A cross-cultural perspective on the comprehension of novel and conventional idiomatic expressions

Intercultural Pragmatics. 2024. Vol. 21. No. 1. P. 33–60.

Svetlana Yu. Pavlina

This paper examines factors that affect the comprehension of novel and conventional idiomatic expressions by second language students of English. Using the Conventional Figurative Language Theory (CFLT), the study explores how the understanding of novel and conventional idioms differs and how it is affected by context. I find that novel idioms tend to be easier to comprehend than conventional idioms and interpret this effect through the role of digital media in the creation and dissemination of new phraseological coinages. However, I also observe that while the understanding of conventional idioms is enhanced by context, the role of context in the comprehension of novel idioms is not pronounced. I conclude by discussing the strategies that facilitate the comprehension of both novel and conventional idioms such as the analysis of mental imagery associated with their literal meanings, reliance on background knowledge, and attention to the motivation of an idiomatic expression.

Keywords: Digital Media, novel idiom, mental image, idiom comprehension