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
124 Éva Kovács directional and goal meanings as in lift up, dig up, pull up, grow up and blow up (a). It is also used commonly in figurative phrasal verbs (b). (a) He upp asce. 'He sat up.' (b) i»e laes t>e God up brede done godspellican cwide. 'lest God bring up words of the gospel against thee.' In conclusion, one can say that both the semantics and the syntax of the phrasal verb appear to be quite well-developed even in OE, especially with the particles of, ford , of düne, onweg, up , and üf. Though they occur primarily with verbs of motion or physical activity, the particles in these combinations express, at the same time, directional meanings, off, forth, down, away, up, out , and telic meanings, 'completely' or 'to an end'. The verbs in these combinations have both literal and metaphorical meanings, though the former are more common in OE. Finally, one can say that the syntactic development lags somewhat behind the semantic development. While aktionsart meanings appear early, the establishment of post-verbal and post-object order of the particle takes a long time. Both orders appear in OE, but preverbal order is still predominant. As the verbal prefixes continue to be weakened and overgeneralized, the phrasal verb extends its domain in Middle English. Although pure directional meanings of the particles still abound, the contexts in which both directional and telic meanings co-exist increase and then the telic meaning of the particle seems to be foregrounded. In addition, there are more figurative uses of phrasal verbs and more purely telic particles. Finally, idiomatic senses of phrasal verbs begin to appear. As Brinton (1988: 226-231) points out, the common telic particles in OE continue to be used in ME; these include of, forth, (a)down, awei, out(e) and up. As in OE, o/may have both directional and telic meaning with verbs of cutting (a) and the putting off of earthly things, of events, or of fears and the breaking off of activities are, of course, figurative, (b), e.g.: (a) The devyl smyte of here hed. 'The devil smote off her head.' (b) We schulde putte of material and ert>eHche binges. 'We should reject material and earthly things.' Forth is primarily directional in the meaning 'forth, forwards' (a), but it has both directional and telic meanings (b). In the figurative bringing forth of reasons or news and the putting forth of presumption or the active life, the particle has a strong telic sense (c), e.g.: (a) So there com a squyre brought forthe two sperys.
