Die Phrasal Verbs des Englischen bestehen aus einer Einheit von Verb und adverbialem Partikel. Dieser Partikel kann vor oder hinter dem direkten Objekt stehen. Mit wissenschaftlichen Berechnungen lässt sich nun herausfinden, wann der Partikel vor, und wann er hinter dem Objekt steht. Wie in den meisten Fällen gibt es keine absoluten Regeln, aber Tendenzen können aufgedeckt werden.
Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Review of literature
a) Type of NP:
b) Length of object:
c) Idiomaticity
d) Directional adverbials
e) Animacy
1.3 Questions to be answered
2. The data
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
3. Results
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
4.) Discussion
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper investigates the syntactic factors influencing particle placement in English phrasal verbs. The primary research goal is to empirically evaluate existing linguistic theories regarding variables such as object type, length, idiomaticity, directional adverbials, and animacy through corpus analysis.
- Analysis of direct object characteristics (pronominal, lexical, proper nouns).
- Evaluation of object length (syllables vs. words) as a predictor for construction.
- Distinction between literal, metaphorical, and idiomatic phrasal verb meanings.
- Assessment of the impact of directional adverbials on verb-particle word order.
- Examination of animacy in relation to particle movement.
Excerpt from the Book
1.3 Questions to be answered
That direct objects which are personal pronouns have a great influence on particle movement seems to be unquestioned. The question remains what happens with semi-pronominal objects like: something, things etc. in short everything that is no personal pronoun, but that is no proper noun or lexeme either? What happens with proper nouns? Are personal pronouns always placed between verb and particle as some sources state? Since length seems to be an important factor, it seems necessary to have a look at what length actually means. How long has an object to be, to be placed behind the particle? Is it measured in words or syllables? Do different definitions of idiomaticity make a difference where particle movement is concerned? Does a directional adverbial have an effect? Does animacy have an effect?
Summary of Chapters
1.1 Introduction: Defines phrasal verbs and introduces the phenomenon of particle movement as the central focus of the study.
1.2 Review of literature: Summarizes existing academic perspectives on factors influencing particle placement, including object types and idiomaticity.
1.3 Questions to be answered: Outlines the specific research gaps and questions concerning semi-pronominal objects, length definitions, and other syntactic variables.
2. The data: Describes the methodological approach of using 403 examples from the British National Corpus and the coding process for various linguistic factors.
3. Results: Presents the statistical findings of the corpus analysis, showing the distribution of constructions across different variables.
4.) Discussion: Interprets the findings in relation to existing literature and discusses the reliability of length and pronominal status as predictors.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, confirming that pronominal objects and long objects strongly influence particle position and explaining these via processing effort and end focus.
Keywords
Phrasal Verbs, Particle Movement, Syntax, Corpus Linguistics, British National Corpus, Direct Objects, Idiomaticity, Directional Adverbials, Animacy, End Focus, Processing Effort, Particle Placement, Pronominal Objects.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this research paper?
The paper examines the syntactic rules and variables that determine whether the particle of a phrasal verb is placed before or after the direct object.
Which factors are analyzed regarding particle placement?
The study investigates the influence of the noun phrase type, object length, the degree of idiomaticity, the presence of directional adverbials, and the animacy of the object.
What is the main research question or goal?
The goal is to verify conflicting or vague claims in existing literature regarding particle movement by empirically testing them against data from the British National Corpus.
Which scientific method is applied?
The author uses a quantitative corpus analysis, coding 403 instances of phrasal verbs to perform statistical tests (such as Chi-squared and t-tests) on the variables.
What topics are covered in the main section of the paper?
The main sections include a review of relevant linguistic theories, a detailed description of the data collection and coding process, statistical results, and an analytical discussion of the implications.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include Phrasal Verbs, Particle Movement, Syntax, Corpus Linguistics, and British National Corpus.
How is the influence of object length measured in this study?
The author measures length in both syllables and words to determine which metric serves as a more reliable indicator for the placement of the particle.
Why do the results suggest that metaphorical combinations behave like literal ones?
The study concludes that metaphorical combinations can be split into parts similarly to literal ones, allowing for the object to be placed between the verb and the particle, unlike fully opaque idioms.
- Quote paper
- Iris Heuse (Author), 2004, Particle movement in phrasal verbs, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/29364
