Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Éva Kovács: Identification of phrasal verbs in the literature

ÉVA KOVÁCS IDENTIFICATION OF PHRASAL VERBS IN THE LITERATURE Abstract: My paper concerns the identification of phrasal verbs in recent grammar books, dictionaries and in the literature. Their importance lies in the fact that they form such a key part of everyday English, whereas they represent a feature of English much dreaded by learners. Some authors interpret phrasal verbs in a broader, others in a narrower sense, i.e. they include and exclude prepositional verbs respectively. After discussing their different interpretations, I suggest that cognitive grammar is the theoretical framework in which they can be analysed best as it seems to solve the problem arising from their being interpreted in a different way. 1 Introduction Phrasal verbs are a common feature of the English Language and one which learners encounter at a very early stage. Get up, take off, give up etc. would certainly appear in the vocabulary list of any course book for beginners. Learners, however, perceive them as a difficult aspect of the language. The productivity and the importance of phrasal verbs is also shown by the fact that a number of dictionaries of phrasal verbs have been published recently. E.g.: Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (1989, 1995), Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (1983), Oxford Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (1993), Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (1997). There are also some new workbooks on phrasal verbs available. E.g. English Idioms: Exercises on phrasal verbs by Seidl (1990), Collins Cobuild Phrasal Verbs Workbook by Goodale (1993), Test your Phrasal Verbs by Workman (1990), Phrasal Verbs and Idioms (Intermediate, Advanced) by Allshop. In this paper I would like to present how phrasal verbs are identified in recent grammar books and dictionaries and in the literature with special regard to cognitive grammar. 113