The Syntax of English Phrasal Verbs

212 Pages·1972·12.367 MB·English

by  Kazimierz A. Sroka

JANUA LINGUARUM
STUDIA MEMORIAE
NICOLAI VAN WIJK DEDICATA
edenda curat
C. H. VAN SCHOONEVELD
Indiana University
Series Practica, 129

THE SYNTAX OF ENGLISH
PHRASAL VERBS
by
KAZIMIERZ A. SROKA
Adam. Mickiewicz University, Poznan
1972
MOUTON
THE HAGUE · PARIS
©Copyright 1972 in The Netherlands.
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague.
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, micro-
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 74- 151657
Printed in Hungary
Pamigci mojej Matki
To the Memory of My Mother

FOREWORD
A mimeographed version of this study was ready in 1965, when it was sub-
mitted as a doctoral dissertation to the Faculty of Philology of the University
of Wroclaw.
At the time when the study was being prepared, some post-structural types
of approach to language were promoted and since then have continued to
develop. In America, they were the transformational approach (Chomsky,
1957), particle-wave-and-field approach in tagmemics (Pike, 1959), and strati-
ficational approach (Lamb, 1962); in England, it was the scale-and-category
approach (Halliday, 1961).
The method followed in the present book is another post-structural develop-
ment. It owes some of its main points of departure to Leon Zawadowski (e.g.,
1951, 1959a). On its own part it incorporates and develops the achievements
of structuralism, such as the recognition of the relevance of distribution in
language description (Harris, 1951) and the initial elaboration on distribu-
tional relations (e.g., Bloch, 1953, Bazell, 1953). At the same time, however,
it is intended to overcome the limitations imposed on the theory of language
by some structuralists. Such limitations are meant here as (1) viewing language
merely from the standpoint of communication and identification and keeping
out of focus its generative aspect, (2) restricting the relevant syntactic features
of elements of text to the actual syntactic value (function) in a given con-
struction, and disregarding the absolute syntactic value (Fries, 1952), or
(3) regarding as irrelevant the inherent (Hjelmslev, 1943 [1953]; Harris, 1951)
and the semantic (Harris, 1951) features of elements of text.
The present author has been working on elaborating further the techniques
initiated in this dissertation, and in his later articles as well as papers presented
in Poland and in the United States he has dealt with such topics as the
distinction between the absolute and the actual syntactic values (functions)
of elements of text, types of distributional features, and a mathematical model
of syntactic function. One of the innovations is a redefinition of syntactic
function in mathematical terms, which among other things results in a shift
8 FOREWORD
of terminology: the term FUNCTION has acquired a new meaning, and the term
ACTUAL SYNTACTIC VALUE has been substituted for the term ACTUAL SYN-
TACTIC FUNCTION found in the present book.
All new contributions might favour a more thorough revision of the study
of 1965. Such a revision, however, has not been undertaken, not merely because
it would consume too much time but, because it might spoil the transfer of
the original, not yet formalized, presentation which enables one to trace the
sources of some more advanced elaborations, and yet does not cease to bring
forward new, so far unexplored, possibilities of treating the subject. The differ-
ence between the 1965 version and the present one consists, in effect, mainly
in the arrangement and division of chapters, placing the references, and
incidentally rewording some statements.
Submitting this volume for press, I want to express my deep thanks to
Professor Leon Zawadowski of the University of Wroclaw for his valuable
guidance during the preparation of the study, to Professor Randolph Quirk
of the University of London for supervising my research during my stay in
England as a British Council scholar, to Professor Margaret Schlauch of the
University of Warsaw, Professor Jerzy Kurylowicz of the Jagellonian Uni-
versity, Cracow, and Docent Dr. Jacek Fisiak of the University of Poznaii,
for kindly reviewing and evaluating the study. My recognition and gratitude
are due also to the British Council for the scholarship grant which enabled me
to carry out part of my research in England. I am very grateful to many libra-
ries for giving me access to their books. I mean mainly the Library of the
University of London, the British Museum, the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
I am most obliged to the University Library, Wroclaw, where especially Mrs.
W. Bohdanowicz and Mrs. K. Markiewicz, successive heads of the book loan
division, and my friend Mr. J. St^siek, now a library custodian, were always
ready with their kind and efficient help. I owe more than I am able to
express to my wife Cecylia, who did not spare her patient assistance and
encouragement and for a long time carried most of the responsibility for our
family. She has thus become a silent co-author of this book. Finally, I want
to thank all those who in any other way contributed to the completion of
the study.
For any deficiencies of the book only the undersigned is to blame.
Ann Arbor, Michigan Kazimierz A. Sroka
August 20, 1968
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword 7
INTRODUCTION 13
1. Delimitation of the topic 13
2. General account of works dealing with verb-particle collocations . . 14
3. Object of the dissertation 22
PART ONE
METHODOLOGICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
I. PRINCIPLES OF ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION 27
1. Three stages of the cycle of scientific procedures 27
2. Inherent and relational features of elements of text 29
3. Main currents of modern linguistics 30
4. Method followed in the dissertation 35
II. ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND ADVERB-PREPOSITION WORDS 37
0. Theorem of the distributional classes of particles within the range
of adverbs and prepositions 37
1. Theory of distributional relations 37
2. Distributional relations among Adverbs, Prepositions and Adverb-
preposition words , 44
2.1. Definitions of relevant positions 44
2.2. Table of and evidence for the occurrence of particles 46
2.2.1. Evidence for the occurrence of Adverbs in Positions a
and c 46
2.2.2. Evidence for the occurrence of Prepositions in Positions
b and c 50
10 TABLE OF CONTENTS
2.2.3. Evidence for the occurrence of Adverb-Preposition words
in Positions a, b, and c 53
2.3. Restrictive conditions included in the definitions of Positions
a and b 75
2.3.1. Restrictive conditions for Position a 75
2.3.2. Restrictive conditions for Position b 82
2.4. Specification of the distributional relations in question and final
remarks 84
III. THE ADVERBIAL AND THE PREPOSITIONAL FUNCTIONS 87
0. Introductory 87
1. Exponents of the actual syntactic function of the particle 87
2. Determinants of the actual syntactic function of the particle ... 91
3. The function of the particle in Position / 96
4. The actual syntactic function of the particle and the communicative
function 99
PART TWO
HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL
IV. NEOGRAMMATICAL AND PRE-STRUCTURAL METHODS 105
0. Introductory (to the whole of Part Two) 105
1. Priority given to the criterion of form: H. Sweet 107
2. The use of heterogeneous criteria, priority given to the criterion of
'meaning', or the syntactic classification of the particles disregarded 113
2.1. J. F. W. Rogers 113
2.2. E. Kruisinga 114
2.3. J. H. G. Grattan and P. Gurrey 115
2.4. L. P. Smith, A. G. Kennedy, M. Bryant; dictionaries of idioms 118
3. Accumulation of facts around the categories of adverb and preposition
grasped intuitively 121
3.1. H. Poutsma 121
3.2. M. Deutschbein 126
3.3. Ν. Bogholm 128
4. Final position of the particle as determined by its close connection
with the verb: R. Volbeda 129
5. Historical approach to verb-particle collocations 137
5.1. W. Van der Gaaf 137
5.2. Μ. H. Roberts 138
6. Subdivisions of the adverb and the preposition: G. O. Curme 140
7. A set criteria for the identification of the adverb and the preposition:
0. Jespersen 144