The Study Of Numeral Idioms

The idiom is the fixed phrase with the traits of stable patterns, habitual uses, historic and ethnical characteristics.It expresses a certain denotation as a whole, it is the language essence which was practiced concisely and comprehensively. Numeral idiom, as an important part of the idiom, is a special language phenomenon. There are considerable numeral idioms in the Chinese language, and even some are completely composed of numbers, and form a distinctive style of the Chinese language idioms.The thesis includes three parts: the first part expounds the structure traits of numeral idiom. According to the location of fourteen numbers from 'one to ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and half in idiom structure , the collocation patterns are classfied ninty-eight kinds (including a pattern of a idiom with only one number), analyzing the distribution traits of numbers in numeral idioms. The structure alternation of numeral idioms can' t influence the stability of denotation, the features of the ancient Chinese language are embodied in numeral idioms, and the cognation of the structure of numeral idioms from grammar angle.The second part expounds the sematic traits of numeral idioms, starting with numbers in the collocation patterns of numeral idioms to expound the meanings (substantial meaning, abstract meaning, cultural meaning). The third part expounds probing into the source of numeral idioms. The idiom, as a fixed phrase, its historic characteristics is a prominent trait, and it has been a kind of language essence for a thousand years. The ancient literature , Buddhism culture, scholars' poems of the ancient times, and oral creation of the masses are the source of numeral idioms.