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
120 Éva Kovács (b) oferseolfrian 'to cover with silver' (c) oferdrincan 'to overdrink' The semantics of the prefix be- is quite complex. Frequently, be- seems to have a transitivizing function in OE or sometimes has an Aktionsart meaning (de la Cruz 1975 : 64) or it may add the sense 'round, over', often with only intensifying or perfective effect (Quirk and Wrenn 1957: 110). According to Brinton (1988: 209), the concept of goal can be understood to follow from the directional meaning of surrounding or encompassing, e.g.: (a) bewindan 'to wind round' in which be- has directional and telic meaning. (b) bestandan 'to stand by, surround', in which an intransitive verb is made transitive by the prefix be-. Brinton (1988: 210) states that the prefix ymb- 'around', with a concrete meaning similar to that of &e-, acquires aktionsart meaning in much the same way, e.g. in ymbhlennan to crowd about, surround' directional and telic meanings coexist. Though ford-, too, is considered by Quirk and Wrenn (1957: 116) to modify verbs only with a concrete meaning of 'motion forwards', it may assume telic meaning according to Brinton, eg.: (a) foröfaran 'to forth, depart, die' (b) foröberan 'to bear or carry forth, bring forth, produce' where in both cases, the verbal root has undergone a metaphorical shift. Neither a- nor ge- provides clear evidence for the semantic shift from directional to telic, since back in OE their meanings are widely extended. Both Quirk and Wrenn (1957: 119) and de la Cruz (1975: 73) point out that a- has an intensifying meaning. Nonetheless, Brinton (1988: 210) lists examples in which directional and telic meanings co-exist in OE, e.g.: afyllan 'to fill up' ásceacan to shake off ' á writ an 'to write out, down' OE ful- is also said to have perfective meaning (Quirk and Wrenn 1957: 116) or denotes the 'fullness, completeness or perfection" of the meaning of the word with which it is joined (Bosworth and Toller 1973: 68), but Brinton (1988: 211) points out that its origin and subsequent history differ from those of the above-mentioned verbal prefixes. Pal- is clearly adjectival rather than adverbial in origin. As a verbal prefix, it is fairly productive in OE, e.g.: fulbrecan to break entirely' fulgangan 'to fulfil, accomplish, finish'. It is not at all productive in ME. Instead, fub becomes a very frequent intensifier, especially with adjectives, adverbs and verb phrases.
