A STUDY OF THE PARTICLES OF PHRASAL, PREPOSITIONAL AND PHRASAL-PREPOSITIONAL VERBS IN OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY OF CURRENT ENGLISH
A STUDY OF THE PARTICLES
OF PHRASAL, PREPOSITIONAL
IN OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY
OF CURRENT ENGLISH
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Student Number: 044214048
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A STUDY OF THE PARTICLES
OF PHRASAL, PREPOSITIONAL
IN OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY
OF CURRENT ENGLISH
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Student Number: 044214048
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
HAPPY DON’T LAST LONG (THEA ASTLEY)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First of all, the writer would like to thank God especially for the positive energy in her and also in others so that she could finish her thesis writing.
In the second place, she would like to thank Mr. Fr. B. Alip, her advisor, for his help.
She would like to mention several names: Mr. Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, her co-advisor, Mr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji and Ms. Adventina Putranti; they have helped the writer more or less much.
The writer would also like to thank her friends for their support, among others: Mr. Teguh Satria Pramana Jaya, Ms. Desynata Purnamasari, Ms. Fransiska Andar Rosalina, Ms. Ni Wayan Shanti Devi Mahaswari – Ms. Makaria Asfina Ratu, the pendant of the necklace.
Wisni Yuliastuti
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………..…… i APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………......….. iiACCEPTANCE PAGE ………………………………………………..…. iii
MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………... iv
DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………………..... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA
ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS……………………... vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………...... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………… viii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………. xABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………..1 A.
Background of the Study ………………………………………. 1 B.
5 Problem Formulation …………………………………………..
C.
5 Objectives of the Study ………………………………………...
D.
Definition of Terms ……………………………………………. 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ………………..…………
9 A.
9 Review of Related Studies ……………………………………..
B.
11 Review of Related Theories …………………………………… C.
25 Theoretical Framework ………………………………………...
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………..
27 A.
Object of the Study …………………………………………….. 27 B. Method of the Study …………………………………………… 29 C. Research Procedure ……………………………………………. 30
33 A.
The Characteristics of Phrasal, Prepositional and Phrasal- Prepositional Verbs in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English ……………………………………………...
33 1. The Characteristics of Phrasal Verbs in the Dictionary ………………………………………...
34 2. The Characteristics of Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ………………………………………...
74 3. The Characteristics of Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary…………………………………..
93 B. The Similarities among the Particles of Phrasal, Prepositional and Phrasal-Prepositional verbs in the Dictionary …………….. 109
1. The Similarities among the Particles of Phrasal and Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ………. 113
2. The Similarities among the Particles of Phrasal and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ……………………………………………………. 119 3. The Similarities among the Particles of
Prepositional and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ……………………………………. 126 C.
The Differences among the Particles of Phrasal, Prepositional and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ……………. 128
1. The Differences among the Particles of Phrasal and Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ………. 129
2. The Differences among the Particles of Phrasal and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ……………………………………………………. 133 3. The Differences among the Particles of
Prepositional and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in the Dictionary ……………………………………. 137
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………………………………………….. 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………... 144 APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………….. 147
ABSTRACT
WISNI YULIASTUTI. A Study of the Particles of Phrasal, Prepositional and
Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Current English. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters,
Sanata Dharma University, 2008.Phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs are examples of the phenomenon of multi-word verbs, which is considered as a topic of a peculiar importance in English. The main categories of multi-word verbs are identified by their particles on the basis of syntactic criteria. The analysis uses a transformational grammar, besides a phrase structure grammar, since the latter is inadequate to explain the structures of phrases containing the multi-word verbs. The analysis attempts to see some logical explanation of the examples of the phenomenon by focusing on the particles.
Three problems were formulated in order to achieve the general objective. The first problem is about the characteristics of the multi-word verbs, the complete verbs as well as their elements. The second problem concerns with the similarities among the particles of the multi-word verbs. Since the first problem also already concerns with the particles, the analysis sharpens the similarities among the particles. The third problem is about the different characteristics among the particles of the verbs to clarify the boundaries between the multi-word verbs.
