Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2004. Vol. 4. Eger Journal of English Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 30)
ÉVA KOVÁCS The Diachronic Development ofPhrasal Verbs in English
122 Éva Kovács 4 Emergence of the phrasal verb: from spatial to aspectual meanings in OE and ME Although verbal prefixes were productive during the OE and much of the ME period, there is evidence for the origin of the phrasal verb even in OE. It appears clear that the particles of phrasal verbs at first have literal, spatial meanings (as noted by Curme 1913/14, Kennedy 1920: 16, Konishi 1958: 119). Hiltunen (1983a: 146-7) also determined that the 'basic' meaning of the 'phrasal adverb' was 'the direction or the location of the action denoted by the verb'. In the shift from prefixes to verbal particles, there are losses and additions to the set of forms used. The prefixes a-, be-, for-, ge- and tö- fall out of favour, and only the adverbial equivalents of of- (off), ofer- (over), purh- (through) and ford- (forth) remain as common verbal particles in the OE and ME periods. The innovated forms, away, down, out, up, and along , function only as adverbs, not as verbal prefixes in OE and have claer directional, or in the case of along locative meaning. According to Brinton (1988: 215), the directional markers may assume telic values and the locative may assume continuative/iterative values. Furthermore, spatial and nonspatial meanings often also co-exist, and in such a context, the particles may acquire pure aktionsart or aspect meanings by a change of focus from one kind of meaning to another. Where metaphorical shifts have occurred in the verbal roots, the particles retain spatial meaning. Among the verbal prefixes and particles of OE, three groups can be distinguished: prefixes which have no corresponding particles, prefixes which do have corresponding particles, and new particles which have no corresponding prefixes. Among the first group are OE prefixes a-, be-, for-, ge- and tö-] de la Cruz (1975) terms these 'pure prefixes', that is, prefixes without prepositional counterparts or with widely differing functions from their counterparts. Among the second group of particles, those which correspond to verbal prefixes, are purh, ford, ymb, on, ofer and of. In OE most occur only occasionally as adverbial particles, usually with quite literal meaning. However, of and ford show fairly full development as verb particles in OE. As Brinton (1988: 217) states, of most commonly denotes 'separation, removal', notions which combine directional and telic meanings, especially with verbs of physical action such as cut, drive, pull, knocks etc, e.g.: Gif man cealf of adrife. 'If someone drives off a calf' Ford also commonly exhibits particle functions. The sense of ford
