МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЗАХСТАНСеверо-Казахстанский государственный университет

им. М.Козыбаева

Институт языка и литературыКафедра германской филологии

КУРСОВАЯ РАБОТА

VERB-POSTPOSITIVE PHRASES AS A CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF

COLLOQUIAL STYLE

050119.DO.ИЯ-09-1

АВТОР БУЛАТОВА Л.Р.

РУКОВОДИТЕЛЬ ФЕДОРОВА А.Т. ___________

Петропавловск, 2012

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 31 PHRASAL VERBS1.1 Definition of Phrasal verb 51.2 The basic properties of phrasal verbs1.3 Prepositions and Postpositions 61.4 Verbs with prepositions and nouns 71.5 Verbs with postpositions1.6 Categories of verbs with postposition 91.7 Classification of Phrasal verbs 101.8 Formal and informal language 111.9 Verbs post-positive phrases and colloquial style 142 PHRASAL VERBS IN USE: SITCOM “FRIENDS”2.1 Phrasal verbs’ usage as a phenomenon in English mass media2.2 Background, Synopsis and Procedure of “Friends”2.3 Analysis of Phrasal verbs 2.4 Discussion of phrasal verbs analysis

16

1822

CONCLUSION 25REFERENCES 26APPENDIX А

INTRODUCTION

Lexicology studies the development of vocabulary, the origin of words and word groups, the semantic relations and the development of the sound form and meaning. It is the subject that provokes many argumentations. There are a lot of methods of approaching an investigator's opinions. Nevertheless, English lexicology is a peculiar topic, which is worth to be researched.

The project is based on the descriptions of such phenomenon in English language as "Phrasal verbs" or “Verb-postpositive phrases”. This term was first used by an eminent English grammarian, Logan Pearsall Smith. It is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition. Every phrasal verb forms a complete semantic unit that has a fixed meaning of its own. There may be sentences which contain direct and indirect objects apart from the phrasal verb. Such verbs and their meanings are used very frequently in the English language.

A phrasal verb is a very popular and unique tool in modern English that sometimes foreign students cannot learn from academic sources. The phrasal verbs and meaning are often different from the original verb. Therefore, an informal aspect of English language may not yet be commonly known among people who are English learners. As a result, the concept to make informal usage of phrasal verbs accessible among foreign students is realized as a form of a course paper. To achieve this goal, we chose the American sitcom “Friends” to study for its phrasal verbs and idioms with phrasal verbs that appear in the characters’ conversation.

Actuality: Phrasal verbs are gaining in importance with the globalization of the English language. The key to understanding, speaking, reading and writing high quality English is to perfect the usage of phrasal verb meanings. One can clearly state that phrasal verbs are a central cog in the constantly changing modern English.

The aim is to prove wide spread verb-postpositive phrases’ occurrence in colloquial English, to give examples of such phrases used in colloquial speech and to explain their meanings.

Objectives: 1. to study verb-postpositive phrases, give their classification 2. to examine features of colloquial style3. to study informal language used in the sitcom “Friends”, including phrasal

verbs and idioms containing phrasal verbs. 4. to reveal the phrasal verbs most frequently used in colloquial speechObject: verb-postpositive phrases Subject: using of verb-postpositive phrases in colloquial styleThe theoretical and practical value of the research work consists in the material

that was used during the investigation work which may be used in further researches of the formation and usage of the types of phrasal verbs in the English and be helpful for English language’s learners. Phrasal verb is an interesting topic for doing further study based on this research. One may do explorative comparison of the difference between phrasal verb and other types of idioms.

The practical value lies in the fact that the present research work can be used by other students and teachers who are interested in phrasal verbs for the following purposes:

- to improve their knowledge of the Lexicology of the English Language- to understand the structure of the phrasal verbs- to distinguish the types of phrasal verbs- to get deeper knowledge about such phenomena in the English lexicology as

phrasal verbs.In order to study the subject of the project we used the following methods.- bibliographical method- method of investigation- method of description- method of analysis

The research work consists of two parts and appendix: Part One contains the theoretical basis and general notions of the work. In this

part we tried to give a definition of verb-postpositive phrases and of colloquial style, to analyze verb post positives and to give a classification of such phrases.

Part Two contains analysis of verb-postpositive phrases in colloquial speech of characters in the sitcom “Friends”. In this part we tried to show the meanings of phrasal verbs with different postposition.

Appendix includes a list of phrasal verbs with their definitions used in the research.

1 PHRASAL VERBS1.1 Definition of Phrasal verb

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition or adverb, any of which are part of the syntax of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit as a phrase.

