Verb Phrase Research Articles

‘To do or not to do’

The support verbs ποιέομαι poieomai ‘to do’ and τίθημι tithēmi ‘to put’ exist in bound and unbound forms from classical into medieval times, ποιέομαι poieomai as ποιέομαι poieomai and -ποιέομαι -poieomai, τίθημι tithēmi as τίθημι tithēmi and -θετέω -theteō. They differ from auxiliaries, in that they are semi-lexical as they contribute to the event structure of the verb phrase. The article draws on the literary corpus of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and the documentary corpus of the Duke Database of Documentary Papyri to answer three research questions: (i) Are support verbs the unbound alternative of bound affixes? (ii) How do semi-lexical support verbs become semi-grammatical affixes? (iii) Why did -ποιέομαι -poieomai ‘to do’ and -θετέω - theteō ‘to put’ not become productive? It finds that the bound and unbound forms of the support verb differ in the semantics of the lexical unit and its pragmatic embedding. Through the univerbation of leader words and their subsequent reanalysis, a new word-formation pattern emerges, which never becomes productive but is available as a creative option especially in technical registers (akin to English readable alongside established legible) from the Ptolemaic/Roman periods onwards. This new word-formation pattern involves a semi-lexical affix, just like the unbound support verb.

ANALYSIS OF TYPES OF ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS ACCORDING TO THE STRUCTURE

Phrasal verbs have very high utility factor in English speaking especially. They fall under the widercategory of most verbs which is referred to as multi-word verbs. These types of verbs and the other terms of multiwordverbs are very crucial in the system of English language. A very large number of verbs , that fall under theclass of multi-word verbs, that is, phrasal verbs are used commonly in day to day conversation. A phrasal verb is acommon manned term that describes verb combinations, such as “pick up,” “turn on,” or “get on with”. Forconvenience, many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. Such sentences contain two components:a simple verb and other parts of speech. Adding to the verb, other words can include prepositions and adverbs.Such verbs usually have a few word combinations sending a single meaning which is why such expression areoften called as ‘phrasal verbs’. The concept that needs to be emphasized, however, is that these expressions arestill considered headwords. The term ‘get’ is a verb. The term ‘get up is also a verb; it is a different kind of actionword. The terms ‘get’ and ‘get up’ refer to different verbs. The two verbs mean complete opposite things.

Pergeseran Kategori dalam Penerjemahan Klausa Nominal Bahasa Inggris ke Bahasa Indonesia pada Novel Third Girl

The translation of English noun clauses into Indonesian can result in a range of potential outcomes, some of which may be unexpected. This qualitative research focuses on the category shift variations that occur when translating English noun clauses into Indonesian and the strategies for achieving equivalence between the two texts. The data were collected from Agatha Christie's novel Third Girl and its translation "Gadis Ketiga" and analyzed using the content analysis method. The findings show that two category shifts occurred, i.e. structure shifts and unit shifts. The structure shifts that occurred include the shift of a clause element subject-predicate to predicate-subject, the shift of a phrase structure to a clause structure in a noun clause, the shift from active voice into passive voice, the shift of an affirmative clause to a negative clause, the shift of a noun clause to a simple sentence, the shift of an affirmative sentence to an interrogative sentence, and the shift of a noun clause to an adverbial clause. The unit shifts found are the shifts of a noun clause to a noun phrase, a noun clause to a prepositional phrase, and a noun clause to a verb phrase. The equivalence is achieved by employing functional equivalents and by attending to the meaning of the sentence as a whole, rather than focusing solely on the meaning of the noun clause. These shifts have resulted in changes in sentence structure, changes in syntactic category and function, changes in sentence type, changes in rank, changes in type of question, and shifts in meaning. This research will enrich the study of applied linguistics, particularly regarding the translation from English to Indonesian.

The repercussions of OV > VO shift in Hungarian: Variation and change in syntactic complex predicate formation

AbstractThis paper investigates the diachronic development of Hungarian word order, focusing on the syntactic position in front of the finite verb in light of the syntactic shift from OV to VO order. The so-called Verb Modifiers (VMs), which precede the verb in Modern Hungarian, showed significant word order variation in earlier periods. It is examined how this variation, and especially the difference between verbal particles and other VMs, can be accounted for. The study concludes that the VM–V order is not a syntactic remnant but a result of a syntactic change that affects all VMs already in the early texts.