To answer the problems, an empirical research was conducted. It was combined with a conceptual research. A qualitative research design was selected in order to focus on the quality of the data, which are primary data taken from the seventh edition of Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. A systematic random sample of the examples of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal- prepositional verbs was selected based on the number of the pages in “The Dictionary” since the population size is not known, in fact, the size is large.
From the analysis, there are six syntactic criteria to show the characteristics of the multi-word verbs. The first criterion is direct object movements to the positions before the particles. The second one is AdvP (adverbial phrase) insertions or movements to the positions before the particles (the AdvPs function as adjuncts of the VPs (verb phrases) headed by the verbs). The third is the functions of the particles and the direct objects as syntactic units after reanalyses. The fourth is pronominal questions (the direct objects). The fifth criterion is adverbial questions (the direct objects). The last one is passive transformations. Then, the similarities and the differences among the particles of the multi-word verbs can be found out by considering the first three characteristics of the multi-word verbs.
ABSTRAK
WISNI YULIASTUTI. A Study of the Particles of Phrasal, Prepositional and
Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, UniversitasCurrent English Sanata Dharma, 2008.
Kata kerja frasal, kata kerja berkata depan dan kata kerja frasal yang berkata depan merupakan contoh-contoh fenomena kata kerja gabungan yang dianggap sebagai sebuah topik khusus dalam bahasa Inggris. Kategori-kategori pokok kata kerja gabungan tersebut diidentifikasi dari partikel kata kerja tersebut berdasarkan criteria sintaktis. Analisisnya menggunakan tata bahasa transformasional, selain tata bahasa struktur frase, karena yang terakhir tidak mencukupi untuk menjelaskan struktur-struktur frase yang mengandung kata kerja gabungan. Analisisnya diusahakan untuk memperlihatkan beberapa penjelasan logis atas contoh-contoh fenomena tersebut dengan difokuskan pada partikel kata kerja gabungan.
Tiga masalah telah dirumuskan untuk mencapai tujuan umum tersebut. Masalah pertama tentang karakteristik-karakteristik kata kerja gabungan, baik keseluruhan kata maupun elemen-elemennya. Masalah kedua menyangkut persamaan-persamaan partikel kata kerja gabungan. Karena masalah pertama juga sudah mengenai partikel, analisisnya memperkuat persamaan-persamaannya.
Masalah yang ketiga tentang perbedaan-perbedaan partikel kata kerja gabungan untuk memperjelas batas-batas diantara ketiga kategori kata kerja gabungan.
Untuk menjawab ketiga pertanyaan tersebut, studi empiris telah dilakukan. Studi ini digabungkan dengan studi konseptual. Rancangan penelitian kualitatif dipilih untuk menitikberatkan pada kualitas data yang merupakan data primer yang diambil secara langsung dari edisi ketujuh Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Currrent English. Sampel acak yang sistematik dari contoh kata
kerja frasal, kata kerja berkata depan dan kata kerja frasal yang berkata depan dipilih berdasarkan jumlah halaman di “The Dictionary” karena jumlah populasinya tidak diketahui, sebenarnya, jumlah populasinya besar.
