idiom
Let an agent recognise idioms and explain their meaning and origin with attribution, distinguish idioms from proverbs, collocations and metaphors, relay dictionary resources, and support learning and translation.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Concept What an idiom is.
Definition
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
- What is an idiom, and how does it differ from a proverb, a collocation or a metaphor? definition
- Is the phrase an idiom or another kind of fixed expression? boundary
Kinds
Kinds.
Kinds
Kinds.
- What kinds of idiom exist, and how fixed are they? definition
- Which entry fits the specific language? action
Meaning Meaning and origin.
Meaning
Meaning.
Meaning
Meaning.
- What does a given idiom mean, and in which contexts is it used? provenance
- Which dictionary documents it? provenance
Origin
Origins.
Origin
Origin.
- What is known about the origin of an idiom, and what is folk etymology? provenance
- Is the etymology attributed to a reliable source? boundary
Use Learning and translation.
Learning
Learning.
Learning
Learning.
- How do learners acquire idioms, and what errors occur? provenance
- Which entry fits language learning? action
Translation
Translation.
Translation
Translation.
- How are idioms translated, and what strategies do translators use? action
- Which entry fits translation? action
Study Research and processing.
Linguistics
Phraseology.
Linguistics
Linguistics.
- How do phraseology and cognitive linguistics study idioms, and which references are standard? provenance
- Which entry fits phraseology? action
Computing
Computational handling.
Computing
Computing.
- How do language technologies detect and handle idioms? provenance
- Which entry fits natural language processing? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.QLT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- proverbial phrase, idiomatic adjective, idiomatic interjection, formulaic language, Dutch idioms, Portuguese idioms, redewendung, idiom derived from Greco-Roman mythology, If a cow kicks, why make chicken curry?, Hebrew idioms, night butterfly, Sovietism
What it is Filled
A phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the ordinary meanings of its words, such as kick the bucket or spill the beans, fixed by convention in a language; idioms are part of formulaic language along with proverbs, collocations and set phrases, differ across languages, and are a challenge in learning and translation.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent recognise idioms and explain their meaning and origin with attribution, distinguish idioms from proverbs, collocations and metaphors, relay dictionary resources, and support learning and translation.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Non-compositional meaning
- Fixed or nearly fixed form
- Language-specific
- Often figurative in origin
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Translate an idiom literally so that its meaning is lost or reversed.
- Present folk etymologies of idioms as fact.
- Mark learners' correct but unusual phrasing as wrong.
- Use idioms in critical instructions for readers who may not understand them.
Only with a human decision
- Approving translations of legal, medical or safety texts that contain idioms.
May
- Explain the meaning and usage of an idiom with examples.
- Translate idioms by sense rather than word for word.
Moral aspects Filled
- Idioms can exclude non-native speakers from understanding important information.
Who is affected
- Language learners
- Readers of translations
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the concept; it belongs to the speakers of each language.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q187931 - registry parent class
related
- phrase - a fixed phrase
- formulaic language - the wider category
- proverb - a full statement with a lesson
- metaphor - many idioms are frozen metaphors
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.idiom
- Wikidata: Q184511 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184511)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Fixed phrase with non-compositional meaning
- Conventional in a language community
- A proverb states a lesson; a collocation is compositional; a metaphor may be novel
- Not visible; a phrase whose parts do not add up to its meaning.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- identify idioms in text
- explain meaning and origin
- distinguish related kinds of fixed phrase
- support translation and learning
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Literal translation of idioms
- Misuse by learners
- Folk etymologies presented as fact
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- No regulation; dictionaries and corpora document usage
Context of use required Filled
- Expressing meaning through fixed conventional phrases.
- verbal idioms such as kick the bucket
- idiomatic adjectives and interjections
- proverbial phrases
- binomials and similes as formulaic language
- idioms of specific languages such as Dutch or Portuguese idioms
- jargon idioms in professions
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q184511: idiom - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Idiom - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should idioms of each language be separate entries?
- How should idiom dictionaries be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases for language-specific idiom sets; should they be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q184511/spec.json