Stylistic aspect of

phraseology.
Polysemy and
synonymy of
phraseological units

Prepared by
 Kazmiruk Anna
Group: COa 19-19
To begin with...

• Phraseological unit is a non-motivated word-

group that cannot be freely made up in
speech but is reproduced as a ready-made
unit. 
 Polysemy of
phraseological
units

• As the majority of
words, phraseological units can
be polysemantic as well.

e.g. the unit to feed the fishes has

several meanings: 1) to drown and
2) to be seasick.
 Two levels • Phraseological polysemy is found to appear at two levels: the level
of literal use and idiomatoic use.
of phraseological
e.g. albatross around one’s neck – it means something or someone
polysemy who is a burden and generally hard to get rid of.
• It has one more variant millstone around one’s neck. 
 Synonymy of
phraseological units

• Phraseological synonyms are coreferential

phraseological units that belong to one grammatical
class, partially coinciding or completely not
coinciding in lexical composition, having common
and differential semantic components and differing
or coinciding in stylistic terms.
Two types of synonymic phraseological units 
• 1) Synonymic phraseological units with the same structure
and the same lexical composition with the exception of one
component:
• - to get the bit between one’s teeth - to take the bit between
one’s teeth
• 2) Synonymic phraseological units which present different
images and are built out of different lexical units: to leave no
stone unturned and to move Heaven and Earth but mean the
same ‘to use all opportunities’.
 Worth to mention...
Absolute synonyms (identical in meaning and stylistic connotations):
• break one’s word = depart from one’s word;
•  bring (drive) to the bay = drive (force) to the wall;
Ideographic synonyms denote different shades of common meaning.
• e.g. to come to / arrive at / jump at / leap at a conclusion.
•  In other cases, they differ in intensity of a given meaning:
• +to have two minds – to be in twenty minds;
•  to be in one’s cups ‘tipsy’ – to be drunk as a skunk ‘drunk and incapable’;
Stylistic synonyms (appropriate only to definite contexts):
• What on earth is this? – What the hell is this? 
Stylistic Aspect of Phraseology
Not all phraseological units bear imagery: 
• clichés / stock phrases (see you later, take it easy, joking
apart etc.);
• some proverbs (better late than never);
Some euphonic units:
- rhyme (out and about);
- alliteration (forgive and forget, now or never, safe and sound);
- repetition (little by little, inch by inch);
- with archaic words (to buy a pig in a poke).
 Conclusion
Phraseological units enrich the language vocabulary
and considered one of the elements of language's
stylistic system. In the study of a particular language
genre of fiction literature, the language of a writer is
usually noted in the stylistic functions of phraseological
units in relation to words. Therefore, the question of
phraseological units has a great importance in the study
of lexicology.
References
• 1. A. Naciscione. Stylistic use of phraseological units in discourse.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2010. 292 p.
• 2. Лексикология английского языка: Учебник для ин-тов и фак.
иностр. яз./Р. 3. Гинзбург, С. С. Хидекель, Г. Ю. Князева и А. А.
Санкин. — 2-е изд., испр. и доп. — М.: Высш. школа, 1979. — 269 с