A Corpus-based Study Of English Idioms In Different Registers

Idiom is a unit of a language constituted by words.It is usually bigger than words in size and has a special different meaning from the meanings of the separate words.Idioms exist in a great number and play an important role because they are vivid and colorful.The importance of idioms in a language makes it a necessary part both in the research of the language and in the teaching of the language.This thesis discusses the definition,classifications,origins and characteristics of English idioms, then analyses the relevant theories of idioms from different aspects.With these foundations explored,the thesis adopts a corpus-based method to analyze the frequency of idioms in different registers.Through the comparative study we can draw a conclusion that idioms are used most frequently in literary works,somewhat frequently in everyday verbal communication,and least in formal writing.This is because that the literature works are complicate and lively,and in order to make them more readable and attractive,the writers may use large number of idioms.As to the conversation,because it is an offhand communication,it has many non-verbal factors and does not depend too much on language to enhance its effect;it uses a smaller size of idioms.Among the three registers investigated in the thesis,ideas to be conveyed are supposed to represent the object or the event as it is,and in formal writing,the language is more precise,accurate,rigid and heavy.There can be many learned words and technical terms occurring in written texts.It uses fewer simple words,slang phrasal verbs and idioms etc.and it has the lowest frequency of idioms.It is hoped that the finding may modify the view that idioms are colloquial and used most frequently in spoken language.The distribution of idioms across registers may be more significant than we expect.Besides,the variation of idioms also seems to be connected with the context in which idioms are used.This thesis consists of five parts:(1) Chapter 1 is the introduction part,which makes an overview of the whole thesis.(2) Chapter 2 focuses on the definition,classifications,origins and the characteristics of English idioms.It makes an overview of the English idioms, including several versions of the definition,typical classifications,origins and characteristics.(3) Chapter 3 introduces the relevant theories of English idioms.It analyzes the relevant theories of idioms from different aspects.The relevant theories are the relationship with language and culture,cognitive linguistics,different characters of registers and lexicology.(4) Chapter 4 dwells on using corpus-based method to analyze the frequency of using idioms in different registers and the characteristics of idioms.It introduces the corpus-based method,design the research,the analytical tool and the data source.Finally it analyzes the data to find out the solution according with the relevant theory.(5) Chapter 5 is the conclusion part.In the conclusion,I will summarize this paper,address its limitations and give some suggestions.