A phrasal verb is a type of verb in English that operates more like a phrase than a word. Tom McArthur in the Oxford Companion to the English Language notes that these verbs are also referred to by many other names such verb phrase, discontinuous verb, compound verb, verb-adverb combination, verb-particle construction (VPC), AmE two-part word/verb and three-part word/verb. David Crystal in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language calls this linguistic phenomenon a "multi-word verb" that is best described as a lexeme, a unit of meaning that may be greater than a single word

English phrasal verbs come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, they're a verb and preposition combination which, when combined, changes the meaning of the main verb into something else.

Most students of English find them difficult because sometimes the idiomatic uses either make no sense at all, or the meaning change is so drastic that even a good guesser has no idea what they mean.

Sometimes we call them two part verbs, three part verbs, or multi-word verbs.In the Modern English language the number of the phrasal verbs grows. It is the

evidence of many books and dictionaries devoted to Phrasal verbs and their applications. Together with the growth in number, the frequency of the usage also grows. This means that the Phrasal verbs carry out their necessary function because of greater conciseness and significance at the same time.

Phrasal verbs are used not only in the spoken language; several of them are the integral part of the language of the newspapers and of the official business.

Before proceeding to the description of the verbs-postpositive phrases, it is necessary to give the structure and meaning of the phrasal verbs in general.

1.2 The basic properties of phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a combination of a "simple" verb (consisting of one word). (For example: come, put, go) and a postposition (for example: in, off, up), or prepositions and nouns. representing semantic and syntactic uniform unit. Such structures are usually idiomatic in meaning, and should be memorized as such.

For example: come in - to enter give up - to cease. The phrasal verb can be replaced by a "simple" verb. It characterizes a phrasal verb as semantic unity:

call up – telephonecome by – obtainput off – postponeput up with - tolerate. But this criterion is not common for all phrasal verbs since the equivalent of

many phrasal verbs is a word-combination:

break down - stop functioningmake up - apply cosmeticstake off - of a plane - leave the ground. The next peculiarity is idiomatic. The idiom is a combination of two or more

words, whose value does not coincide with the value of its components. Many phrasal verbs have the value which is impossible to deduce from the values of its components.

For example: bring up - educate give up - stop doing, using, etc.go off - explode; ringcome by - obtain.It is difficult to define the meaning of an idiomatic verb.So for example the verbs fall down and pull off, on the one hand, don't possess

any idiomatic value. fall down - to fallpull off - to remove, pull downBut these verbs have also the following dictionary values.fall down - 1) to admire (to someone in power)2) to fail, unsuccessfully to terminatepull off - 1) to achieve, despite difficulties2) to win (a prize, competition)So, the given property is not the core for phrasal verbs.Sometimes the value of a verb can be deduced from its components.Some phrasal verbs have two and more values, one of which idiomatic, others

opposite which are easily deduced from their components.Many linguists consider the ability of phrasal verbs to form the passive voice as

one of their basic properties. For example: Payments are limited to 10 % each month.This medicine must be measured out exactly.The next property of a phrasal verb is the possibility to have adverbial

postposition before and after a noun used with the given verb. For object the final position bears the big semantic loading, therefore if addition does not bear the new or important information, usually it settles down interposition.

For example: Call him up or call up him (not his sister) If the object is expressed by several words, it, most likely, will be taking of a

final position. For example: He put on the coat he had bought in London. If the object is expressed by a pronoun, it always is interposition. For example: He took his coat and put it on. For studying purposes, phrasal verbs can be divided into basic structures:1. Preposition and post preposition2. Verbs with prepositions and noun3. Verbs with post prepositionsIn the following section we will examine each of these structures.

1.3 Prepositions and Postpositions

Prepositions and postpositions in English are the same in form but different in function. Some prepositions are not used as postpositions, for example, "at, for, from, into, onto, of, with". Some postpositions are not used as prepositions, for example, "ahead, apart, aside, away, back, and forward". But some of them can function as prepositions or postpositions depending on the structure in which they are used, for example, "about, across, along, around, behind, by, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, under, up", so it's important to understand the difference between them.

A preposition is used with a noun (or its substitute), stands before it, and is not stressed. A preposition is part of a prepositional noun phrase, which means that a preposition always needs a noun. A postposition is used with a verb, stands after it, usually forms an idiom with this verb (it changes the meaning of the verb), and is always stressed. A postposition is part of the predicate, which means that a postposition always needs a verb. Some linguists call postpositions "adverbs", "adverbial particles" or "preposition-adverbs", because they are adverbial in character.

