DERIVATION WITHIN ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS

Воробьёва О.С.

Кандидат филологических наук, доцент,

Донецкий национальный университет

ДЕРИВАЦИЯ В СИСТЕМЕ АНГЛИЙСКИХ ФРАЗОВЫХ ГЛАГОЛОВ

Аннотация

Статья посвящена анализу деривационных процессов в системе английских фразовых глаголов Исследование проводилось на материале одной из наиболее продуктивных пар фразовых глаголов, а именно, глаголов с постпозитивными компонентами on и off, с целью выявления в их деривационных системах изоморфных и алломорфных признаков.

Ключевые слова: фразовый глагол, постпозитивный компонент, деривация (словообразовательная и семантическая), мотивация (эксплицитная и имплицитная).

Vorob'jova O.S.

PhD in Linguistics, associate professor,

Donetsk National University

DERIVATION WITHIN ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of derivational processes within English phrasal verbs. The research is carried out on the basis of one of the most productive oppositions in the system of phrasal verbs, namely verbs with postpositive components on and off, the primary aim of the study being to single out their isomorphic and allomorphic derivational features.

Keywords: phrasal verb, postpositive component/postpositive, derivation (word-forming and semantic), motivation (explicit and implicit).

Theoretical outline

One of the ways of enlarging and enriching verbal lexicon of most languages, including English, is word formation. The distinguishing feature of the English verbal word formation is the functioning of such complex lexemes as to turn on, to turn off which consist of a monolexemic verb and a postpositive component of adverbial and prepositional nature.

The term “postpositive component” or “postpositive” (Amosova 1963), which is synonymous to terms like “adverbial postposition” (Anichkov 1947), “prepositional adverb” (Berlizon 1954), “postpositive prefix” (Zhluktenko 1954), etc., constitutes a post-verbal component that forms with a verb a relatively stable semantic and syntactic combination owing to the weakening of its adverbial or prepositional function.

Regarding the terminological ambiguity of second components inherent in these verbal combinations, more generally known as “phrasal verbs”, linguists have not yet reached the common view on the nature of the second component as well as the categorical status of the combination on the whole.

Some scholars look upon second components as notional words, namely adverbs or prepositions (Berlizon 1954; Kruisinga 1931; Marchand 1967 and others), defining the status of verbal complexes as verbal-adverbial or verbal-prepositional combinations. Others keep to the point that postpositive component is a word-building element, which either modifies or utterly changes the meаning of the basic verb, and refer the whole verbal complex to the class of analytical verbs (Kerlin 1959; Kuznets 1959 and others).

Notwithstanding different views as for the definition of the postpositive component, most scientists, who dwell on this problem, still agree that in the English language second component of the complex lexemes under analysis is used as the principal means of inner verbal word formation in contrast to other Indo-European languages, which resort to prefixation in such cases. Postpositive components in Modern English perform largely the same functions as prefixes in Russian and Ukrainian and separable prefixes in German.

Phrasal verbs or verbs with postpositive components are regarded in the current research as derivative lexical units formed from corresponding basic verbs with the help of postpositive components/postpositives. In this connection, one of the most important aspects of studying derivational peculiarities of these complex lexemes is to identify and analyze types of semantic correlation between phrasal verbs and their basic verbs. Due to this, in the present paper verbs with postpositive components are studied together with their basic verbs (BVs).

This article is devoted to the comparative analysis of derivational peculiarities of phrasal verbs with postpositive components on and off (PhV-on and PhV-off), that is lexemes like to go on, to go off. The choice of phrasal verbs with these very postpositives as an object of this study can be accounted for by the fact that these verbal complexes are remarkable for their original semantic opposition, well-developed semantic structure, high productivity and wide use in speech.

The material of the study runs to 1112 PhV-on and PhV-off (404 PhV-on and 708 PhV-off) and 342 basic verbs. This corpus is received by means of continuous sampling from the dictionaries of Modern English (Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Oxford Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, etc.) aw well as from the catalogue of text examples (1500 sentences with PhV-on and 1500 sentences with PhV-off) loaded from British National Corpus.

The primary aim of the research is to provide a closer insight into the derivation within the system of the above mentioned phrasal verbs, namely to single out, illustrate and compare its means.

Derivation within phrasal verbs with postpositives on and off Derivational processes within English phrasal verbs, namely phrasal verbs with postpositive components on and off (PhV-on and PhV-off) are manifested through:

1) the formation of PhV-on and PhV-off from corresponding monolexemic basic verbs with the help of postpositive components on and off (word-forming derivation);

2) the development of the semantic structure of PhV-on and PhV-off themselves (semantic derivation).

