Phrasal verbs and their different treatment

Contents

 

Introduction..............................................................................................................3

1. Phrasal verb as a linguistic phenomenon……………………………………….5

      1.1 The origin of the phrasal verb......................................................................5

      1.2 Difficulties in using phrasal verbs...............................................................7

      1.3 Distinguishing between verbs followed by prepositions and verbs followed by adverbs……………………………………………………………………...….8

      1.4 Variety of approaches of classifying phrasal verbs.....................................11

      1.5 Usage of phrasal verbs.................................................................................20

      1.6 New phrasal verbs.......................................................................................22

2. Practical research of using phrasal verbs.............................................................24

       2.1 Aims of the practical research....................................................................24

      2.2 The analysis of using phrasal verbs in different text styles........................24

             2.2.1 Phrasal verbs in Belles-lettres style...................................................25

             2.2.2 Phrasal verbs in scientific style.........................................................45

             2.2.3 Phrasal verbs in official style............................................................52

             2.2.4 Phrasal verbs in newspaper style.......................................................57

       2.3 Comparative analysis of using phrasal verbs in different text styles.........62

Conclusion...............................................................................................................64

References...............................................................................................................66

Appendices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

English grammar is the subject that provokes many argumentations. There are a lot of methods of approaching an investigator's opinions. But nevertheless English grammar is a peculiar structure and the topic, which is worth to be researched.

The interest to the research of phrasal verbs has existed for many years. Even nowadays the endless disputes about the nature of phrasal verb and analysis of its meaning is take place in modern scientific society.

The theme of our diploma paper is ‘Phrasal verbs and their different treatment’.

From scientific point of view when a verb is used with an adverb particle the combination is called a phrasal verb. There are a very large number of these in English. The meaning of a phrasal verb is often very different from the meanings of the two words taken separately. In order to understand the meaning of a phrasal verb, we may have to refer to the dictionary.

There is a difficult question of when it is appropriate to use phrasal verbs. The scientific point of view is that they should be used mainly in speaking rather than writing, and in informal rather than formal situations and texts. It is often said that, in formal contexts, single-word equivalents are more appropriate than phrasal verbs.

But for the majority of people phrasal verbs are used across all types of text, even where the writer or speaker has the option of choosing a single-word alternative. Although phrasal verbs tend to enter the language through casual speech, in most cases they progressively become accepted across a wider range of texts.

This fact defines the currency of our research. Moreover it lies in the necessity to analyze and systematize all theoretical knowledge connected with such a phenomena as phrasal verbs.

The aims of our research work are to characterize peculiarities of types of the phrasal verbs and prove the usage of phrasal verbs in different text styles.

The aims demands achieving the following objectives:

1. To analyze scientific and methodological literature on the topic;
2. To characterize main features of phrasal verbs and their types;
3. To create a classification of phrasal verbs;
4. To analyse the use of phrasal verbs in different text styles;
5. To define the priority of phrasal verbs and their types in different text styles;

The object of our research is the grammar of English language.

The subject is different types of phrasal verbs and their usage in different text styles.

The hypothesis: Phrasal verbs are used in different text styles.

In the process of work the following methods were used:

1. Analysis of theoretical and methodological literature;
2. Generalization and systematization;
3. Method of investigation;
4. Method of analysis;
5. Contrastive analysis;

Theoretical scientific basis of diploma became studying well-known linguists’ investigations; among them is Bollinger D., Arnold I.V., Palmer F.R., Collins C., materials from Internet, Oxford phrasal verbs dictionary.

Our work consists of introduction, theoretical part, practical part, conclusion, references and appendix.

Practical value of the paper: on the basis of the given diploma paper different types of phrasal verbs were worked out and compared in different text styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Phrasal verb as a linguistic phenomenon

      1.1 The origin of the phrasal verb

 

Since phrasal verbs were not investigated until the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, although they have been part of the English language for centuries, their history is still a controversial subject. Rolando Bachelor says it is "impossible to write an exhaustive and definitive history of phrasal verbs." The term itself, "phrasal verb," was first seen in print in 1925 when Logan Pearsall Smith used it in Words and Idioms; it was supposedly suggested to him by Editor Henry Bradley. Phrasal verbs themselves, however, have been around much longer, as can be seen by looking at some Shakespearean and Middle English works.

