Non-Standard Adjectival Similes in Corpus Data

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12410%2F25%3A43909607" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12410/25:43909607 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:90244/25:10513783

Result on the web

<a href="https://casopispromodernifilologii.ff.cuni.cz/en/2025-2-2/" target="_blank" >https://casopispromodernifilologii.ff.cuni.cz/en/2025-2-2/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23366591.2025.2.2" target="_blank" >10.14712/23366591.2025.2.2</a>

Result language

čeština

Original language name

Nestandardní adjektivní přirovnání v korpusových datech

Original language description

The adjectival simile is a well-established multiword expression (MWE) type. Although it occurs in many languages, it remains an understudied phenomenon within phraseology. The relatively universal existence of this idiom (of comparison) indicates that it represents an extralinguistic concept. However, lexical representations of one concept may differ across languages, potentially giving rise to loan forms that may appear foreign (at least initially) in some languages.This study investigates non-standard adjectival similes in Czech, specifically their occurrence in parallel corpus data where the source texts are not originally Czech. Firstly, using general and lemma-specific queries, the adjectival similes were mined from translated data in a parallel corpus (InterCorp v16 — Czech). Secondly, the extracted adjectival similes were searched for in a reference corpus (Syn v12) to check their frequencies in Czech texts.The results show that around 10% (27 out of 262) of all Czech adjectival similes retrieved from InterCorp v16 are non-standard, which can be attributed to two reasons. Firstly, one of their components (an adjective or a noun) is replaced by a synonym, or the whole simile represents a fusion of two unique MWEs. Secondly, the lexical components indicate a foreign influence, usually through loan translation.Corpus data typically constitute empirical evidence for the existence of MWEs and justify their inclusion in dictionaries. However, the present study of adjectival similes shows that frequency alone is insufficient evidence. A careful and methodical approach to the study of language data and the presentation of our findings is necessary to ensure we do not hastily institutionalise foreign MWEs without proper scrutiny.

Czech name

Nestandardní adjektivní přirovnání v korpusových datech

Czech description

The adjectival simile is a well-established multiword expression (MWE) type. Although it occurs in many languages, it remains an understudied phenomenon within phraseology. The relatively universal existence of this idiom (of comparison) indicates that it represents an extralinguistic concept. However, lexical representations of one concept may differ across languages, potentially giving rise to loan forms that may appear foreign (at least initially) in some languages.This study investigates non-standard adjectival similes in Czech, specifically their occurrence in parallel corpus data where the source texts are not originally Czech. Firstly, using general and lemma-specific queries, the adjectival similes were mined from translated data in a parallel corpus (InterCorp v16 — Czech). Secondly, the extracted adjectival similes were searched for in a reference corpus (Syn v12) to check their frequencies in Czech texts.The results show that around 10% (27 out of 262) of all Czech adjectival similes retrieved from InterCorp v16 are non-standard, which can be attributed to two reasons. Firstly, one of their components (an adjective or a noun) is replaced by a synonym, or the whole simile represents a fusion of two unique MWEs. Secondly, the lexical components indicate a foreign influence, usually through loan translation.Corpus data typically constitute empirical evidence for the existence of MWEs and justify their inclusion in dictionaries. However, the present study of adjectival similes shows that frequency alone is insufficient evidence. A careful and methodical approach to the study of language data and the presentation of our findings is necessary to ensure we do not hastily institutionalise foreign MWEs without proper scrutiny.

Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Časopis pro moderní filologii

ISSN

0008-7386

e-ISSN

2336-6591

Volume of the periodical

107

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

156-167

UT code for WoS article

—

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105008969212