Berdasarkan analisisnya, ada enam kriteria sintaktis yang digunakan untuk menunjukkan karakteristik-karakteristik ketiga kategori kata kerja gabungan tersebut. Kriteria pertama adalah pemindahan obyek langsung ke posisi sebelum partikel. Kriteria yang kedua adalah penyisipan frase kata keterangan atau pemindahan frase kata keterangan ke posisi sebelum partikel (frase kata keterangan tersebut berfungsi sebagai keterangan frase kata kerja yang dikepalai oleh kata kerja gabungan). Kriteria yang ketiga adalah fungsi partikel dan obyek langsung sebagai kesatuan sintaktis. Kriteria yang keempat adalah pertanyaan kata ganti (obyek langsung). Kriteria yang kelima adalah pertanyaan kata keterangan (obyek langsung). Kriteria yang terakhir adalah transformasi pasif. Kemudian, and phrasal-prepositional verbs in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Current English. The verbs are only the main categories of multi-word verbs,
consisting of a verb and one or more particles, examples of the phenomenon of multi-word verbs, which is considered as “a topic of peculiar importance in English” (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik, 1985: 1150). The focus is on the particles of the multi-word verbs since the particles determine the categories of the multi-word verbs (Palmer, 1965: 180-181). This syntactic ground is demonstrable using transformational criteria (Crystal, 1991: 263). Moreover, “understanding TG [Transformational Generative Grammar] thus helps us understanding the nature of grammatical and logical relationship among constituents of phrases and sentences” (Alip, 2006: 20). The topic copes semantics, morphology and syntax, but the focus of the study is on syntax.
Words are “the smallest segmentable unit[s]” (Palmer, 1965: 10). They can be divided into morphemes, “the smallest syntactic unit[s]” (Aitchison, 1978: 58), or “the minimal unit[s] of linguistic meaning or grammatical function” (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, 2003: 107). Morphologically, words can be divided into simple monomorphemic words and complex polymorphemic words.
accept, pass, change, and adapt; and complex polymorphemic words are the ones
that are formed from more than one morpheme such as simplify, characterize, pick
up and talk about. Related to grammatical function, inflectional morphemes can
be attached to both monomorphemic words and polymorphemic words. They are determined by rules of syntax and do not change the syntactic categories of words (Fromkin. et al, 2003: 82, 88-89, 107).
Words are classified into different syntactic categories, called lexical categories, such as nouns (Ns), verbs (Vs), adjectives (As), adverbs (Advs), prepositions (Ps) (O’Grady, Dobrovolsky, and Aronoff, 1989: 127), complementizers (Cs) (Haegeman, 1991: 106), etc.. This study concerns with verbs and two other related lexical categories as well, adverbs and prepositions – particles. Besides, it also concerns with another syntactic category called inflections (Is or INFLs), a “non-lexical” category (Haegeman, 1991: 106), yet, the focus is on verbs since the four combine to form verbs.
Verbs can be divided into single-word verbs and multi-word verbs (Quirk.
et al, 1972: 811). It is stated that it may seem a contradiction to speak multi-word
verbs because the verbs have been considered a class of words.The term ‘word’ is frequently used, however, not only for morphologically defined word class, but also for an item which acts as a single word lexically or syntactically…. It is this extended sense of ‘verb’ as a ‘unit which behaves to some extent either lexically or syntactically as a single verb’ is used in labels such as ‘prepositional verb’ (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1150).
The main categories of multi-word verbs are divided into phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs, for example, drink up, verbs are called so because the particles are not adverbial but prepositional. If it is extended, phrasal verbs should be turned into “adverbial verbs” (McArthur, 1998).
Moreover, the three categories are sometimes just called phrasal verbs and other alternative terms are compound verbs, verb-adverb combinations, verb-particle constructions, two-part words/verbs, and three-part words/verbs (McArthur, 1998). However, verb-adverb combinations here, which are multi-word verbs, are distinguished from the verb-adverb combinations that are free combinations, single-word verbs.
Verb-particle constructions are complex. There are no clear boundaries between the multi-word verbs. However, their differences, to some extent, can be maintained from the basis of syntax. Moreover, by clarifying the boundaries between the multi-word verbs, the boundary between the multi-word verbs and free combinations, of which heads are single-word verbs, can also be clarified (Fraser, 1974; Quirk and Sidney, 1973: 347-352 and 1990: 336-342; Quirk. et al, 1972: 811-819 and 1985: 1150-1167).