The next table gives general vision of derivational processes which occur within PhV-on and PhV-off systems.

 

Table 1 - Types of Derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off

№	Type of Derivation	The number of PhV-on	The number of PhV-off
1.	Word-forming Derivation (certain changes in the semantics of BVs at the formation of PhV-on and PhV-off	395 (97,8%)	610 (86,2%)
2.	Semantic Derivation (certain changes within already existing meanings of PhV-on/off at the formation of their new meanings)	9 (2,2%)	98 (13,8%)
	Total	404 (100%)	708 (100%)

Word-forming derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off. The following table casts light on the means of word-forming derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off, provides their descriptions and quantitative characteristics.

 

Table 2 - Means of Word-forming Derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off

№	Means of Word-forming Derivation	PhV-on		PhV-off
		Example	Number	Example		Number
1.	The Presence of Word-forming Derivation (partial or full change of the meanings of BVs at the formation of         PhV-on/off from them)		384 (97,2%)			534 (87,5%)
1.1.	The Presence of Semantic Connection (the possibility to derive the meanings of          PhV-on/off from the meanings of their BVs)		277 (70,1%)			414 (67,8%)
1.1.1.	Explicit motivation (full reproduction of the meanings of BVs in the PhV-on/off’s semantics)	to ride on ‘to continue riding (i.e. ‘travelling along, controlling and sitting on (a horse or other animal, a bicycle, or a motorcycle)’)’ ← to ride ‘to travel along, controlling and sitting on (a horse or other animal, a bicycle, or a motorcycle)’	70 (17,7%)	to hack off ‘to remove by hacking (i.e. cutting with a knife or smth. sharp, in a rough and careless way)’ ← to hack ‘to cut with a knife or smth. sharp, in a rough and careless way)’	169 (27,7%)
1.1.2.	Implicit motivation		207 (52,4%)		245 (40,1%)
1.1.2.1.	the possibility to re-interpret the meanings of         PhV-on/off and their BVs	to bank on ‘to rely on smb./smth. (to have confidence in)’ ← to bank ‘to keep money (in a bank)’ (if one keeps money in a bank, they rely on this service (i.e. have confidence in it))	171 (43,3%)	to pack off ‘to send smb. to a place, usu. without asking if they want to go, and without allowing them to refuse’ ← to pack ‘to put (things, esp. one’s belongings) into cases, boxes, etc., usu. for taking somewhere’ (quite often one sends another one with the things packed)	181 (29,6%)
1.1.2.2.	the presence of a common seme or semes in the semantics of PhV-on/off and their BVs	to hop on ‘to throw smth. (i.e. to cause smth. to move, usu. forward)’ ← to hop ‘to jump (i.e. to move oneself into the air or away from the surface by the force of one’s legs)’	36 (9,1%)	to skip off ‘to leave (i.e. to move away from) a place suddenly, esp. when you should not’ ← to skip ‘to move in a light dancing way, with quick steps and jumps’	64 (10,5%)
1.2.	The Absence of Semantic Connection (no possibility to derive the meanings of          PhV-on/off from the meanings of their BVs; phrasal verbs tend to be regarded regarded as phraseological units	to round on ‘to criticize, usu. sharply’ ← to round ‘to make smth. round’ (the meaning of PhV-on and its BV are not sematically related, they belong to different semantic classes of verbs)	107 (27,1%)	to blow off ‘to cancel (an event)’ ← to blow ‘to send out a strong current of air’(the meaning of      PhV-on and its BV are not sematically related, they belong to different semantic classes of verbs)	120 (19,7%)
2.	The Absence of Word-forming Derivation (the meanings of          PhV-on/off and their BVs are identical)	to cheer on ‘to express approval or support, to encourage’ ← to cheer to express approval or support, to encourage’	11 (2,8 %)	to auction off ‘to sell smth. at an auction’ ← to auction ‘to sell smth. at an auction’	76 (12,5%)
	Total		395 (100%)		610 (100%)

It is clearly seen from the table above that the presence of word-forming derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off is represented by semantic correlations between basic verbs and phrasal verbs derived from them. The research that has been carried out enables to observe two distinct types of such correlations among which are 1) the presence of semantic connection between a phrasal verb and its basic verb which is expressed by two types of motivation (explicit and implicit) typical of PhV-on/PhV-off and 2) the absence of semantic connection between these two verbs which shows that PhV-on/PhV-off can be non-motivated by the meanings of their basic verbs and postpositives on and off and generally tend to be regarded as phraseological units (see also 1-1.2 in Table 2).