Angleški večbesedni glagoli in njihove slovenske ustreznice

The paper discusses the findings arrived at during a master’s thesis contrastive analysis of English multi-word verbs and their Slovene equivalents. The first part provides an overview of different descriptions of multi-word verbs in English linguistics and prepositional verbs in Slovene linguistics. The second part presents the analysis in question, which was based on two dictionaries – Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs and Veliki angleško-slovenski slovar Oxford – used to extract the English multi-word verbs and their Slovene equivalents.

(Un)marked subjects and person-number marking in non-finite clauses in Mari

AbstractThe present paper examines the distribution of referentially independent genitive and unmarked subjects and subject-oriented person-number inflections in non-finite clauses in Meadow Mari (Uralic), focusing on participles, event nominals, and temporal gerunds. Empirically, the study addresses existing gaps in the description of these phenomena, uncovering more general patterns as well as several microparameters. It also reveals a striking similarity between event nominals and temporal gerunds. Theoretically, the paper contributes to a better understanding of these constructions in the following ways. First, it proposes an analysis of temporal gerunds as event nominals embedded in postpositional phrases. Second, it outlines an approach to licensing overt subjects and inflections in participial clauses and event nominals. Third, building upon Dékány & Georgieva's (2020) work on Udmurt, it explores ways to unify the treatment of event nominals and participial modifiers in Mari, which share morphology; a covert N account is shown to be the most promising one.

Navajo Verbs in Child Speech.

This study investigates Navajo verbs produced by four children, ages 4;07 to 11;02, during conversations with their caretakers. Analyses of 1600 verbs demonstrate that the bisyllabic verb form, consisting of a verb stem and a portion of the prefix string, is the most common pattern produced by the children. This indicates that Navajo-speaking children use meaningful units of verbal morphology that do not necessarily adhere to the linguistic boundaries normally ascribed to the Navajo verb complex. Further, the verbs are primarily intransitive and third-person singular constructions, which are minimally inflected. It is argued that these minimally-inflected verb forms are frequent not just because they are simpler, but also because they are highly productive as main verbs and are used to create phrasal verbs and nouns. These findings contribute to our general understanding of language development and to the growing body of research investigating children's acquisition of endangered Indigenous languages.

On Tense, agreement, and the syntax of null and overt subjects

In this paper I argue that the position and realization of subjects in adverbial non-finite clauses in Italian, Spanish, Galician, and European Portuguese can provide valuable insight into the licensing conditions for pro and postverbal subjects in finite clauses in these pro-drop languages. I first provide evidence that Tense and Agreement constitute separate syntactic heads in these languages, as argued by Belletti (1990) among others, and also apply this analysis to non-finite clauses in Spanish, Galician, and Portuguese. I will also argue, after analyzing the syntactic variation exhibited by subjects in non-finite clauses (containing regular and inflected infinitives) in Spanish, Galician, and European Portuguese, that (i) postverbal overt subject DPs are licensed by a full set of φ-features in Agr (overt or covert), (ii) pro is licensed by an Agr head that is overtly realized by either overt φ-features or verb movement, and (iii) preverbal overt subject DPs are licensed by verb movement to Agr.

Predicting syntactic distribution from morphological structure: The PP syntax of converb clauses in Uralic and Turkic

AbstractThis paper deals with converb clauses in Uralic and Turkic languages. These clauses are often defined in the typological literature as featuring a special non-finite verb type. The Uralic and Turkic data show, however, that many of the alleged converbs are in fact morphologically decomposable into a non-finite verb (nominalization, participle, etc.) and a case suffix. For these clauses, I put forward an analysis couched in a generative syntactic framework. I propose that we are dealing with a postpositional phrase (PP), in which the morphologically bound P head (the case suffix) select a non-finite clause. The PP analysis is supported by two case studies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that this analysis makes correct predictions about the syntactic distribution of these clauses. The present proposal has thus bearing on what counts as a converb cross-linguistically.

