Transformation of Idioms and Transparency

Anahit Hovhannisyan, Ani Mkrtchyan 
(English Department, Gyumri State Pedagogical Institute, Gyumri, Armenia)

Abstract: Idioms have no social boundaries or limitations as they exist in all cultures and classes of the society as well as in all human languages. Idioms are part of the language and cannot be described apart from the given language.

The article deals with the essential features of idioms, their grammatical and lexical changes within defining context. In an appropriate discourse situation idioms undergo considerable changes not only in their meaning but also their structure. Transformation of idiomatic expressions directly relates to their “transparency”; “more transparent” idioms easily undergo semantic and structural changes, whereas “less transparent” idioms are more stable.

Key words: transformation, defining context, transparency, movability, semantic and structural patterning of idioms