In a previous post about idioms I mentioned that when an element of an idiom is changed it usually loses its idiomatic meaning. What about changing the word order of an idiom? One of my favorite television shows just included some dialogue that indicates changing the word order of an idiom does not necessarily take away from the idiomatic meaning.
On last week's episode of Pushing Daisies Ned's half-brothers(that are twins) demonstrate their skills as illusionists, to which Emerson Cod sarcastically remarks, "a magic show...where did I put that rat's ass I could give?"
Now that I think about it, there are many idioms in which the word order could be changed without losing the idiomatic meaning (so long as the speaker and listener are on the same page pragmatically).
Showing posts with label word order. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word order. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Word Order and Aging
In response to this recent comment from Ross :
"I think this whole linguistics area so interesting. What comes to mind is word order and how that is set up in the brain. As I get older and with medication, the word order of my sentences comes out weird sometime: never in a serious environment; more, when I am at home."
The word order problem can also be referred to as syntax error.
The study of cognitive aging and language involves the input-side (language comprehension) and the ouput-side (language production). Research and studies have shown that the effects of aging on language production are far more drastic than the effects on language comprehension. In other words; while a person still understands much of what he or she hears, it is often hard for that person to think of the words they want to speak. Tip of the tongue experiences are a good example of this phenomenon. Cognitive aging and language is a hot topic and there is still much to be learned in the field.
"I think this whole linguistics area so interesting. What comes to mind is word order and how that is set up in the brain. As I get older and with medication, the word order of my sentences comes out weird sometime: never in a serious environment; more, when I am at home."
The word order problem can also be referred to as syntax error.
The study of cognitive aging and language involves the input-side (language comprehension) and the ouput-side (language production). Research and studies have shown that the effects of aging on language production are far more drastic than the effects on language comprehension. In other words; while a person still understands much of what he or she hears, it is often hard for that person to think of the words they want to speak. Tip of the tongue experiences are a good example of this phenomenon. Cognitive aging and language is a hot topic and there is still much to be learned in the field.
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