Adjectival predicates in finite and non-finite clauses

The paper explores the distribution of various adjectival predicates (short form adjectives, long form adjectives in the nominative or instrumental case and passive participles) in Russian finite and non-finite clauses. Two factors turn out to determine the availability of adjectival predicates: (i) the type of the subject (overt DP vs. A-trace vs. PRO) and (ii) the case feature of the subject (nominative vs. other cases). Crucially, adjectival predicates differ as to the licensing factors: short form adjectives require that their subject (overt DP, A-trace or PRO) be nominative whereas nominative long form adjectives are only licit if their subject is a nominative overt DP or an A-trace of a nominative DP, but not a (nominative) PRO. Including adjectival passive into this picture gives rise to further discrepancies: the long form of the passive participle cannot form a passive predicate of a finite clause but is licit as such a predicate in non-finite clauses. The paper provides a formal analysis of the distribution of adjectival predicates, which relies on the following assumptions: (i) the categorial contrast of short and long forms; (ii) the syntactically represented opposition of control and raising; and (iii) PRO’s ability to receive the case feature via case assignment by complementizer or case transmission from the controller.

Register competence in academic writing of student teachers specialising in English didactics at the University of Venda

The adept utilisation of appropriate language registers is fundamental for proficient academic writing among students who study English as a secondary language within educational institutions such as schools, colleges, and universities. This investigation stems from a comprehensive study that sought to evaluate the register proficiency of a select group of student teachers who, for various reasons, encountered challenges in employing suitable language registers. The primary objective of this scholarly article is to scrutinise the application of apt academic registers among a specific cohort of third-year English students at a rural university. This cohort comprised 15 trainee educators specialising in English didactics. The research adopted a case study design, focusing on the qualitative method, with data analysis conducted through thematic analysis. The outcomes of this study illuminated that a deficiency in register comprehension and application could impede the academic writing endeavours of the selected third-year teacher training students. However, it also highlighted the potential for improvement, as the students’ compositions demonstrated instances of passive voice, absence of parallel structure, and utilisation of colloquial language, slang, personal pronouns, and phrasal verbs––styles generally deemed unsuitable for academic writing. This study underscores the significance of meticulous attention to register employment to ensure that students have attained mastery over the appropriate writing style and its correct usage in academic contexts. It also suggests that with targeted interventions, such as the integration of an Artificial Intelligence pedagogical approach, these students can improve their register proficiency, providing a clear path for their future academic writing competence.

Generative approach to the structure of negative sentences in Albanian

Abstract This paper examines the components of negative sentences in Albanian from the perspective of generative linguistics. Main aim is to analyze the functions and positions of negative elements in the structure of Albanian sentences, providing a comparison with other languages to highlight the universal features and specificities of Albanian. The focus of the analysis are the main negative particles such as “ nuk ”, “ s ’”, “ mos ”, and “ as ”, which are used to express simple and compound negation, including double and intensive negation. Elements such as “ nuk ” and “ s ’” are positioned immediately before the verb to express a simple negation and operate in a C-command relation that blocks the placement of other elements between them and the verb. In the syntactic structure, their position is above the subject and immediately before the predicate, blocking any other element from being placed between them and the verb. While “ mos ” is used mainly in the imperative, subjunctive and imperative moods, taking position before the modal particle or auxiliary verb to control the actions of the verb. “ As ” reinforces negation and can be positioned before the verb or other constituents to create polynegative structures. Comparisons with languages such as Italian and English emphasize that Albanian has developed polynegative structures, which allow the use of multiple negative elements without violating the grammaticality of the sentence. This analysis suggests that Albanian, through complex negation structures, complies with some of the universal principles of generative linguistics, while simultaneously maintaining special features that challenge some assumptions of standard generative syntax.

Transitive Phrasal Verbs in English–Chinese Learners’ Dictionaries: A Syntactic Perspective

Abstract This article explores the treatment of transitive phrasal verbs (TPVs) in English–Chinese learners’ dictionaries (ECLDs). Despite the syntactic and semantic complexities of TPVs, research on the systematic treatment of TPVs in ECLDs has been limited. By annotating syntactic structures, ECLDs can present the semantic and pragmatic characteristics of TPVs more accurately and assist learners in using appropriate syntactic structures to communicate deeper meanings in language output. Phrasal verbs (PVs) are a category of verb combinations with distinct syntactic structures, functioning as single-word lexical verbs despite being multiword verbs in form. A test administered to intermediate and advanced English learners revealed that Chinese EFL learners made frequent mistakes in using PVs, reflecting the confusion and uncertainty surrounding these structures. This paper presents a comparison of the different classifications of multiword verbs present in ECLDs, arguing that these variations have only further muddied the waters with relation to PVs. Based on an analysis of the unique syntactic features of PVs, it proposes that ECLDs can enhance English learners’ understanding of TPVs through the systematic use of tables, annotations, and examples.

