The syntax of idioms

Description

Every language contains a large number of idiomatic expressions. In spite of their widespread occurrence, their linguistic properties have so far not been deeply and systematically investigated. The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of “the language of idioms” by focusing on their behaviour in syntax. More specifically, the project focuses on tense, modality, aspect, voice, definiteness, referentiality, and possession in idiomatic expressions. The empirical basis for the investigation into the syntax of idioms mainly consists of idioms from non-standard varieties of Dutch. On the basis of dialect grammars and dictionaries, and also on the basis of additional field work, an electronic database has been developed, which serves as a tool for the systematic investigation into the syntax of idioms. Moreover, the project systematically compares Dutch (dialectal) idioms with English idiomatic expressions.

Director(s)

TEMMERMAN Tanja, LEUFKENS Sterre, CORVER Norbert, van CRAENENBROECK Jeroen.

Keywords

syntax / idioms / comparative linguistics / Dutch / English.

Collaboration(s)

KULeuven

KULeuven Campus Brussel
Universiteit Utrecht.