The purpose of this thesis is to examine idiomatic structures with ki in the ki-wo [transitive verb] and ki-ga [intransitive verb] constructions. It is argued that for Japanese language learners, it is crucial to be able to understand and produce ki idioms, because they are frequently used in everyday speech. There are often misconceptions regarding ki in the West for those who are fans of Japanese culture due to the influence of martial arts and anime, which paint ki as a spiritual energy that can be controlled and developed. However, upon examining the above mentioned idiomatic structures with ki, it is clear that ki can be expressed as both controllable by the subject of ki (transitive), as well as a thing that acts of its own accord and is spontaneous (intransitive). This thesis somewhat corroborates the studies of W. M. Jacobson, Zoe Pei Sui Luk , and Yoshihiko Ikegami by arguing that intransitive constructions are often used in Japanese, and examining both transitive and intransitive expressions with ki is significant to understanding the meanings produced in ki expressions. It is hoped that analyzing 37 transitive and intransitive idiomatic structures with ki will help Japanese language learners not only understand the syntactic and semantic aspects of transitivity in the Japanese language, but also to help these L2 learners conceptualize the abstract noun ki, which can be defined in so many different ways in a dictionary.

"The object of this thesis is neither to uphold the sacred cows of traditionalist grammar nor to forge a way for a liberal philology. It does, however, examine "the kind of English that most people use most of the time," that is, the idiom of the language, and specifically the phrases and expressions that compose idioms."--1.

Cette étude est une approche des divers problèmes que soulève la traduction du figement. Elle se fond sur le cas concret de la traduction français-arabe en analysant un corpus bilingue constitué d’expressions figées en français (langue source) et de leur traduction en arabe (langue cible). Notre travail s’organise en deux parties : dans la première, nous étudions la notion de figement, les différentes structures qu’elle recouvre et la notion de traduction avec les concepts qui lui sont liés à travers les théories linguistiques et traductologiques du 20e siècle. Dans la deuxième partie, nous analysons notre corpus, d’abord pour vérifier qu’il représente bien la catégorie du figement, ensuite pour connaître les stratégies adoptées par le traducteur pour traduire les expressions figées. Le corpus est extrait à partir des articles français du Monde diplomatique et leur traduction en langue arabe dans le même journal / This study is an approach to various problems raised bu the translations of frozen expressions. It is founded on the specific case of the french-arabic translation by analyzing a bilingual corpus composed of idioms in French (source language) and their Arabic translation (targuet language). Our work is organized in two parts ; in the first we study the notion of rigidification and the various structures that it covers, and olso the notion of translation with related concepts through 20th century linguistic and translational theories. In the second part we analyze our corpus : first to make sure it really represents frozen expressions, then to know the strategies adopted by the translator to translate idioms. The corpus is extracted from the articles appeared in the French edition of the le Monde diplomatique and their translations into Arabic in the same newspaper

Sabe-se que o desenvolvimento da compreensão do significado das expressões idiomáticas (EI) na aquisição da linguagem típica é um processo contínuo que está presente desde o final da infância e se expande para a adolescência, mais precisamente entre os 7 e os 11 anos de idade. Estudos têm mostrado que o desenvolvimento da compreensão da linguagem figurativa é simultâneo ao desenvolvimento da Teoria da Mente (ToM). Outros estudos sugerem que indivíduos com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) frequentemente apresentam desempenho ruim em ambas as tarefas. No entanto, devido à falta de estudos sobre o desenvolvimento da linguagem figurativa em indivíduos com TEA, é quase impossível tirar conclusões sobre o caminho do desenvolvimento dessas habilidades. Assim, esta pesquisa propõe a aplicação de um questionário contendo 10 expressões idiomáticas previamente selecionadas, com o objetivo de investigar a compreensão dessas expressões por crianças com TEA, que estão sendo atendidos em um serviço especializado. Os dados foram registrados e analisados estatística e descritivamente. Os resultados indicam que as crianças com TEA apresentaram desempenho bem inferior ao de crianças com Desenvolvimento típico pareadas por idade e sexo, no que diz respeito a EI isoladas. No entanto, quando essas expressões estão inseridas em contexto o desempenho dos participantes do G1 melhora significativamente, sem atingir o mesmo patamar dos participantes do G2. Por outro lado, não foram observadas diferenças significativas no desempenho em atividades de ToM entre os dois grupos. Também não foram observadas correlações relevantes entre o desempenho em ToM e a compreensão das expressões idiomáticas. Dessa forma, pode-se discutir a existência de associações entre as habilidades de metarrepresentação e a compreensão de linguagem figurativa. Fatores que devem ser levados em consideração são a diferença na escolaridade entre os grupos o que gera provavelmente uma diferença na experiência social linguística das crianças e, portanto, diferenças em seu desempenho. Nesse sentido o pareamento dos grupos por idade pode não ter gerado a similaridade almejada. Entretanto as diferenças no desempenho com e sem contexto, concordam com a literatura ao indicar a importância dos aspectos sociais da linguagem / It is known that the development of the understanding of the meaning of idioms in the acquisition of typical language is a continuous process that is present from the end of childhood and expands to adolescence, more precisely between 7 and 11 years of age. Studies have shown that the development of the understanding of figurative language is simultaneous to the development of Theory of Mind (ToM). Other studies suggest that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently perform poorly on both tasks. However, due to the lack of studies on the development of figurative language in individuals with ASD, it is almost impossible to draw conclusions about the path of the development of these abilities. Thus, this research proposes the application of a questionnaire containing 10 previously selected idiomatic expressions, with the objective of investigating the comprehension of these expressions by children with ASD, who are being attended by a specialized service. Data were recorded and analyzed statistically and descriptively. The results indicate that children with ASD performed well below that of children with typical Development matched for age and sex, with respect to isolated idioms. However, when these expressions are inserted in context the performance of the G1 participants improves significantly, without reaching the same level of G2 participants. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in performance in ToM activities between the two groups. Also, no relevant correlations were found between ToM performance and comprehension of idioms. Thus, we can discuss the existence of associations between the skills of metrepresentation and the understanding of figurative language. Factors that should be taken into account are the difference in schooling between the groups which probably generates a difference in the children\'s social linguistic experience and, therefore, differences in their performance. In this sense, the pairing of age groups may not have generated the desired similarity. However, the differences in performance with and without context agree with the literature when indicating the importance of the social aspects of language

O presente trabalho é um estudo acerca do processo de compreensão do sentido das Expressões Idiomáticas (EIs) do espanhol por parte de aprendizes brasileiros adolescentes de espanhol como língua estrangeira (E/LE) à luz do Pensamento Complexo (MORIN, 2011) ou Complexidade, com base no modelo interpretativo de aquisição/aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras de Bruno (2006). Nesta pesquisa, foram aplicados dois testes de caráter qualitativo e experimental a aprendizes de um Centro de Estudos de Línguas do Estado de São Paulo, situado na cidade de São Paulo, de níveis com menos tempo de exposição à língua estrangeira (aproximadamente 240h/a), neste caso, o espanhol, e a aprendizes com mais tempo de exposição (a partir de 320h/a). Pedimos aos alunos que reformulassem em espanhol e em português dois enunciados na língua alvo, com uma EI verbal e com uma EI adverbial, respectivamente em diferentes momentos do curso. Os resultados revelam que nos dois testes há elementos linguísticos relevantes da língua meta no processo de compreensão do sentido da EI em espanhol, tal como, a forma apresentada que ativa aspectos gramaticais, semânticos e pragmático-discursivos bem próximos do que um falante nativo compreenderia, independente da faixa etária do aprendiz. Os dados também revelam que os gêneros discursivos e, mais especificamente, a cena enunciativa, são importantes nesse processo. No entanto, ao compararmos os dados, nota-se uma maior desestabilização no processamento destes por parte dos aprendizes ao terem contato com a EI adverbial. / The present job is a study about the process of comprehension of sense Spanish idioms for teenagers Brazilian apprentices of Spanish Foreign Language at light of Complex Thinking (MORIN, 2011) or Complexity, based on interpretative model of acquisition/learning of foreign languages from Bruno (2006). In this research, we applied two tests of qualitative and experimental character for apprentices of a public Centro de Estudos de Línguas from São Paulo State, situated in the city of São Paulo, with levels with less time of contact to the target language (about 240h/classes), in this case, Spanish Language, and for apprentices with more time of contact to this language (about 320h/classes). We asked to students that reformulate in Spanish and in Portuguese two enunciations in the target language, with a verbal idiom and a adverbial idiom, respectively, in different moments of the course. The results reveals that in the both tests there are important linguistics elements of the target language on the process of comprehension of the Spanish idioms sense, like the form presented that actives grammatical, active grammatical , semantic and pragmatic-discursive aspects closer than a native speaker would understand regardless of the age of the apprentice. The data also reveal that the genres, and more specifically, the scene enunciation are important in this process. However, when comparing the data, there is a greater destabilization processing those of apprentices to have contact with the adverbial EI.