Which factors predict teachers’ evaluation of the difficulty and usefulness of phrasal verbs in L2 contexts?

Abstract Research examining teachers’ cognition of lexical items has flourished in the past few years. However, most of these studies focused on individual words rather than formulaic sequences. The present study aims to fill this gap through eliciting teachers’ evaluation of one type of formulaic sequences: phrasal verbs (PVs). The aim is to examine factors (frequency, opacity, and learners’ receptive and productive knowledge) that might predict teachers’ evaluation of the difficulty and usefulness of 100 PV senses. For that purpose, a survey was administered to 174 teachers. Results of generalized mixed-effects modelling showed that teachers’ assessment of both the usefulness and difficulty of PVs was predicted by sense-specific corpus frequency and receptive knowledge of these PV senses. Moreover, difficulty ratings were additionally affected by opacity and productive knowledge of PVs. We discuss these findings in relation to previous research on L2 PV knowledge and implications for L2 teaching practice.

Delving Into the Syntactic and Semantic Aspects of Verb Phrases in a Comparative Context

This research paper aims to investigate and analyze the syntax and semantics of verb phrases in both English and Bangla, with a view of identifying their major similarities and differences. Though English and Bangla verb phrases have a lot of likenesses, they vary in their structure, function and meaning. The term ‘verb’ is often considered to be a most vital syntactic and semantic component of any language. It is, both in English and Bangla, defined as a linguistic unit expressing some ‘action’ or ‘state’. Syntactically, the verb appears as a part or constituent of a phrase and is usually modified or complemented in some way(s): the verb complemented by noun(s), adjective(s), adverb(s), adverb participle(s), infinitive(s) etc. and the main verb is the ‘head’ accompanies other verbs, generally the copulas, verbs to have, modals etc. The verb phrase also involves the so-called concept which is traditionally termed a ‘predicate’. Moreover, in order to analyze the verb phrase semantically too, this research attempts to study the internal structure of the verb phrase consisting of the auxiliary verb and the main verb, where the role of main verbs is to convey the semantic content of the verb phrase and set up various relationships with all the other elements in the sentence. Here, the auxiliary verb often indicates aspect, tense, mood, voice, etc. So, this research is intended to provide readers and learners of both languages with necessary information about the similarities and differences in the verb phrases of English and Bangla.

The Difficulties That Faced Libyan Students in Learning English Vocabulary and Understanding Academic Texts

This study examines Libyan students' difficulties in acquiring the English language and comprehending academic writing. The research delineates particular vocabulary-related challenges and their effects on reading comprehension and academic achievement. A quantitative methodology was employed, utilizing a questionnaire administered to 32 students from the English department at Aljufra University. The results demonstrate that students face considerable difficulties in enhancing their vocabulary, employing words correctly, and comprehending phrasal verbs. The challenges are frequently intensified by cultural and linguistic disparities between Arabic and English, impeding students' ability to identify equivalent concepts in both languages. It also reveals that many students rely on traditional learning methods, such as dictionaries, flashcards, and repetition. While these strategies are somewhat effective, they are insufficient for mastering the complexities of academic English. The research highlights the necessity for educational institutions to provide additional support, including targeted vocabulary instruction, workshops, and one-on-one tutoring, to enhance students' academic writing and comprehension skills. Over 60% of the participants expressed the need for more excellent institutional support in academic writing, emphasizing the importance of structured resources to improve their learning outcomes. The results further emphasize the challenges associated with phrasal verbs and complex vocabulary, which remain common obstacles for non-native speakers. Addressing these areas through culturally responsive teaching techniques and providing real-world examples could make learning more relatable for students. The research underlines the importance of a comprehensive approach to vocabulary learning that incorporates both traditional and modern methods. Educators' focused effort to provide vocabulary support, academic assistance, and culturally relevant instruction is essential for improving Libyan students' vocabulary, enhancing their comprehension of scholarly texts, and ultimately enabling their educational success.