Torne about and goon dour, for example, are both phrasal verbs that have been found in Middle English language in 1300 and 1388, respectively, and phrasal verbs are common in Shakespeare's works. Even though they were present in literature in the fourteenth century, they weren't considered serious formations until the eighteenth century, when lexicographer Samuel Johnson noted them "with great care" in his Dictionary of the English Language.

 

Olga Fischer believes the emergence of phrasal verbs to be "the most notable new development in Middle English [the form of the English language spoken and written from about the 12th to the beginning of the 16th centuries] involving prepositions". Phrasal verbs developed because Old English [the earliest from of the English language, used up to around A.D. 1150 prefixes were deteriorating and they have now practically replaced the prefixes. The deterioration of Old English prefixes came about because it was becoming impossible to establish undeviating meanings for them. Bachelor argues in his commentary that "phrasal verbs are a native development that in some measure received a boost from the [Scandinavian, French, and Celtic] languages." In fact, the development of phrasal verbs in both the northern and southern dialects at the same time attests to their native development. Also, since phrasal verbs are used more in vernacular English than in formal and since lexically mature verb-particle combinations have been found in the mid-twelfth century, some experts argue that "we must suppose the type to have become deeply entrenched even before period IV [i.e. the period between 1170 and 1370]". Even then, phrasal verbs did not show much fortitude until the fifteenth century. The expansion of phrasal verbs occurred with the adoption of the Subject Verb Object word-order (Bachelor). One researcher, Kennedy, proposes the idea that this took place because the invasion of Romance compound verbs stunted the growth of new verb-particle combinations. The history of phrasal verbs is still under debate today. [1; 27-56]

 

Samuel Johnson was a distinguished 18th century English author who, in 1755, published the Dictionary of the English Language. In the preface he wrote:

“There is another kind of composition more frequent in our language than perhaps in any other, from which arises to foreigners the greatest difficulty. We modify the signification of many words by a particle subjoined…” [2; 10]

 

Let us consider different definitions of Phrasal verbs which were introduced in different sources.

A Phrasal verb is, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: [...] a simple verb combined with an adverb or a preposition, or sometimes both, to make a new verb with a meaning that is different from that of the simple verb, e.g., go in for, win over, blow up.

There are a number of phrasal verbs in both spoken and written English (lists over 6000 entries). As the definition states, the meaning of a phrasal verb cannot be easily guessed from individual components—many non-native speakers of English must therefore memorize phrasal verbs in order to be able to understand and use them in the right context. [3; 312]

A phrasal verb is a type of verb in English that operates more like a phrase than a word. Tom McArthur in the Oxford Companion to the English Language notes that these verbs are also referred to by many other names such verb phrase, discontinuous verb, compound verb, verb-adverb combination, verb-particle construction, American English two-part word/verb and three-part word/verb. [4; 324]

David Crystal in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language calls this linguistic phenomenon a "multi-word verb" that is best described as a lexeme, a unit of meaning that may be greater than a single word. [5; 234]

Wikipedia describes a Phrasal verb:

...is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may contain direct and indirect objects in addition to the phrasal verb. Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the English language. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original verb. [6]

A Phrasal verb is, according to ‘English Phrasal Verbs in Use’ (Cambridge, 2004): [...] verb which has a main verb and particle which, together, create on meaning (e.g. a plane takes off from the airport; an adult looks after the child). [7; 16]

Phrasal verbs are, according to Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus (Oxford: Bloombury Publishing Plc.2005): [...] a colourful and challenging aspect of the English language, and familiarity with a wide range of these verb-particle combinations and the ability to use them appropriately are among the distinguishing marks of a native like command of English. [8; 112]

These are just a few examples (make up, blow out, pass out, look after) of the many English phrasal verbs, which constitute one of the most distinctive and creative features of the English language. The phrasal verb consists of a verb, usually a monosyllabic verb of action or movement such as go, put, take, and one or more particles. The particle may be an adverb, a preposition, or a word that can act as either adverb or preposition. Often the meaning of these verb phrases is idiomatic and cannot be determined by knowing the meaning of their individual parts. Because of this, phrasal verbs are often difficult for foreigners who are study English as a second language.

