Single-word cross-linguistic equivalents of phraseological units (on the example of selected European languages)

Joanna Szerszunowicz

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Abstract

Cross-linguistic single-word equivalents of phraseological units are discussed in the paper with a view to presenting their typology. The single-word equivalents constitute a group containing units of different equivalence degree, which is of great importance in translation. Single-word equivalents can be divided into the following categories: compound nouns, compound adjectives, compound verbs, phrasal verbs and non-compounds, i.e. real single-words. Among the equivalents analyzed numerous units, especially those of compound character, are close equivalents, since they have the same motivation, realized with different formal means. There are also units, in which one component is substituted with another, slightly changing the image conveyed by the idiom. The real single-word equivalents are divided into two subgroups, i.e.: equivalents which do not covey any pictorial image and lose the stylistic markedness possessed by phraseological expressions; equivalents which convey the image carried by a given idiom and retain their stylistic markedness possessed by idioms.

Keywords:

frazeologizm, ekwiwalent, analiza kontrastywna