Potential lacunarity of lexical and phraseological units in contrastive research (on the example of words and idioms with the constituent kiwi in New Zealand English and in Polish) Cover Image

Potencjalna lakunarność jednostek leksykalnych i frazeologicznych w badaniach kontrastywnych (na przykładzie wyrazów i idiomów z komponentem ‘kiwi’ w nowozelandzkiej odmianie języka angielskiego oraz w polszczyźnie)
Potential lacunarity of lexical and phraseological units in contrastive research (on the example of words and idioms with the constituent kiwi in New Zealand English and in Polish)

Author(s): Joanna Szerszunowicz
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: New Zealand English; lacunarity; non-equivalent; systematic equivalent; idiom

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to determine whether it is possible to indicate lexical and phraseological units which are likely to be non-equivalent in a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspective. The approach adopted is focussed on words which are culture-bound as the base for derivatives and fixed expressions. It is assumed that such units have high lacunarity potential. In order to analyse it, the New Zealand English words derived from the noun kiwi and idioms containing the word are discussed. The bird called kiwi is indigenous to New Zealand and has much eco-significance, which is reflected in language. The lexical and phraseological items for the analysis excerpted from various lexicographic sources are analysed with a view to determining how many of them have non-equivalents in the Polish language. Moreover, Polish systematic equivalents of the New Zealand words and phrases are proposed and discussed.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 347-362
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish