretical foundation of phraseological units

The vocabulary of a language is enriched not only by words but also by phraseological units. Investigations of English phraseology began not long ago. English and American linguists as a rule are busy collecting different words, word-groups and sentences which are interesting from the point of view of their origin, style, usage or some other features. All these units are habitually described as «phraseological units» or «idioms», but no attempt has been made to describe these idioms as a separate class of linguistic units or a specific class of word-groups.

1.1 Phraseological units and its classifications

Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be made in the process of speech, they exist in the language as ready-made units. They are compiled in special dictionaries. The same as words phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it. American and British lexicographers call such units «idioms». We can mention such dictionaries as: L.Smith «Words and Idioms», V.Collins «A Book of English Idioms» etc. In these dictionaries we can find words, peculiar in their semantics (idiomatic), side by side with word-groups and sentences. In these dictionaries they are arranged, as a rule, into different semantic groups.Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are formed, according to the degree of the motivation of their meaning, according to their structure and according to their part-of-speech meaning.

Phraseological units are divided into several types. The most known and popular of the classification proposed by academician V.V. Vinogradov.

V.V. Vinogradov has identified three main types of phraseological units: 1.phraseological combinations

2.phraseological unities

3. phraseological fussions

1. phraseological combinations - are word - groups with a partially changed meaning. They may be said to be clearly motivated, that is the meaning of the units can be easily deduced from the meanings of its constituents.

Ex. to be good at smth., to have a bite….

2. unities - are word - groups with a completely changed meaning, that is, the meaning of the unit doesn't correspond to the meanings of its constituent parts.

Ex. to loose one's head (to be out of one's mind), to loose one's heart to smb.(to fall in love).

3. fussions - are word - groups with a completely changed meaning but, in contrast to the units, they are demotivated, that is, their meaning can't be deduced from the meanings of its constituent parts.

Ex. To come a cropper (to come to disaster)

The Kunin's classification is the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology. The classification is based on the combined structural - semantic principle and it also considers the quotient of stability of phraseological units.

1. Nominative phraseological units - are represented by word - groups, including the ones with one meaningful word, and coordinative phrases of the type “wear and tear”, “ well and good”.

2. Nominative - communicative phraseological units - include word - groups, of the type “to break the ice” - “the ice is broken”, that is, verbal word - groups which are transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive voice.

3. Phraseological units - which are neither nominative nor communicative, include interjectional word- groups.

4. Communicative phraseological units - are represented by proverbs and sayings.

Phraseological units can be clasified as parts of speech. This classification was suggested by I.V. Arnold. Here we have the following groups:a) noun phraseologisms denoting an object, a person, a living being, e.g. bullet train, latchkey child, redbrick university, Green Berets,b) verb phraseologisms denoting an action, a state, a feeling, e.g. to break the log-jam, to get on somebody's coattails, to be on the beam, to nose out , to make headlines,c) adjective phraseologisms denoting a quality, e.g. loose as a goose, dull as lead ,d) adverb phraseological units, such as : with a bump, in the soup, like a dream , like a dog with two tails,e) preposition phraseological units, e.g. in the course of, on the stroke of ,f) interjection phraseological units, e.g. «Catch me!», «Well, I never!» etc.In I.V.Arnold's classification there are also sentence equivalents, proverbs, sayings and quatations, e.g. «The sky is the limit», «What makes him tick», « I am easy». Proverbs are usually metaphorical, e.g. «Too many cooks spoil the broth», while sayings are as a rule non-metaphorical, e.g. «Where there is a will there is a way».

1.2 Expressive coloring of newspaper articles with the help of phrase units

Newspaper is a publication that appears regularly and frequently, and carries news about a wide variety of current events. Organizations such as trade unions, religious groups, corporations or clubs may have their own newspapers, but the term is more commonly used to refer to daily or weekly publications that bring news of general interest to large portions of the public in a specific geographic area.

General circulations newspapers play a role in commerce through the advertisements they carry; they provide readers with information of practical value, such as television schedules weather maps and listings of stock prices; and these newspapers provide a coarse of entertainment through their stories and through such features as comic strips and crossword puzzles. However one of the most important functions of the general- circulation newspaper (a crucial function in a democracy) is to provide citizens with information on government and politics .

