Abstract

ZULUAGA GOMEZ, FRANCISCO. Idioms, sayings and proverbs on language: determined phrasal units and verbal interaction. Forma funcion, Santaf, de Bogot, D.C. [online]. 2005, n.18, pp. 250-282. ISSN 0120-338X.

Idioms and proverbs on language can be considered as metalinguistical formulas in current language (‘fomelcos’) which are used by the speaker in the function of pragmatic instructions of the language. Depending on their specific function they act out in discourse and interaction, they may be classified in three categories: descriptive, instructive and regulatory. To give support to this statement, some specimens are analyzed applying a lexical entry model in which the semantic structure and the pragmatic function of the expressions are explained. The author concludes that the ‘fomelcos’ are a register of the knowledge the speaker has on the rationality which rules the speech correlations.

Keywords : acto de habla; fomelcos; instrucciones pragmáticas; interacción verbal; máximas conversacionales; pragmática; unidades fraseológicas fijas.