Phraseological somatic units with the word yazyk (tongue). On the border of speech and silence

Abstract

Many Russian phraseological somatic units with the word язык (tongue) denote silence. They are держать язык на привязи (lit. to keep the tongue on a leash), прикусить язык (lit. to bite the tongue), язык прилип к гортани (lit. the tongue is stuck to the larynx), язык отсох (lit. the tongue is withered), придержать язык (lit. to hold the tongue), etc. There are also phraseological units with the word язык, which denote speech or human ability to produce speech: болтать языком (lit. to wag the tongue), распустить язык (lit. to loosen the tongue), язык без костей (lit. the tongue without bones), etc. Finally, there are phraseological units with the word язык, which are on the border of speech and silence. They have a number of non-trivial semantic and syntactic properties. Such units are, e. g., слова не идут с языка (lit. words do not leave the tongue), слова не сходят с языка (lit. words do not come off the tongue), вертеться на языке (lit. to spin on the tongue), быть на кончике языка (lit. to be on the tip of the tongue), язык чешется (сказать что-л.) (the tongue itches <to say smth.>). The article describes the meaning and usage of two such units, which at first glance seem absolute synonyms – слова не идут с языка and слова не сходят с языка. It is shown, however, that the first one always denotes silence, whereas the second one can denote both silence and speech.