The printing press was used to disseminate news in Europe shortly after Johann Gutenberg invented the letter press, employing movable type in the 1450s. in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries thousands of printed news books short pamphlets reporting on a news event ballads accounts of news events written in verse and usually printed on one side of a single sheet of paper, circulated in Europe and in the new European colonies in America. The first news report printed in the America described an earthquake in Guatemala and was printed in Mexico in 1541.

The oldest surviving newspaper written in English appears to have been published in Amsterdam in 1620 by Pieter van de Keere, a Dutch and print engraver who had lived in London for a few years.

According to the historian Joseph Frank along with their political coverage newspapers in England in the 1640s, were among the first in the world to use headlines, to print advertisements, to illustrate stories with woodcuts, to employ a woman «a she -intelligencer» to collect news and to have newsboys, or more commonly newsgirls, sell papers in the streets. They are also among the first newspapers to complete with news books and news ballads in coverage of sensational events like bloody crimes.

Newspaper style was the last of all the styles of written literary English to be recognized as a specific form of writing standing apart from other forms. English newspaper style dates from the 17th century. Newspaper writing is addressed to a broad audience and devoted to important social or political events, public problems of cultural or moral character. The first of any regular series of English newspapers was the Weekly News which first appeared on May 20, 1622. The 17th century saw the rise of a number of other news sheets which, with varying success, struggled on in the teeth of discouragement and restrictions imposed by the Crown. With the introduction of a strict licensing system many such sheets were suppressed, and the Government, in its turn, set before the public a paper of its own - the London Gazette, first published on February 5, 1666. The paper was a semi - weekly and carried official information, royal decrees, news from abroad, and advertisements.

The general aim of the newspaper is to exert influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or listener that the interpretation given by writer or the speaker is the only correct one and to cause him to accept the point of view expressed in the speech, essay or article merely by logical argumentation, but by emotional appeal as well. It falls in two varieties: the essay and the article.

In newspaper article as in any other written genre, all changes occurring in language are instantly reflected. Syntactic phraseological units are actively realized in newspaper article. With their help the author can get a definite purpose or influence on the reader. Syntactic phraseological units are understood as the syntactic units possessing stability, reproducibility, integrity, idiomaticity by specific character of relations between components, and also communicative and esthetic functions in language.

Emotionally-estimated phraseological units are very expressive. They express feelings, emotions; in newspaper articles syntactic phraseological units with the neutral maintenance aren't presented. It occurs because the author of the article always wants to catch reader's attention to a certain theme, to express the opinion, but, using phraseological units with neutral value, this effect can't be achieved. The relation to the subject of speech is expressed through their situation assessment, whether it be negative or positive.

Phraseological units:

- evaluate events and people

- attract attention

- illustrate facts

- organize texts

Also they do the next:

- promote solidarity

- evoke humor

- put at ease.

2. The using of phrase units in English newspapers

English newspaper style may be defined as a system of interrelated lexical, phraseological and grammatical means, which is perceived by the community as separate linguistic unity that serves the purpose of informing, instructing the reader. In fact, all kinds of newspapers writing are to a greater or lesser degree both informative and evaluative. Elements of appraisal may be observed in the very selection and the way of presentation of news, in the use of specific vocabulary. The vocabulary used in newspaper writing is natural and common literary. But apart from this, newspaper style has its one of the smartest ways to illustrate the topic and to direct it to the point is to use idioms in the article. Here are phrase units found in some popular newspapers.

2.1 The analysis of articles from “The Herald Eribune” newspaper

Several articles from “The Herald Eribune” newspaper were chosen in order to reveal the language peculiarities and using phrase units in newspaper articles.

Sometimes it is really difficult to guess the meaning of some word- groups, because they are not presented separately, in fact they have to be known as whole, not separate words. But anyway, if these units are not understood, people try to understand and use them, because it catches their attention and make article reading more enjoyable.

The first article is political, named “Connect on the gut level” by Thomas L. Friedman. It's clear that even the headline make us pay more attention to this article and not to others.

It is full of different phrase units that are more expressive then simple words and make the article understandable to readers.

Election race - it is one of the expressive describing of struggle for authority

Wrap around one ankle - it means that somebody has a privilege on other person and can pass him round.