In the dictionary, a phrasal verb is defined as “a verb combined with an adverb or a preposition, or sometimes both, to give a new meaning, for example
go in for, win over and see to” (Hornby, 2005: 1135). From the definition, phrasal
verbs in the dictionary include phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal prepositional verbs. However, the dictionary provides certain grammatical information of the multi-word verbs, which helps users and which is also useful for the analysis.
Furthermore, inflections and lexical categories, like complementizers, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, can combine to form phrasal categories, such as complementizer phrases (CPs), inflection phrases (IPs), verb phrases (VPs), noun phrases (NPs), adjective phrases (APs), adverbial phrases (advPs), prepositional phrases (PPs), etc. depending on the syntactic categories of the heads (O’Grady. et al, 1989: 128-131; Haegeman, 1991: 104, 106). Thus, this study, as a syntactic study, concerns itself with the three phrasal categories: VPs, IPs and CPs.
According to Baker, in discussing the syntax of a particular phrase, there are two matters to be considered: the external syntax of the phrase and the internal syntax of the phrase. The external syntax of the phrase concerns how the phrase is used in a larger construction, for example, how the IP putting his gold under the
bathtub is used in the IP the king kept putting his gold under the bathtub. There
are some rule(s) of English that allow(s) the first IP to be used in its position in the second IP. The internal syntax of the phrase concerns how the phrase is constructed, for instance, how the IP putting his gold under the bathtub is constructed from its constituents: the I -ing, the V put, the NP his gold and the PP
under the bathtub. There are some rule(s) to combine the I head with the other
constituents (1989: 30-31). This study focuses on both the internal and external syntax of the VPs headed by either phrasal verbs or prepositional verbs, or phrasal-prepositional verbs.
Finally, the study analyses the objects in such a way as to examine the characteristics of the phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs to demonstrate the similarities and differences of their particles.
B. Problem Formulation
The following questions determine the direction of the study:
1. What are the characteristics of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal- prepositional verbs in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English?
2. What are the similarities among the particles of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs in the dictionary?
3. What are the differences among the particles of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs in the dictionary?
C. Objectives of the Study
Following the problem formulation, this study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the characteristics of phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs. To evaluate the similarities and the differences of the particles of the multi-word verbs, the complete verbs need be analysed first by considering the internal and external syntax of the VPs headed by the verbs. There are some points considered in the analysis so that some similarities and differences between the multi-word verbs and their free combinations can be seen. multi-word verbs. Some similarities of the verbs also lie on their particles. Related to the first objective, after the complete verbs are examined, the similarities among their particles can be seen. The third objective is to find out the differences among the particles to clarify the boundaries between the multi-word verbs.
There are four key terms used in the title and in the problem formulation: particles, phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs.
1. Particles Particles are defined as the words that follow the verbs of phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs. They are from two different but overlapping categories of words: prepositions and adverbs. They are grouped into three: particles that are prepositions only such as against, among, as, at,
beside, for, from, into, like, of, onto, upon, with, etc.; particles that can either be
prepositions or be adverbs, known as prepositional adverbs, for example, about,
above, across, after, along, around, by, down, in, off, on, past, round, through,
under, up, etc.; and particles that are adverbs only like aback, ahead, apart, aside,
astray, away, back, home, in front, together, etc. (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1150-1151).
2. Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs that consist of a verb plus an adverbial verbs are similar to the other two categories due to their nature: they are phrasal. One important difference is that they can be either transitive or intransitive while the others can only be transitive. Another important difference is related to the NP complements. The complements can precede the particles and those that are headed by pronouns must precede the particles. The following IPs can illustrate the characteristics of phrasal verbs: a.
We must not look back.
b.
They called up the dean.
c.
They called the dean up.
d.
They called him up. (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1152-1154, 1167)
3. Prepositional Verbs Prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs that consist of a verb followed by a prepositional particle. The particles can be prepositions or prepositional adverbs that function as prepositions. They are different from phrasal verbs in that their NP complements must follow the particles due to the nature of the particles. The characteristics of prepositional verbs can be illustrated by the following examples: a.
The dog went for me.
b.