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of English

This study explores how comprehension strategies, first language (L1), and contextual information affect the comprehension and interpretation of three types of colloquial idioms by Chinese as a second language (L2) learners at an advanced level of proficiency. Three research questions are addressed: (1) to what extent does context affect the comprehension and interpretation of three types of Chinese colloquial idioms, (2) to what extent does the degree of L1–L2 similarity influence the comprehension and interpretation of the Chinese colloquial idioms, and (3) what strategies are employed by the learners in comprehending the Chinese colloquial idioms in isolation and in context, and which strategies contribute to better comprehension of the Chinese colloquial idioms in context. To address these research questions, 30 advanced Chinese L2 learners at a Midwest University participated in the study. They were asked to comprehend 15 unknown colloquial idioms in and out of context. All of the participants were native speakers of English. The 15 target idiomatic phrases differed in terms of the degree of L1–L2 similarity, including 5 matching idioms, 5 partially matching idioms, and 5 non-matching idioms. In the decontextualized condition, the participants were given a list of the target colloquial idioms without contextual information, whereas in the contextualized condition, the target colloquial idioms were embedded in short paragraph context. For both tasks, the individual participants were required to verbalize their thought processes as they arrived at the meanings of the target colloquial idioms. Think-aloud protocols were employed to collect qualitative data. It was discovered that context substantially facilitated the comprehension processes of the target colloquial idioms, especially with respect to the partially matching category. The degree of L1–L2 similarity significantly affected the ease with which the participants understood the Chinese colloquial idioms in the decontextualized and contextualized tasks. In the decontextualized condition, the participants generally adopted a “part-to-whole and literal-to-figurative” approach to interpret the target items, whereas in the contextualized condition, the participants adopted a heuristic method and employed a wide range of strategies (e.g., sentence translation, component words, and background knowledge) to access meaning of the target idioms. Among the strategies identified, semantic processing and pre-existing knowledge were strong predictors of accurate idiom interpretation. Instead of using existing L1 idiom comprehension models to explain the comprehension of idioms in an L2, a tentative model of idiom comprehension was proposed. L2 learners appeared to undergo two stages in comprehending unknown Chinese colloquial idioms: an initial prediction stage and a verification stage.

