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

116 Éva Kovács (see Curme 1913/14: 325, de la Cruz 1975: 55). Though many of the modern post-verbal particles are the etymological counterparts of the verbal prefixes, Konishi (1958: 118) and de la Cruz (1972: 74, 84, 86) point out that the system of post-verbal particles represents a new development. In the OE period prefixes were predominant, but verbal particles also occurred, both following and preceding the verb. It is, however, generally acknowledged that preverbal position of the particle is more common in the OE phrasal verb than post-verbal position. De la Cruz (1975: 11) and Hiltunen (1983a: 105-26) show that although p [...] V order is more common in Old English, the frequency of V [...] p order increases steadily from late Old English to early Middle English. The ME period was characterised by the loss of some prefixes and the continued productivity or partial productivity of others, but also by the increasing frequency of verb particle combinations. Hiltunen (1983a: 92) sees the rapid decline of prefixes and sudden rise of particles in early Middle English as "remarkable". By the Modern English period, verbal prefixes were no longer productive, and the phrasal verb was fully established in the language (see Kennedy 1920: 13-14; Konishi 1958: 121-2) and has increased steadily in frequency and productivity. In Modern English, however, prefixed verbs survive in remnant forms preserving the stress pattern of Old English, for example, arise

, bereave, forbear, outdrink, overtake

, upbraid or withdraw

. A number of reasons have been proposed for the structural shift from prefixes to post verbal-par tides. Some of the explanations include the following: • the general analytic tendency of English (Konishi 1958: 118, 119; de la Cruz 1975: 67; Traugott 1982: 250); • the shift in word order from OV to VO (Konishi 1958: 118; Ti-augott 1982: 250; Hiltunen 1983a: 125, 144-6, 222); • the model of Old Norse, which had lost verbal prefixes at an early stage (Roberts 1936: 477; Samuels 1972: 60, 163-4; Hiltunen 19830a: 43, 97); • the lack of stress in the particles and subsequent loss of phonetic content (Samuels 1972: 163; de la Cruz 1975: 78; Hiltunen 1983a: 52) or, conversely, the stressing of the prefixes (Curme 1913/14; Kennedy 1920: 11, 16-17); • the weakening of the meaning of the prefixes, their syncretism, and grammaticalization (Samuels 1972: 164; de la Cruz 1975: 78; Hiltunen 1983a: 94-8, 100); • the development of adverbial functions in the particles (de la Cruz 1972: 79);