Jack fell down the hill. (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1155-1156, 1167)
4. Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs Phrasal prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs that consist of three example, the verb put up with in the IP he had to put up with a lot of teasing at
school (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1160). These multi word verbs are different from the
previous categories in that they have two particles.
the Particles At, In, and On in Phrasal and Prepositional Verbs in Cullen and
Howard’s A Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (2005). Another is Raniati’s thesis
entitled The Combinations of Verb + Particle Up and Verb + Particle Down (1988). The thesis is about the phonological, semantic and syntactic characteristics of multi-word verbs with the particles up and down in Oxford
Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English and about an alternative way to teach the
multi-word verbs.From the analysis, Rukadah found out five syntactic characteristics of phrasal verbs. Firstly, the particles can be moved except in pronoun objects.
Secondly, some phrasal verbs can be turned into passives. Thirdly, contrastive substitutions cannot be used in highly idiomatic phrasal verbs. Fourthly, AdvPs cannot be inserted between the verbs and the particles. Fifthly, the verbs and the particles are represented under the same nodes. Then, there are five syntactic characteristics of prepositional verbs. Firstly, the particles cannot be moved except the verbs have two objects. Secondly, some prepositional verbs can be turned into passives. Thirdly, contrastive substitutions can be used to get constant meanings. Next, AdvPs can be inserted in the middle of the combinations. Finally, the verbs and the particles are represented under different nodes.
From her analysis, Raniati found out five syntactic characteristics of phrasal verbs. Firstly, the short NP objects can be inserted between the verbs and the particles. Secondly, when the NP objects are extended, the extensions or the whole objects follow the particles. Thirdly, pronoun objects always precede the particles. Fourthly, the particles follow the verbs in relative clauses: they cannot come before the relative pronouns. Fifthly, AdvPs usually come after the particles or the objects. Then, there are three syntactic characteristics of prepositional verbs. Firstly, the objects follow the prepositions. Secondly, the prepositional particles can precede the relative pronouns in relative clauses. Finally, adverbial phrases can be inserted between the verbs and the particles.
The topic of this study is different from the topics of the two theses. Firstly, Rukadah and Raniati only concerned with two main categories of multi- word verbs: phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs, while this study is concerned with the three main categories of multi-word verbs: phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. The second difference is that they only took phrasal and prepositional verbs with certain particles: Rukadah took phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs with the particles at, in and on only; and Raniati took phrasal and prepositional verbs with the particles up and down. This study takes the three main types of multi-word verbs with those particles and other particles as well. Thirdly, they did not focus on the particles of multi-word verbs, but this study develops the two studies and focuses on the syntactic characteristics of the particles of phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal prepositional verbs.
There are six theories employed in this study: the theory of multi-word verbs (focusing on phrasal, prepositional and phrasal-prepositional verbs), the theory of signs, the theory of tree diagrams, X-bar theory, the theory of phrase structures and phrase structure rules, and the theory of transformations and transformation rules.
1. The Theory of Multi-Word Verbs There are three main categories of multi-word verbs: phrasal, prepositional and phrasal prepositional verbs. These multi-word verbs are syntactic units
(Quirk. et al, 1985: 1150; 1972: 811-812). Palmer noted three reasons for treating multi-word verbs as single units: there are restrictions of the occurrence of the verbs and the particles; the verbs are semantic units and some transitive multi- word verbs have corresponding passives (Palmer, 1965: 180).
a. Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are the main category of multi-word verbs that consist of verbs and adverbial particles. The particles can be adverbs or prepositional adverbs. Related to their complementation, they can be divided into two types:
NP complements or the like (direct objects), while transitive phrasal verbs require such complements – they can be either monotransitive or ditransitive (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1151-1153; Quirk and Sidney, 1973: 347).
There are some characteristics of phrasal verbs (the first nine characteristics are from Fraser (1974: 3, 20) and the last characteristic is from Quirk and Sidney (1990: 340). Firstly, their particles can occur on both sides of the NP direct objects. Secondly, they cannot be preceded by short adverbials.