Here it is shown the way of having privilege on somebody. “John Mc Cain can win this election race with a 50 pound ball called “Gorge Bush” wrapped around one ankle …….”

Watch from afar - means to know somebody or something very well, to assume somebody's actions or foresee something.

This phrase unit gives meaning of some actions of different groups of people that are supposed to be done by them. And also it expresses author's confidence in something that people have to belive.

Has gone from cool to cold - has the meaning of getting unsatisfied, getting angry or change someone's mind.

Here the author emphasize that Barrack Obama doesn't like some things which make him angry and upset or change his mind from good to bad things , even prevent some of his actions.

Feel it in their guts - not care a straw, not to take something seriously.

The author tries to show that people sometimes are indifferent to some things that are really important and can influence on their lives.

Listen through their stomachs -listen to somebody or something not attentively, without paying attention on some important things.

Has lost that gut connection - it means to lose someone's interest or connection with some things or just to lose someone's inclination.

No memorable lines or (= uplifting visions) - has the meaning of absence of strong points. The author wanted to show that the speech of this person was not expressive and nobody will memorize it for a long time.

This article by Thomas L. Friedman is very expressive and really catches reader's attention. The variety of phraseological units makes this article bright and brings a piece of irony. The author tried to show the struggle between candidates for future authority in America before presidential elections and pointed out their strong and weak points.

Observing other types of article, for example, sport news, it is obvious that coloring exists here too. But especially in sports articles the phraseological units are very difficult to understand and guess, because the authors use a lot of terms that refer to sport professionalisms. The article of Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans, devoted to the football match and their title game.

Had driven a stake deep in the hearts of - to provoke happiness, to make somebody believe in something.

Put the over - under -

Rolling up the average - means to cross limit borders. But here Pete Thamel speaks about game scores that can be more than limits that are put on it. It is possible to cross the borders in this case

“….Florida finished third in scoring offence, rolling up an average of 45.2 points…”

The next phraseological unit has a very interesting construction and sounds odd.

A game with a bruised knee - has the meaning of a very interesting, exciting game and a game with good results.

The way of representing phraseological units here is impressive. A good game is compared to bruises that players get during game. The imagery sometimes makes very expressive phraseological units that are easy to read and catch.

“….it will most likely have to deal with tailback DeMarco Murray, who left Saturday's game with a bruised knee….”

2.2 Phraseological units' functions in these articles

So, according to the content of the articles that we have observed it is clear that there are no articles without the use of expressive coloring. Practice shows us the presence of idioms, phraseological units in each of them. The variety of these units helps to create the image of some events in unusual, vivid and bright figure.

Most of the phraseological units that were used in the mentioned articles have the function of presenting someone's actions in a bright way, using special language that is more interesting to read for nowadays readers.

It is very important to point out that the authors used most phrase units of action, state, feelings, quality in order to pay attention on the act of doer, because nowadays people who are interested in news all over the world chose information containing actions, but not description of some objects. Because reading of such kind materials make readers boring.

This position can be proved by the choice of newspaper articles in this research. The articles are political and the news of sport were chosen because it contains events in which the whole country is interested.

Phraseological units in these articles show that there are a lot of ways coloring and making expressive texts that may have not interesting information, but according richness of the language makes it interesting. And even such type of articles as political and sport can be very interesting.

Conclusion

Analyzing the results of the accomplished practical and theoretical research we came to a conclusion that the use of phrase units isn't only an interesting theme for research but also, creatively used, newspapers and magazines can effectively promote learning, critical thinking, creativity and resourcefulness in learners of all ages .We pointed out the essence of phraseological units. Phraseological units are habitually defined as non - motivated word - groups that cannot be freely made up in speech but are reproduced as ready - made units. This term habitually used by linguistics is very often treated as synonymous with the term idiom. Phraseological units can be classified according to different classifications and play an important role in newspaper language.

Studies have shown that using newspapers in education helps students increase their vocabulary and comprehension. Although complete mastery of phrase units may be nearly impossible, every learner must be prepared to meet the challenge simply because these stylistic units occur so frequently in the spoken and written English.

In this course paper we have discussed how different phrase units can be used in newspapers' articles and how they can influence the speech by making it more colorful and bright. phraseology unit newspaper

The analysis of the articles shows that the usage of such units makes English language more expressive and represents the beauty of that language.

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