Phrasal verbs are extremely common, especially in spoken English, and are used more informally than their Latinate synonyms, e.g. use up vs. consume; gather together vs. assemble; put out vs. extinguish. English grammarians note that phrasal verbs have increased significantly since the mid-nineteenth century and especially so in mid-twentieth century American English. Many phrasal verbs can be replaced, with little change of meaning, by single word verbs: give in by yield, look after by tend, carry on by continue, put up with by tolerate. In most cases the phrasal verb is less formal, more colloquial and more image-and/or emotion-laden than the single word. [9; 164-165]

 

1.2 Difficulties in using phrasal verbs

 

There are some difficulties with phrasal verbs. In most cases the meaning of phrasal verbs does not depend on the meaning of their components. The thing here is: are the second elements prepositions, adverbs or some other parts of speech? This problem has become acute in Modern English.

The prevailing view here is that they are adverbs. But there are other views like Palmer's - "prepositions like adverbs"; Amosova's "postpositives", Ilyish's "half-word, half-morphemes" and so on. None of these suggestions can be accepted. They are not adverbs because other adverbs do not fulfill such functions, i.e. they do not change the meaning of the preceding word; they are not postpositives, because postpositives in other languages do not serve to build new words, and at last they are not grammatical morphemes and consequently the whole group cannot be a word since in English no discontinuous word is found as, for instance, bring them up. The word them breaks the unity. The problem remains unsolved. For the time being, the most acceptable theory is the theory expressed by B.A. Ilyish in his latest grammar. He refers them very cautiously, with doubts, to phraseology and thus it should be the subject-matter of the lexicology. [10; 216-222]

Some foreign Grammarians give different treatment to phrasal verbs. According to their opinion phrasal verb is an umbrella term for different kinds of multi - word verbs. Such verbs are of typical and frequent occurrence in all types of English, but most especially in every day spoken English. [11;53-89]

Phrasal verbs are often of particular difficulty experienced by learners of English. There are several reasons for this. One reason is that in many cases, even though students may be familiar with both the verb in phrasal verb and with the particle, they may not understand the meaning of the combination, since it can differ greatly from the meanings of the two words used independently. The fact that phrasal verbs often have a number of different meanings adds to this complexity additional difficulty.

There are some particular grammatical problems associated with phrasal verbs. For example, there are restrictions on the positions in which an adverb can be placed in relation to the object of a verb. Some particles, such as about, over, round and through can be used as both adverbs and prepositions in particular phrasal verbs combinations, although in other combinations they are used either as adverb or preposition. Some phrasal verbs are not normally used with pronouns as objects; others are normally used with pronouns as objects.

There are other difficulties such as the fact that there are frequently strong collocation associations between phrasal verbs and other words. Thus, in some cases a particular word or small set of words is the only one normally found as the subject or object of a particular verb. [12; 38-44]

 

1.3 Distinguishing between verbs followed by prepositions and verbs followed by adverbs

 

The differences are summarized in the following table (Table 1). The verbs to sit and to turn are used as examples. The verb to sit is followed by on used as a preposition, whereas the verb to turn is followed by on used as an adverb.

Table 1

 

In the first example pronoun object is placed after the preposition: I sat on it.      

As for the second example pronoun object is placed before the adverb: I turned it on.

Adverb of manner may be placed between verb and preposition:

I sat quietly on it.

Adverb of manner may not be placed between verb and adverb:

I quietly turned it on.

 

Because of the differences, it is important to be able to distinguish between a verb followed by a preposition, and a verb followed by an adverb. [13; 234-268]

 

1. Adverb phrases of location compared with phrasal verbs followed by objects

In many cases, it is necessary to distinguish between an ordinary verb followed by an adverb phrase of location, and a phrasal verb followed by an object.

I turned up the street.

I turned up the volume.

In the first example, the verb turned is followed by the adverb phrase of location up the street. In the second example, the phrasal verb turned up is followed by the object volume. In this example, the phrasal verb turned up has the meaning “increased”.

 

In the first example, street is the object of the preposition up. If the object is changed to a pronoun, the pronoun must follow the preposition:

I turned up the street.

I turned up it.

In the second example, volume is the object of the phrasal verb turned up. If the object is changed to a pronoun, the pronoun must precede the adverb up.

I turned up the volume.

I turned it up.

In the first example, if the verb is modified by an adverb of manner, the adverb of manner may precede the adverb phrase of location:

I turned up the street.

I turned quickly up the street.

In the second example, if the verb is modified by an adverb of manner, the adverb of manner may not be placed between the two parts of the phrasal verb:

I turned up the volume.