Thirdly, they cannot occur in the sentence initial position. Fourthly, they do not function with the following NPs as syntactic units in gapping. Fifthly, they occur after pronominal direct objects. Sixthly, they may not appear between direct objects and indirect objects unless the direct objects are pronouns. Seventhly, indirect object movements cannot apply. Eighthly, the particles prefer to occur next to the verbs when the direct objects are short. Ninthly, they tend to precede the direct objects if the objects are long and complex. Tenthly, they cannot precede relative pronouns or W/H interrogatives.
b. Prepositional Verbs Prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs that consist of verbs and prepositional particles, which are either adverbs or prepositional adverbs (Quirk.
et al, 1985: 1151, 1155). Prepositional verbs are classified into monotransitive and
ditransitive prepositional verbs: prepositional verbs that take single complements (prepositional objects or direct objects) and those that take two complements
341). Prepositional verbs are also classified into Type I (intransitive) prepositional verbs and Type II (transitive) prepositional verbs (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1155, 1158).
The first classification is related to the nature of prepositions: “a preposition will always be followed by a noun phrase” (Palmer, 1965: 182). Thus, prepositional phrase cannot be intransitive since they subcategorise for NP complements or the like due to their prepositional particles.
There are nine characteristics of prepositional verbs (the first eight characteristics are from Quirk and Sidney (1979: 349) and the last one is from Quirk and Sidney (1990: 339). Firstly, the particles must precede the direct objects. Secondly, adverbs can be inserted between the verbs and their particles.
Thirdly, the particles can occur before relative pronouns. Fourthly, pronominal objects occur after the particles. Fifthly, prepositional verbs allow pronominal questions (what and who/whom). Sixthly, they do not allow adverbial questions (where, when, how, and why). Seventhly, they can be turned into passives.
Eighthly, adverbial insertion between the verbs and the direct objects are avoided unless the direct objects are long. Ninthly, the prepositional particles and the following complements can be isolated from the verbs (in questions, responses, coordinate constructions, and comparative constructions).
c. Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs Phrasal-prepositional verbs are the combinations of phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs (Quirk et al, 1972: 816). These multi-word verbs have a verb verbs, they are divided into monotransitive phrasal-prepositional verbs, those that take single NP complements or the like (direct objects) and ditransitive phrasal- prepositional verbs, those that take two complements (direct objects and indirect objects) (Quirk and Sidney, 1990: 341-342). They are also divided into Type I (intransitive) and Type II (transitive) phrasal-prepositional verbs (Quirk. et al, 1985: 1160). The division of monotransitive and ditransitive phrasal-prepositional verbs is like the division of prepositional verbs, that is to say that it is based on the nature of the second particles.
There are some characteristics of phrasal prepositional verbs. Firstly, they allow pronominal questions (who, whom and what). Secondly, they can be turned into passives. Thirdly, adverbs cannot be inserted before the objects. Fourthly, adverbs can be inserted between the particles. Fifthly, in relative clauses and questions, the particles occur after the verbs or the second particles can be moved into the initial position (Quirk and Sidney, 1973: 351).
2. The Theory of Signs Following Palmer (1965), one reason for treating some constructions as multi-word verbs is the semantic unity of the constructions. Thus, their semantic characteristics are considered in this analysis. Although this study is syntactic, it does not mean analysing syntactic characteristics of the multi-word verbs and putting aside semantic characteristics of the words since phonology, syntax and semantics are considered as “bread and butter” (Aitchison, 1978). The semantic phonological characteristics of the multi-word verbs are not included here since they are related more to spoken forms than to written forms.
Considering the semantic unity of multi-word verbs, the notion of “signs” (Saussure, 1986) is important in this analysis. Signs comprise two elements: a signified (signification) and a signifier (signal).
Signifier Signified Sign
Figure 1 The first term is used to designate a concept and the second term a sound pattern.
