“ХҮР-” ГЭСЭН ҮГ БҮХИЙ ХОЛБОО ҮГ, ТҮҮНИЙ БҮТЭЦ, УТГЫН АСУУДАЛД

Abstract

The Mongolian verb хүр- “touch” is frequently used in conjunction with many different nouns to form idiomatic combinations with different meanings and functions. We aim to explain idiomatic combinations containing the verb хүр- by defining structural and meaning types. When studying the structure and semantic features of idiomatic combinations, it is first necessary to determine whether the expression is noun-centred or verb-centred. Where a word can combine with many different words in idiomatic combinations, it is necessary to carry out a detailed examination whether the direct meaning of the word in question has been completely lost or neutralised, or has been obscured. In some cases, although it may have faded, traces of the primary meaning of the linguistic sign хүр- are preserved. Therefore, it is possible to define the meaning of idiomatic combinations containing хүр- by abstracting from this direct meaning. The meaning of any fixed idiomatic combination can in principle be expressed by a single word, or by a free or fixed combination of words (for example дур хүр- can be expressed as дурл- (want, wish, love); ам хүр- as амс- (taste); дуулд-, as чихэнд хүр- (hear), etc.). This shows that synthetic and analytic constructions are closely related in terms of meaning and function. Although idiomatic constructions differ structurally in consisting of two components, in such cases meanings largely coincide even if nuances are not strictly equivalent. Therefore, the primary meaning of an idiomatic combination can be determined through a thematic classification into groups according to denominative and semantic types. The collocational component of a given idiomatic expression will depend on the lexical-semantic field based on differences in meaning type and also varies with the grammatical case of the noun.