Special attention here should be laid on the fact that within the corpus of PhV-on/PhV-off one can come across examples in which the meaning of a PhV-on/PhV-off doesn’t differ from the meaning of its BV, which demonstrates, on its turn, the absence of word-forming derivation (see also 2. in Table 2). It happens when postpositives on/off endure full desemantization and turn into the indicators of quantitative characteristic of an action (emphatic particle which intensifies the meaning of the basic verb).

2. Semantic derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off. The development of semantics of PhV-on/PhV-off can occur not only from the meanings of the corresponding basic verbs, but also within the semantic structure of PhV-on/PhV-off themselves by means of metaphorization, narrowing, widening and modification of the already existing meanings of PhV-on/PhV-off by additional semes (semantic derivation).

The table below illustrates the above mentioned means of semantic derivation and provides their quantitative data.

Table 3 - Means of Semantic Derivation within PhV-on and PhV-off

№	Means of Semantic Derivation	PhV-on		PhV-off
		Example	Number	Example	Number
1.	metaphorization of the direct meaning of PhV-on/off	to go on ‘to make progress, to be successful’ ← to go on ‘to move forward’ ← to go ‘to move or travel’	4 (44,4%)	to throw off ‘to get rid of smth. unpleasant’ ← throw off ‘to remove (a piece of clothing) quickly and carelessly’ ← to throw ‘to cause smth. to move rapidly through the air’	76 (77,6%)
2.	narrowing of the already existing meaning of PhV-on/off	to add on (2) ‘to add another part to a house, garden, etc.’← to add on (1)‘to put together with smth. else so as to increase the number, size, importance, etc.’ ← to add = to add on (in its first meaning(1))	5 (55,6%)	to send off (2) ‘to force (the player) to leave the field because he has broken the rules’ ← to send off (1) ‘to cause to go or be taken to a place’← to send = to send off (in its first meaning (1))	7 (7,1%)
3.	widening of the already existing meaning of PhV-on/off	_____	__	to shave off ‘to reduce smth. by a small amount’ ← to shave off ‘to remove hair from the skin completely by shaving’ ← to shave ‘to cut off (a beard or face hair) close to the skin’	4 (4,1%)
4.	modification of the already existing meaning of PhV-on/off by additional semes	_____	__	to get off ‘to cause smb. to stop taking medicine, drugs’ ← to get off ‘to stop taking medicine, drugs’ ← to get ‘to begin to have’	11 (11,2%)
	Всього		9 (100%)		98 (100%)

Isomophic and allomorphic derivational features within phrasal verbs with postpositives on and off

Common (isomorphic) derivational features of PhV-on and PhV-off are1) the formation of these verbal derivatives by means of word-forming derivation (PhV-on/off are formed from basic verbs by means of postpositives on/off) and semantic derivation (the meanings of PhV-on/off are developed from the meanings of PhV-on/off which already exist in the direction of their metaphorization, narrowing, widening or modification by additional semes) and 2) the presence of 3 following types of system-defined relations between PhV-on/off and their basic verbs: the relations of derivation (the meanings of PhV-on/off are either explicitly or implicitly motivated by the meanings of their basic verbs); the relations of idiomatic character (the meanings of PhV-on/off are not motivated by the meanings of their basic verbs and can be, therefore, regarded as set expressions with figurative meanings); the relations of equivalence (the meanings of the basic verbs and PhV-on/off are identical, postpositives on/off are completely deprived of their lexical meanings and perform the function of the intensifying particle, modifying the meaning of the basic verb). The most productive for both PhV-on and PhV-off appear to be the relations of derivation that can be accounted for by the original derivative nature of these lexical units.

Distinguishing (allomorphic) within the derivational systems of the phrasal verbs under study are 1) the fact that different word-forming models are productive for PhV-on and PhV-off (e.g. the most productive, typical of PhV-off exclusively, is the model “BV of movement + PC-off with the meaning of ‘away from (the place)’ → PhV-off with the meaning of ‘to leave a place in the way expressed by the BV’” while for PhV-on the most typical is the model “BV of movement / social activity of a person + PC-on with the meaning of ‘continuation of the action’→ PhV-on with the meaning of ‘the continuation of the action, expressed by the BV’”) and 2) more productive in quantitative as well as qualitative relations semantic derivation within PhV-off (the possibility of semantic derivation within PhV-on is confined only to metaphorization and narrowing of the already existing meanings of PhV-on, see also Table 3).

References

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