In the first place, a sound pattern is not physical and it becomes so after it is represented by a spoken or written form. The link between a signified and its signifier is arbitrary and therefore the relations between the elements are constructed: they are connected by an associative link. This associative link is different from the associative relations that link one sign with another sign. There is no rule that governs a certain signified to be attached to a certain signifier.
Signs, after determined, are acquired through conventions.
Dealing with multi-word verbs the theory of signs by Saussure is not strong enough. According to Barthes (1968), signs can be the signifiers of the next signs; it is the case of connotations.
Signifier Signified Sign Signified
Signifier Sign
Figure 2 The first level of signification is of denotations and the second of connotations. In this way, the differences in meanings can be divided into the differences in denotations and in connotations. Apart from different definitions of denotations and connotations, basic meanings can be included in the differences in denotations and figurative meanings in the differences in connotations. Related to the particles of phrasal verbs, Rundell (2005) noted that:
Most of the common phrasal verb [phrasal verb; multi-word verb] particles are – in their basic meanings – words which describe positions in space: up, down, in, out, on and off all have literal uses that relate to 'spatial orientation'. Many of these concepts also have figurative uses….these progressions from literal to metaphorical are by no means arbitrary, but are rooted in our physical experiences in life.”
3. The Theory of Tree Diagrams There are two ways of representing the structures of phrases: using bracketing and tree diagrams. Both are referred to phrase markers (P-markers) because “they mark the way that words are combined together to form phrases of various types” (Radford, 1997: 97). Tree diagrams are “more practical to use” (Alip, 2006: 15) because the phrase structure rules of a phrase can be shown together and the relations of the constituents are clearly seen.
A node, each point in a tree diagram carrying a category label, represents a different constituent of a phrase. The topmost node of a tree diagram is called a root. Nodes at the bottom of a tree diagram are called terminal nodes, and the other nodes non-terminal nodes. The words are called leaves (Radford, 1997: 97).
The nodes of a tree diagram are connected by branches, which are represented by solid lines. A node can branch into one or two or more than two immediate constituents (Radford, 1997: 115). A branch must not cross another branch: “if one node X precedes another node Y, then X and all descendants of X must precede Y and all descendants of Y (A is a descendant of B iff [if and only if] A is dominated by B)” (Radford, 1988: 121).
The nodes in the same tree diagram are related by either dominance (hierarchical or top-to-bottom ordering) or by precedence (linear or left-to-right ordering). One node dominates another node if it occurs in a higher position than the other node. Consider the following tree diagram: A B C D E
Figure 3
A, B, C, D, and E are the nodes of the tree diagram. The A node dominates the B,
C, D, and E nodes; and immediately dominates the B and C nodes. One node precedes another node if it occurs to the left of the other node and neither node precedes the C node (Radford, 1988: 110). The relations of the nodes can also be called daughters and sisters. “An element is a daughter of another element if it is under the node of the other element…. An element is a sister of another element if the two elements are under the same node” (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 7).
4. X-bar Theory X-bar theory is “a theory of the phrase structure of the d-structure [deep structure] of the sentence” (Cook, 1988:103). This theory employs the phrase structure of the form X-bar syntax. X-bar syntax is used widely in that it captures properties of all types of phrases (Cook, 1988: 94). D-structure is “the syntactic representation of the elements which a head requires” (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 3).
