Phrasal verbs

1.2 Phrasal verbs

1.2.1 History

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 (Oxford Companion 772). 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 (1755).

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" (386). Phrasal verbs developed because Old English [the earliest from of the English language, used up to around A.D. 1150 prefixes were deteriorating (Cambridge History 377), and they have now practically replaced the prefixes (Fischer 386). The deterioration of Old English prefixes came about because it was becoming impossible to establish undeviating meanings for them (Cambridge 377). 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]" (Fischer 398). 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 (SVO) 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 (Fischer 398). The history of phrasal verbs is still under debate today. [8]

1.2.2 The structure and meaning of phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a combination of a "simple" verb (consisting of one word). (For example: come, put, go) and a postposition (for example: in, off, up), representing semantic and syntactic uniform unit.

For example: come in - to enter give up - to cease The phrasal verb can be replaced by a "simple" verb. It characterizes a phrasal verb as semantic unity:

call up – telephone

come by – obtain

put off – postpone

put up with - tolerate. [16]

But this criterion is not common for all phrasal verbs since the equivalent of many phrasal verbs is a word-combination:

break down - stop functioning

make up - apply cosmetics

take off - of a plane - leave the ground. [17]

The next peculiarity is idiomatic. The idiom is a combination of two or more words, whose value does not coincide with the value of its components. Many phrasal verbs have the value which is impossible to deduce from the values of its components.

For example: bring up - educate

give up - stop doing, using, etc.

go off - explode; ring

come by - obtain.

It is difficult to define the meaning of an idiomatic verb.

So for example the verbs fall down and pull off, on the one hand, don't possess any idiomatic value.

fall down - to fall

pull off - to remove, pull down

But these verbs have also the following dictionary values.

fall down - 1) to admire (to someone in power)

2) to fail, unsuccessfully to terminate

pull off - 1) to achieve, despite difficulties

2) to win (a prize, competition)

So, the given property is not the core for phrasal verbs.

Sometimes the value of a verb can be deduced from its components.

Some phrasal verbs have two and more values, one of which idiomatic, others opposite which are easily deduced from their components.

Many linguists consider the ability of phrasal verbs to form the passive voice as one of their basic properties.

For example: Payments are limited to 10 % each month.

This medicine must be measured out exactly.

The next property of a phrasal verb is the possibility to have adverbial postposition before and after a noun used with the given verb. For object the final position bears the big semantic loading, therefore if addition does not bear the new or important information, usually it settles down interposition.

 For example: Call him up or call up him (not his sister)

 If the object is expressed by several words, it, most likely, will be taking of a final position.

 For example: He put on the coat he had bought in London.

 If the object is expressed by a pronoun, it always is interposition.

 For example: He took his coat and put it on. [15]