Gluing idioms back together: A phraseo-combinatorial analysis

Abstract

The formal analysis of idioms has been oscillating between approaches that emphasize the unit-like character of idioms and approaches that focus on the autonomy of the idioms' parts. In this paper, we summarize the main arguments for and against these two positions to then propose an account that tries to capture and combine the insights and advantages of both types of analysis. The resulting theory is heavily influenced by the approach taken in Riehemann (2001).