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Research draft

idiom

vr.tr.idiom · XCT.QLT

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.

Thing Registry Cross-cutting context

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

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.

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.

What it is for: Expressing meaning through fixed conventional phrases.

It can be identify idioms in text; explain meaning and origin; distinguish related kinds of fixed phrase; support translation and learning.

Distinguishing features

Non-compositional meaning

Fixed or nearly fixed form

Language-specific

Often figurative in origin

What it looks like

Not visible; a phrase whose parts do not add up to its meaning.

How it is recognised

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

Related models

is a kind of - a fixed phrase

phrase

is a kind of - the wider category

formulaic language

is confused with - a full statement with a lesson

proverb

is related to - many idioms are frozen metaphors

metaphor

In practice

Families and kinds

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

Standards and regulation

No regulation; dictionaries and corpora document usage

Failure modes and hazards

Literal translation of idioms

Misuse by learners

Folk etymologies presented as fact

Also called

proverbial phraseidiomatic adjectiveidiomatic interjectionformulaic languageDutch idiomsPortuguese idiomsredewendungidiom derived from Greco-Roman mythologyIf a cow kicks, why make chicken curry?Hebrew idiomsnight butterflySovietism

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Concept What an idiom is.

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is an idiom, and how does it differ from a proverb, a collocation or a metaphor? definition
  2. Is the phrase an idiom or another kind of fixed expression? boundary

Kinds

Kinds.

Kinds

Kinds.

  1. What kinds of idiom exist, and how fixed are they? definition
  2. Which entry fits the specific language? action
Meaning Meaning and origin.

Attribution.

Meaning

Meaning.

Meaning

Meaning.

  1. What does a given idiom mean, and in which contexts is it used? provenance
  2. Which dictionary documents it? provenance

Origin

Origins.

Origin

Origin.

  1. What is known about the origin of an idiom, and what is folk etymology? provenance
  2. Is the etymology attributed to a reliable source? boundary
Use Learning and translation.

Practice.

Learning

Learning.

Learning

Learning.

  1. How do learners acquire idioms, and what errors occur? provenance
  2. Which entry fits language learning? action

Translation

Translation.

Translation

Translation.

  1. How are idioms translated, and what strategies do translators use? action
  2. Which entry fits translation? action
Study Research and processing.

Study.

Linguistics

Phraseology.

Linguistics

Linguistics.

  1. How do phraseology and cognitive linguistics study idioms, and which references are standard? provenance
  2. Which entry fits phraseology? action

Computing

Computational handling.

Computing

Computing.

  1. How do language technologies detect and handle idioms? provenance
  2. Which entry fits natural language processing? action

What the second pass must settle

  • 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?
Draft as JSON