<p>Idioms are found in every language and learning them is an important aspect of the mastery of a language. The English language is no exception as it contains a large number of idioms, which are extensively used. However, because of their rather rigid structure and quite unpredictable meaning, idioms are often considered difficult to learn. Although little research has been done to date on the nature of idioms as well as how they are used, a better understanding of variations in idioms can nevertheless be acquired by looking at some theories and thoughts about their use and their structure.</p><p>The aim of this paper is to examine a number of animal idioms, focusing primarily on English idioms and the similarities and differences found in equivalent Swedish idioms, even when the Swedish idioms do not contain an animal. Two types of studies are presented. In the first one, the English and Swedish animal idioms collected are grouped into four categories. The results of such a categorization show that half of the English animal idioms found have an equivalent in Swedish containing an animal. In the second study, the content, structure, wording, semantics and metaphorical meaning of the animal idioms are analysed and compared. The results indicate that the Swedish animal idioms that correspond to the English animal idioms have, for the most part, the same structures and similar variations in degree of literalness, fixity, manipulation and transformation. Furthermore, the use of metaphor, personification and simile appears to be common both in English and Swedish animal idioms. The role of context and literal and figurative translation are also addressed in this study.</p>

This study compared the performance of four groups of children--two Indian groups and two non-Indian groups--on a test of commonly used idioms. The Indian subjects, all bilingual, were differentiated on the basis of school setting, uni-ethnic or multi-ethnic. The non-Indian subjects, all from multi-ethnic schools, were differentiated on the basis of linguistic background, bilingual or monolingual.<p>The sample consisted of 465 children in grades five, six, and seven from six schools in Northern and Central Saskatchewan. The Yandell Idioms Test was administered to all the children. Differences among mean scores of the groups were tested with an analysis of variance. In addition, to minimize the effects on the Idioms Test results of very high or very low reading ability, a second analysis was done involving a selected sample identified from within the total sample by excluding all subjects who scored below the 4.0 grade level or above the 7.9 grade level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests.<p>Analysis of Idioms Test scores revealed that Indian children in multi-ethnic schools scored higher than Indian children in uni-ethnic schools, but that non-Indian children, whether bilingual or monolingual, achieved significantly better than Indian children. in either multi-ethnic or uni-ethnic settings. Monolingual non-Indian children scored higher than bilingual non-Indian children, although for the selected sample, the differences were not statistically significant.<p>In both analyses, there seemed to be few sex differences of importance. Between-group differences generally reflected the trend for the whole-group analyses, while within-group differences were not significant except for the bilingual. non-Indian group.<p>In general, the study showed that not only did Indian children have difficulty with the comprehension of English idioms but that many English idioms used in basal readers were not familiar even to monolingual English-speaking children.

This study compared the performance of four groups of children--two Indian groups and two non-Indian groups--on a test of commonly used idioms. The Indian subjects, all bilingual, were differentiated on the basis of school setting, uni-ethnic or multi-ethnic. The non-Indian subjects, all from multi-ethnic schools, were differentiated on the basis of linguistic background, bilingual or monolingual.<p>The sample consisted of 465 children in grades five, six, and seven from six schools in Northern and Central Saskatchewan. The Yandell Idioms Test was administered to all the children. Differences among mean scores of the groups were tested with an analysis of variance. In addition, to minimize the effects on the Idioms Test results of very high or very low reading ability, a second analysis was done involving a selected sample identified from within the total sample by excluding all subjects who scored below the 4.0 grade level or above the 7.9 grade level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests.<p>Analysis of Idioms Test scores revealed that Indian children in multi-ethnic schools scored higher than Indian children in uni-ethnic schools, but that non-Indian children, whether bilingual or monolingual, achieved significantly better than Indian children. in either multi-ethnic or uni-ethnic settings. Monolingual non-Indian children scored higher than bilingual non-Indian children, although for the selected sample, the differences were not statistically significant.<p>In both analyses, there seemed to be few sex differences of importance. Between-group differences generally reflected the trend for the whole-group analyses, while within-group differences were not significant except for the bilingual. non-Indian group.<p>In general, the study showed that not only did Indian children have difficulty with the comprehension of English idioms but that many English idioms used in basal readers were not familiar even to monolingual English-speaking children.