Anaphora and Depictives Do Not Rule Out Small Clause Approaches to Argument Structure: A Reply to Bruening 2018

Bruening (2018) uses the facts of anaphora and depictive modification to justify non-small-clause analyses of resultative constructions, caused-motion constructions, verb-particle constructions, and double object constructions: these constructions behave differently from canonical small clause constructions in terms of anaphora and depictive modification. In this reply, we argue against treating these tests as reliable diagnostics of small clauses. For one thing, we show that small clauses may have two different kinds of interpretations: they can be either semantically complete or incomplete. For another, Bruening’s (2018) arguments rely on some particular assumptions about anaphora and depictive modification that, we argue, are not without problems. If we adopt another set of reasonable assumptions, those facts of anaphora and depictive modification can be accounted for via the two kinds of interpretations for small clauses and thus do not argue in favor of non-small-clause analyses of the relevant constructions.

Gauging the effectiveness of a mobile application for learning English phrasal verbs

Abstract This study used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the efficacy of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in teaching English phrasal verbs (PVs) in a 12-week study. The participants were 122 EFL college students divided equally into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was assigned PV learning on an iOS-based application (henceforth referred to as “app”) for eight weeks; the control group learned the same PVs through paper-based material. Pre-tests, post-tests, and weekly class tests were conducted, and one-way ANOVAs were performed to evaluate the differences between the two groups using their pre-test and post-test scores, with repeated measures ANOVA used to analyse the learning gains in weekly tests. The results revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the post-test (F = 6.09, p = .015, Cohen’s d = 0.45) and weekly tests (F = 31.68, p = .000). A Likert-scale-based e-questionnaire consisting of 19 items was administered to the experimental group to obtain their perceptions of the app’s usefulness for learning English PVs. The overall results suggest that MALL, particularly with this specific mobile app, may enhance students’ ability to understand and use English PVs, a key aspect of vocabulary skills. The findings can be used to encourage instructors to employ MALL for teaching the English lexicon for better learning outcomes in EFL settings.

Argument Coreference Between Content Verbs and Predicative Nouns in Brazilian Portuguese

The literature on complement clauses and support/light verb constructions provides most of the available information on coreference between arguments of matrix and subordinate syntactic predicates. However, this phenomenon is largely unexplored when it comes to verb phrases consisting of a content verb and a predicative noun in object position, such as declarar paixão (“declare passion”), cumprir a promessa (“fulfill the promise”), responder perguntas (“answer questions”), or resistir à tentação (“resist temptation”). The notions of obligatory and non-obligatory coreference do not fully explain this phenomenon, since non-coreferential usage of these phrases leads to different types of coercion, which are relevant properties to classify these phrases. This paper proposes a pilot study of verb phrases of this kind, extracting them from a Brazilian Portuguese newspaper corpus aiming at their syntactic-semantic classification. This procedure revealed a total of 75 such verb phrases. Based on semantic coercion and distributional properties, four major classes divided into seven subclasses are proposed to cover two-thirds of the data. There is also a fifth class with 17 items in which coreference appears to be a contextual property, i.e., unrelated to lexical semantics, and eight hapax legomena. The results provide a new perspective on this understudied topic, identifying also irregular aspects deserving further studies

The Function and Structure of Nominative Participial Constructions in Modern English

The following paper examines the syntactic construction and functional variety of nominative participial constructions in Contemporary English, focusing on the syntactic economy provided by nominative participial constructions and the contribution to discourse clarity. Based on examples from the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English, this chapter discusses how these sorts of structure embed delicate actions or states into sentences without elaborate clause structures. This chapter will explore how nominative participial constructions serve these discourse functions through the use of examples from academic, journalistic, and literary registers-foregrounding information, summarizing preceding actions, and emphatic purposes. The study also provides comparative insights into nominative participial constructions in relation to other forms of non-finite clauses, such as gerunds, which uniquely allow for condensation with a clearly identifiable subject even in highly reduced syntactic environments. In all, these findings contribute to a view that nominative participial constructions in English represent an instance of embodiment of the functional-syntactic interface: conciseness vs. richness of description, contributing to a more flexible and expressive syntax.