I quickly turned up the volume. [14; 1-28]

 

2. Words used as prepositions or adverbs

It is also necessary to be able to distinguish between a phrasal verb consisting of a verb followed by a preposition, and a phrasal verb consisting of a transitive verb followed by an adverb. In many cases it is possible to make the distinction by means of the preposition or adverb following the verb.

For example, the following words (Table 2) are used in phrasal verbs as prepositions, but are not usually used in phrasal verbs as adverbs following transitive verbs:

Table 2

 

In contrast, the following words (Table 3) are used in phrasal verbs as adverbs following transitive verbs, but are not usually used in phrasal verbs as prepositions:

Table 3

 

It should be noted that of these words, aside, away, back, forward, out and together are usually never used as prepositions.

In contrast, the words along, behind, down and up are often used as prepositions, but are not usually used as prepositions in phrasal verbs.

 

The following words (Table 4) present more difficulty, since they can be used in phrasal verbs both as prepositions and as adverbs following transitive verbs:

Table 4

 

Thus, it is advisable to study which phrasal verbs use these words as prepositions, and which phrasal verbs use these words as adverbs. The following table gives examples of phrasal verbs containing each of these words. The left-hand column gives phrasal verbs consisting of verbs followed by prepositions, while the right-hand column gives phrasal verbs consisting of transitive verbs followed by adverbs.

Words used as Prepositions or Adverbs

 

Verb + Preposition: come across, cut across, run across, stumble across;

Transitive Verb + Adverb: get across (an idea), put across (an idea);

 

Verb + Preposition: hang around, lounge around, mill around, pass around, rally round, show around;

Transitive Verb + Adverb: bring round   

 

Verb + Preposition: confide in, deal in, join in;

Transitive Verb + Adverb:  break in, breathe in, call in, fill in, hand in, phase in, rope in, take in, trade in;

 

Verb + Preposition: glance off, keep off, warn off;

Transitive Verb + Adverb:  call off, fend off, give off, lay off, pair off, pension off, polish off, pull off, put off, reel off, sell off, shrug off, turn off, write off;

Verb + Preposition: come upon, count on, dawn on, decide on, dwell on, enlarge on, expand on, frown on, grow on, hinge on , live on, pick on, prey on, reckon on, survive on, thrust upon, touch on, verge on, call on, build on, border on, bank on;

Transitive Verb + Adverb: cheer on, hand on, try on, turn on;

    

Verb + Preposition: get over, go over, run over, watch over;

Transitive Verb + Adverb: take over, talk over, think over, paper over, smooth over;

 

Verb + Preposition: break through, get through, go through, leaf through, look through, sail through, scrape through, see through, sit through, wade through

Transitive Verb + Adverb: pull through. [15; 12-30]

 

1.4 Variety of approaches of classifying phrasal verbs

 

In spite of that investigation of phrasal verbs is widely presented in many works, scientists did not come to one common principle of classification. [16; 335-358]

 

• According to Bollinger’s classification there are four types of phrasal verbs.

 

1. Phrasal verbs consisting of a verb followed by a preposition (v+prep)

 

In the case of a phrasal verb, the verb followed by the preposition forms an expression with an idiomatic meaning.

For instance, the phrasal verb to come across is an idiomatic expression with the meaning to find. Similarly, the phrasal verb to frown on is an idiomatic expression with the meaning to disapprove of.

 We came across an old diary while we were cleaning out the attic.

The workers frowned on the practice of smoking in the office.

It should be noted that some phrasal verbs consisting of a verb followed by a preposition can be used in the Passive Voice.

  The practice of smoking in the office was frowned on by the workers.

  The children were looked after by their aunt.

In these examples, the phrasal verbs to frown on and to look after are used in the Passive Voice.

 

The position of the object of the preposition

The object of a preposition usually follows the preposition, whether the object is a noun or a pronoun. In the following examples, the objects are underlined.

We have launched into a new project.

We have launched into it.

In these examples, the noun project and the pronoun it are the objects of the preposition into of the phrasal verb to launch into. Both the noun object and the pronoun object follow the preposition.

 

The position of an adverb of manner modifying the verb

If a verb is followed by a preposition, an adverb of manner may be placed between the verb and the preposition. In the following examples, the adverbs of manner are underlined.