Color-related idioms in English

Other Title(s)

العبارات الاصطلاحية الخاصة بالألوان في الإنكليزية

Dissertant

Hasan, Alan Anwar

Thesis advisor

Abd al-Qadir, Irfan Said

University

Salahaddin University-Hawler

Faculty

College of Languages

University Country

Iraq

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2009

English Abstract

This study which is entitled (colour related – idioms in English), describes and analyses colour terms that are involved in English idioms.

Idioms occupy a specific area in every language, and each language has its own specific idioms.

Understanding and learning any language is determined by understanding its idiomatic expressions.

Being so learning idioms is a key criterion in determining the learning of English for native and non‐native speakers.

However, readers may face problems in deducing the meanings of idioms, and this is due to the random relationships between the meanings of idioms as a whole and the meaning of each single word that makes up the idioms.

It would also be problematic when idioms undergo different lexical and syntactic variations and more precisely when some idioms can have more than one contribution (i.

e.

literal and non‐literal meanings).

Still the problem would be more difficult, when colour terms are involved in idioms, as each of them can have different concepts.

Therefore it is hypothesized that replacing a colour term by others would affect the idiomatic meaning of the idiom. The study aims to clarify that not all the colour related‐ idioms in English accept lexical and syntactic variations equally.

And also shows that colour terms have a vivid contribution to English idioms just like other categories such as, body parts, food, animals and numbers. The main conclusions of the study show that the situation affects the selection of idioms.

And probably an idiomatic expression can have more than one figurative meaning.

In addition, the figurative meaning of an idiom changes when its colour term is replaced by other colour terms.

And also cultures have a great role in using colour terms.

Chapter one is the introduction.

It presents the title, the problem, the hypotheses, the purpose, the value, the scope of the study, the procedure to be followed. Chapter two presents a theoretical background about idioms and the notion of idioms, including the terminology and definition of idioms, their criteria and their classifications.

It also sheds light on style, register and idioms. Chapter three is about the uses of colour terms in English including the figures of speech like, metaphors and metonyms.

Also it deals with collocations and colour terms in English.

In addition, it investigates the connotations of colour terms.

Moreover the chapter tackles the relationships that are found between idioms, colours and cultures, proving the relations by giving ample examples. Chapter four presents a systematic description and analysis of colour related idioms in English, including their lexical, syntactic and semantic productivity.

It also explains the accessibility of lexical relationships between colour idioms in English.

The chapter also explains the role of context in comprehending colour related idioms, providing examples to clarify the target. Chapter five presents the summary and the conclusions and some suggestions for further studies.

Main Subjects

Educational Sciences
Languages & Comparative Literature

Topics

• Education
• Learning
• English language

No. of Pages

124

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-310277