“A phrase in X-bar syntax always contains at least a head as well as other constituents; it is “endocentric’…. An essential requirement of X-bar syntax is that the head of the phrase must belong to a particular category related to the type of phrase…. This general principle …can be formalized as: XP → …X…” (Cook, 1988: 94-95). The Xs in both places stand for any category. The phrase is endocentric in that “it is a projection of a head word” (Radford, 1997: 88). A projection is “a constituent which is an expansion of a head word” (Radford, 1997: 524). X (X = a zero projection) is a minimal projection, “a constituent which is not a projection of some other constituent” (Radford, 1997: 524). X
′ is an intermediate projection, “a constituent which is larger than a word, but smaller than a phrase” (Radford, 1997: 524). X
″ (XP) is a maximal projection, “a constituent which is not contained within any larger constituent with the same head” (Radford, 1997: 524). Any element that is not the head is a phrase, which is the maximal projection of a category (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 5). Besides the head, a phrase may have one or more complements. “Phrases typically consist of a head…and an array complements determined by the lexical properties of the head” (Cook, 1988: 97). A complement is closely connected with the head (Cook, 1988: 97). It is needed to complete the meaning of the head (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 6). Besides the head and its complement(s), a phrase may have a specifier, which is not related to the head closely (Cook, 1988: 99). A specifier is needed by the head to appear in a larger construction; it specifies the head (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 6). Specifiers and complements are not categorical terms; they represent grammatical functions or relations (Radford, 1988: 229) and can be filled by syntactic categories (Cook, 1988: 100). They are optional constituents of phrases, which can be omitted from some phrases. There are conditions governing when they can and cannot be omitted (Radford, 1988: 229). Phrases can have attributes and adjuncts, which are ‘optional extras’ (Radford, 1988: 229). Attributes and adjuncts function to show the characteristics of the heads. Their difference lies in their positions: attributes come before the heads and adjuncts after the heads (Dwijatmoko, 2002:6).
The complement, specifier, attribute, and adjunct of a phrase have different relations and different functions with the head of a phrase. Thus, they form different levels of syntactic units. The complement expands the head X into the X
′. The attribute and adjunct expands the X′ into the other X′. The specifier expands the X ′ into the X″ (XP). The hierarchal structure of a phrase, with the five
XP (X ″)
Specifier X ′
X Adjunct ′
Attribute X ′
X Complement Figure 4
5. The Theory of Phrase Structures and Phrase Structure Rules The phrase structure (or constituent structure) of a phrase is the set of constituents that the phrase contains (Radford, 1997: 500). A phrase may contain one or more constituents that are not arranged randomly. There are phrase structure rules (PS rules), which “specify how sentences are structured out of phrase, and phrases out of words” (Radford, 1988: 123).
PS rules are of the form [X → Y Z]. The rules specify that an X can have
Y and a Z as its immediate constituents, or that an X is formed by taking a Y immediately followed by a Z (Radford, 1988: 123). The following rewrite rules are some examples of phrase structure rules (Haegeman, 1991: 87, 105, 111):
C ″ → Spec; C′
C ′ → C; IP
I ″ → Spec; I′
I ′ → I; VP
V ″ → Spec; V′
V ′ → V; XP
(The PS rules are not linearly ordered, indicated by the semicolons.) A CP (C ″) can be formed by taking a Spec (Specifier) immediately followed by a C
′. The C′ is formed by taking a C immediately followed by an IP. The C, the head of the CP, is subcategorised for an IP. Thus, the IP is the complement of the C. The IP takes a Spec immediately followed by an I
′. The I′ braches into an I, which is the head of the IP, and a V ″ (VP). The VP is formed by taking a Spec immediately followed by a V
′. There are two conflicting theories of the position of the NP that occupies the subject position: the NP functions as the Spec of the IP and as the Spec of the VP (Dwijatmoko, 2002). (This study follows the second theory: the NP is based generated in the Spec position of the VP and occupies the Spec position of the IP by a movement.) The asterisk shows that a V
′ is recursive. The
V ′ is formed by taking another V′ immediately followed by an XP, a phrase that can function as an adjunct and/or attribute of the head of the VP. The adjunct position of VPs can be occupied by AdvPs, PPs, NPs, and clauses; and the attributes by AdvPs and negative phrases (NegPs) (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 46-48).
The other V ′ is formed by taking a V immediately followed by an XP, a phrase that can function as a complement of the head. The complement position of VPs can be occupied by NPs, PPs, VPs, APs, and clauses (Dwijatmoko, 2002: 37-40).