§ 17. Some Debatable Points
The definition of phraseological units as idiomatic word-groups functioning as word-equivalents has also been subject to criticism. The main disputable points are as follows:
1. The criterion of function is regarded as not quite reliable when used with a view to singling out phraseological units from among other more or less idiomatic word-groups. The same word-groups may function in some utterances as an inseparable group and in others as a separable group with each component performing its own syntactic function. This
1 Definitions are reproduced from V. H. Collins. A Book of English Idioms. London, 1960.
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seems largely to be accounted for by the structure of the sentence in which the word-group is used. Thus, for example, in the sentence She took care of everything — take care is perceived as a single unit functioning as the predicate, whereas in the sentence great care was taken to keep the children happy — take care is undoubtedly separable into two components: the verb take functions as the predicate and the noun care as the object. The functional unity of the word-group seems to be broken.
2. It is also argued that the criterion of function serves to single out a comparatively small group of phraseological units comparable with phraseological fusions in the traditional semantic classification but does not provide for an objective criterion for the bulk of word-groups occupying an intermediate position between free word-groups and highly idiomatic phraseological units. ,
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