IDIOM VARIANTS BASED ON WORD-FORMATION

The paper studies an important link between word-formation and phraseology, namely idiom variants based on word-formation. It analyses Russian cases against the backdrop of English and German, mostly when certain types of idiom variants are limited or non existent in Russian. In idiom variants based on word-formation, constituents undergo derivation, compounding, blending, as well as transposition of constituents. Their productivity may also vary based on the grammar of a particular language: for instance, substituting an idiom constituent with a compound is more typical of German than Russian. Altering both the plane of expression and the plane of content of the idiom, the variants in questions are connected to other types of idiom variation, including morphological, syntactic, and lexical ones. For instance, idiom blending is not limited to word formation, since blends may be also based on lexico-syntactic and lexical variation, cf. the so-called malaphors. The end result of idiom variation is formation of an autonomous fi gurative unit that is only partly connected to the original idiom.