个人收集整理仅供参考学习After this period of the lexicology study, I feel that the American idioms interest me most, for although that B.E.(British English) is the origin of the English language as well as the A.E.(American English) is now the new development of this language, which is commonly used in many occasions, like commerce and international communicating, and the Americans also introduced lots of new expressions with the first settlement on the new continent , which is now developed combined with its own spirits — known as its own culture. So I choose this part as my themes of the homework of this period, and also ant to learn more by typing it down on my paper. 1. Characteristics of idioms 1) Semantic unity Each idiom is a semantic unity. The semantic unity can be reflected by the fact that the meaning of an idiom is very often not the total sum of the meanings of the constituent words. The semantic unity can also be shown in the illogical relations between the literal meanings of the constituent words and the meaning of the idiom. 2) Structural stability Structural stability means that the structure of an idiom usually remains unchangeable. In other words, the constituent components of an idiom can not, generally speaking, be replaced. 2. Classification of idioms 1) Idioms nominal in nature: They function as nouns in a sentence. 2) Idioms adjectival in nature They function as adjectives in a sentence. 3) Idioms verbal in nature They function as verbs in a sentence. 4) Idioms adverbial in nature They function as adverbials in a sentence. 5) Sentence idioms Such idioms are usually in complete sentential form. They are usually proverbsor sayings. 个人收集整理仅供参考学习3. Use o...
