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

The Diachronic Development of Phrasal Verbs in English 117 • the greater clarity and expressiveness of phrasal forms (de la Cruz 1975: 49, 77; Hiltunen 1983a: 96, 97, 99) Brinton (1988: 191), however, points out that there are several aspects of the shift which are not dealt with by the above scholars, namely why some prefixes have counterparts as particles and others do not, why new particles develop, what the meaning relationships are between prefixes and particles, and how and when non-spatial meanings develop in the prefixes and particles. 2 Semantic change in the verbal prefixes and particles During the structural shift from prefixes to post-verbal particles, a change in the semantics can also be observed. The development of 'aktionsart' or aspect meanings in the verbal prefixes or particles is traditionally seen as resulting from one of two kinds of semantic change: 'bleaching' or 'metaphorical change'. In the view of bleaching, the particles are thought to lose their 'original' adverbial meaning and they are seen as fading gradually from concrete to more abstract meanings. This view goes back as far as Streitberg (1891: 102-3), who considers that the meaning of the prefixes has 'disappeared', 'evaporated' or been 'blown away'. In the other standard view, i.e. the metaphorical shift, the particles are understood as participating in a figurative shift from concrete to abstract, or more specifically from spatial to aspectual meanings (e.g. de la Cruz 1972: 115-16; Hiltunen 1983a: 148). Brinton (1988: 193), however, points out two aspects of the meaning of prefixes and particles which weaken the standard explanations of bleaching and metaphor. First, Brinton notes that both concrete and non-concrete meanings can be present in the same expression. The possibility of such meanings occurring simultaneously argues against the theory of bleaching, which proposes that particles and prefixes fade from one meaning to another. Second, Brinton also points out that the semantics of the particles is explained as a continuum from spatial to aspectual meanings. She (1988: 197) suggests that "the relation between spatial and aspectual expressions is based on an analogous relation of parts between objects in space and situations developing through time. Spatial expressions which indicate directions (or lines) yield telic aktionsart expressions, whereas spatial meanings which indicate locations yield continuative/iterative aspect expressions." Brinton (1988: 198) regards the shift not as metaphoric, but metonymic because "the particles themselves do not assume figurative value, nor does the combination of verb particle effect some figurative shift." The author