Comparative Analysis of English and French Body Idioms

Martina Nemcova provides a profound classification of idioms with focus on their specific features and structural patterns. This cross-cultural investigation into English and French body idioms presents a detailed review of a range of modern definitions of idioms and outlines the main methods of idiom analysis. The idioms are analyzed with regard to the meaning, structure and function. The author provides a detailed discussion of all categories of idioms regarding their semantic, lexical and syntactic equivalence. This linguistic survey enables readers to understand better the use of idioms and their position within the core vocabulary and may contribute to a more successful language acquisition.