What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model
The present paper contains two distinct yet intricately linked studies concerning idiomatic phrases in Greek: a linguistic study and a psycholinguistic study. The linguistic study aims at investigating the degree of fixedness of idiomatic phrases, through a semantic-l...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Presses universitaires de Caen
2011-12-01
|
| Series: | Discours |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/discours/8579 |
| _version_ | 1818156841433038848 |
|---|---|
| author | Marianna Mini Kleopatra Diakogiorgi Aggeliki Fotopoulou |
| author_facet | Marianna Mini Kleopatra Diakogiorgi Aggeliki Fotopoulou |
| author_sort | Marianna Mini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present paper contains two distinct yet intricately linked studies concerning idiomatic phrases in Greek: a linguistic study and a psycholinguistic study. The linguistic study aims at investigating the degree of fixedness of idiomatic phrases, through a semantic-lexical categorization of 470 phrases with fixed subject. Three phrase categories were distinguished: typical phrases characterized by a strong semantic-lexical articulation between their constituents, and non-typical phrases, in which the constituents have a certain semantic autonomy. Non-typical phrases were further categorized into a) quasi-phrases and b) conventionalized phrases, the constituents of which have the highest degree of semantic autonomy. Α linguistic model was developed named “graded fixedness model”, and the psycholinguistic relevance of the model assessed by examining idiom comprehension in Greek elementary school children, aged 7.5 and 9.5 years old. To achieve this, a psycholinguistic study was then carried out. Children were presented with 8 typical, 8 quasi and 8 conventionalized phrases. For each phrase, they were asked to choose the one they thought correct out of three interpretations proposed (idiomatic, literal and other). The research findings presented and discussed herein provide evidence supporting the psychological reality of the notion of semantic autonomy even for the younger children’s processing which was overall quite poor: thus, the greater the semantic autonomy of a phrase’s constituents, the easier the access to its idiomatic meaning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:04:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c141d8a983f47d5a58543185386e5a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1963-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:04:42Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Caen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discours |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c141d8a983f47d5a58543185386e5a82022-12-22T01:00:59ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17232011-12-01910.4000/discours.8579What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic modelMarianna MiniKleopatra DiakogiorgiAggeliki FotopoulouThe present paper contains two distinct yet intricately linked studies concerning idiomatic phrases in Greek: a linguistic study and a psycholinguistic study. The linguistic study aims at investigating the degree of fixedness of idiomatic phrases, through a semantic-lexical categorization of 470 phrases with fixed subject. Three phrase categories were distinguished: typical phrases characterized by a strong semantic-lexical articulation between their constituents, and non-typical phrases, in which the constituents have a certain semantic autonomy. Non-typical phrases were further categorized into a) quasi-phrases and b) conventionalized phrases, the constituents of which have the highest degree of semantic autonomy. Α linguistic model was developed named “graded fixedness model”, and the psycholinguistic relevance of the model assessed by examining idiom comprehension in Greek elementary school children, aged 7.5 and 9.5 years old. To achieve this, a psycholinguistic study was then carried out. Children were presented with 8 typical, 8 quasi and 8 conventionalized phrases. For each phrase, they were asked to choose the one they thought correct out of three interpretations proposed (idiomatic, literal and other). The research findings presented and discussed herein provide evidence supporting the psychological reality of the notion of semantic autonomy even for the younger children’s processing which was overall quite poor: thus, the greater the semantic autonomy of a phrase’s constituents, the easier the access to its idiomatic meaning.http://journals.openedition.org/discours/8579developmentelementary school childrengraded fixedness modelidiomatic phrasepsycholinguistic relevancesemantic autonomy |
| spellingShingle | Marianna Mini Kleopatra Diakogiorgi Aggeliki Fotopoulou What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model Discours development elementary school children graded fixedness model idiomatic phrase psycholinguistic relevance semantic autonomy |
| title | What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| title_full | What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| title_fullStr | What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| title_full_unstemmed | What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| title_short | What can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases? The psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| title_sort | what can children tell us about the fixedness of idiomatic phrases the psycholinguistic relevance of a linguistic model |
| topic | development elementary school children graded fixedness model idiomatic phrase psycholinguistic relevance semantic autonomy |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/discours/8579 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariannamini whatcanchildrentellusaboutthefixednessofidiomaticphrasesthepsycholinguisticrelevanceofalinguisticmodel AT kleopatradiakogiorgi whatcanchildrentellusaboutthefixednessofidiomaticphrasesthepsycholinguisticrelevanceofalinguisticmodel AT aggelikifotopoulou whatcanchildrentellusaboutthefixednessofidiomaticphrasesthepsycholinguisticrelevanceofalinguisticmodel |