10 meaning. For example, the literal meaning of
red-handed
in the idiom
catch somebody red-handed
is somebody whose hands are red. However, in its non- literal meaning or figurative meaning,
catch somebody red-handed
means to catch somebody in the act of doing something or committing a crime. Fernando 1996
states that some idioms show invariance or only restricted variation, for example the idiom
kick the bucket
cannot be changed into
hit the bucket.
Some other idioms allow lexical variations. For example
blue,
which means connected with sex, can form idioms with the words
film
or
joke
or
comedian
. According to Newmark 1988, idioms are naturally used by native
speakers of languages. Therefore, speakers from different languages use different ways to express opinions and feelings with their idioms. The use of idioms can be
in the formal and informal situations, spoken and written form Leaney, 2005. O‟Dell and McCarthy 2010 emphasize that the use of many idioms is quite
informal. From those experts, it can be concluded that idioms are words or phrases
which carry metaphorical or non-literal meaning. Some idioms may show invariance or only restricted variation and others allow lexical variations.
a. Types of Idioms
According to Hockett 1958, there are six types of idioms. This research only uses figures of speech to classify the types of semi-idioms. According to
Wren and Martin 2000, a figure of speech is used to make a greater effect of an expression. Figures of speech can also be used to compare and associate things. In
11 this research, the researcher employs four kinds of figures of speech. They are
simile, metaphor, metonymy, and hyperbole.
1 Simile
Wales 2011 note s “simile is a figure of speech whereby two concepts are
imaginatively and descriptively compared ” p. 383. Simile compares two
different objects with at least one thing in common Wren Martin, 2000. Wales 2011 argues that the most common connectives in simile are
as
and
like
. In other words, the comparison is explicit because of the use of connectives. An example
of simile is
the kid is as innocent as a dove
. It does not mean that
the kid
is
a dove,
but that they share the same characteristic. A dove has white fur which can represent innocence.
2 Metaphor
Wren and Martin 2000 state that metaphor compares two things without an explicit marker as if they are the same.
O‟Dell and McCarthy 2010 add that metaphor compares two things that have similar characteristics. For example, to
compare a person with the moon, the metaphor that can be used is
you are my moon.
The similar characteristic between that person and the moon could be the beauty or the one and only thing.
According to Knowles and Moon 2006, metaphor can also be in the adverbial and prepositional particles of phrasal verbs. For example, phrasal verbs
such as
melt away, wither away, fade out, fizzle out,
and
tail off
have metaphorical
12 meaning. The metaphors are in the prepositional particles
away, out,
and
off.
In their literal meaning, those particles relate to physical movement in a direction
farther away from the speaker. However, in their non-literal meaning, they imply the idea of something disappearing or ending.
3 Metonymy
Wren and Martin 2000 point out that metonymy changes the name of an object a referent with another thing attribute that associates with it. Knowles
and Moon 2006 suggest that metonymy is more based on the closeness rather than the similarity or correspondence. It is agreed by Yule 2010 who states that
the object is replaced based on the closesness of connection between the referent and the attribute. The connection can be a container
–contents relation, a whole– part relation, and or a representative
–symbol relationship. In a container-contents relation, the referent is the content and the attribute
is the container, for example
I drank up the whole bottle
. It does not mean that someone drinks the bottle. Instead, it means what is inside the bottle that is drunk
up. In a whole-part relation, the referent can be the whole or the part of a thing. The example of metonymy in which whole refers to part is
Germany scored two goals in the second-half last night
. The sentence means the football team made the goals, not all Germans. The example of metonymy in which part refers to whole is
The orchestra did not play the strings well
.
String
refers to the musical instruments. Therefore, the sentence means the orchestra does not show a good
musical performance.
