A comparative study of idioms which includes parts of the body in Japanese and Sinhala

Abstract

An idiom or an idiomatic phrase is an expression, word or unity of words that has been widely used since ancient eras. Therefore, it is quite obvious that idioms have been shaped and reinforces by the people of a particular social scenario. Meanwhile it is a kind of metaphor which inherits a hidden or immobilized meaning, conventionally understood by the native speakers. Thus, if these idiomatic phrases are not properly understood in the communicating process, no doubt it will be a root cause to occur wrong and inappropriate responses. For an instance the Japanese expression‘頭に来る’（come in to head）gives the meaning of getting angry, though in sinhala language it means ‘get a good idea’. Therefore it is crystal clear that figurative meaning is more important that its literal meaning in any language. The main objective of the research is to identify the similarities and differences of idioms which consist parts of the body, especially ‘head’ ‘hand’ ‘mouth’ ‘eye’ ‘leg’ and ‘ear’ since Sinhala and Japanese language are abundant with idioms that corresponds with these parts of the body. It is an identified fact that using components like idioms in any languages are significant to preserve the purity of language and essential for effective day today communication. Therefore the findings of this paper will support students who learn Japanese as a foreign language to use and understand idioms in their daily communication and enrich their knowledge about idioms.