How did he get in? How did he get in / into the house?In the first sentence, the postposition "in" is part of the phrasal verb "get in", is

stressed, and in this sentence receives the falling intonation. In the second sentence, the preposition "in" or "into" belongs to the noun "the house" and is not stressed.[5]

1.4 Verbs with prepositions and nouns

In the structure "Verb with preposition and noun", the verb dictates the choice of a specific preposition, and this means that in many cases you need to learn these phrases by heart. A suitable noun or its substitute (a pronoun, a gerund, a question word) is always used in this structure and always stands after its preposition. In the lists of phrasal verbs, the words "something" and "someone" show where exactly the nouns stand in this structure. A suitable noun is chosen by the speaker according to the situation, for example:

We agreed on the price of 50 dollars.We agreed on going to Rome in the springWe agreed on it. What did you agree on?Quite often, a direct object (another noun or pronoun) goes between the verb and

the preposition with noun in this structure, for example: I congratulate you on your new job.She blames Mike for the loss of her bag.

1.5 Verbs with postpositions

There are two key elements in this structure: the verb and the postposition. Phrasal verbs of this kind present the most difficulty as they are highly idiomatic, i.e. their meaning is not predictable from the meanings of their components, and they usually have several idiomatic meanings. Many verbs can be used as phrasal verbs with postpositions, but the most important and the most productive are the verbs of motion:

break, bring, call, check, close, come, cut, do, drop, fall, get, give, go, look, make, move, pick, pull, push, put, run, set, show, take, tear, turn and some others. And the verb "be" - the biggest verb of English.

The meaning of a phrasal verb with a postposition is usually idiomatic, that is, different from the literal meanings of its components, for example:

This question is too difficult, I give up.Watch out! The bus is coming!The phrasal verb "give up" is idiomatic, because it means "stop trying to do

something", not the sum of the literal meanings of the words "gives" and "up". The phrasal verb "watch out" is idiomatic, because it means "be careful", not the sum of the literal meanings of the words "watch" and "out".

A verb with a postposition may be without any noun after it, or there may be a direct or indirect object after it, for example: [2]

They broke in.They broke in the door.They broke in through the window.If a personal pronoun is used instead of a noun which is a direct object, the

pronoun is usually placed between the verb and the postposition. They brought up their three sons in ItalyThey brought them up in ItalyFill out the form. Fill it out.In spoken English, a direct object in the form of a short noun or someone's name

may also stand between the verb and the postposition:Let in Anna Blake. Let Anna Blake in.But the postposition shouldn't be placed too far from the verb or separated from it

by intonation, because they create the meaning of the phrasal verb together.Many verbs with postpositions, especially the verbs of motion, are also used in

the literal meaning of the phrasal verb:Put your boots out, I'll clean them.Don't forget to put out the light before you leave.Look up the new words.He stopped reading and looked up.The phrasal verb "put out" in the first sentence literally means "put outside" and

is the sum of the meanings of "put" and "out". The phrasal verb "put out" in the second sentence is idiomatic, because it means "extinguish (the light, fire or cigarette)" and is not the sum of the literal meanings of "put" and "out".

The phrasal verb "look up" in the first sentence is idiomatic, because it means "find in a reference book" and is not the sum of the literal meanings of "look" and "up". The phrasal verb "look up" in the second sentence literally means "look up" and is the sum of the meanings of "look" and "up".

The literal meanings of verbs with postpositions present no difficulty for understanding. The literal meanings of the postpositions in such phrasal verbs often correspond to the meaning of prefixes in Russian verbs, for example: come in, go out, run out, give away, turn away, etc.

But verbs with postpositions very rarely, if ever, have only the literal meaning or only one meaning. Verbs with postpositions are verbs with several idiomatic meanings, and this means that they can be used in different situations instead of more specific verbs.

Verbs with postpositions are mostly used in simple tenses. Verbs with postpositions are usually less formal than their one-word synonyms and because of that they are widely used in conversational English.

There is a variation (or combination) of the two basic structures described above, in which a verb with a postposition takes a preposition and a suitable noun after it, for example:

I'm looking forward to your letter.She walked out on him.He is through with the report.

1.6 Categories of verbs with postposition

Considering the syntactic indivisible combinations of the verb and a postposition with perspective brought by postpositions in their values I.E. Anichkov distinguishes five categories of such combinations:

1) Combinations in which the postposition has specifically spatial meaning.For example: go in, come out, take away, bring back.2) Combinations in which the postposition is an abstract derived value, whose

contact with the primary meaning is felt.For example: let a person down = fail him;come in = find a place;bring out = expose;pull through = recover;pick up = acquire;3) A combination in which only the postposition underlines or supports the

importance of the verb.For example: fall down, rise up, turn over, and circle round;4) A combination of values, which don't arise from the values of verbs and

postpositions are not felt as emanating from them, and are semantically decomposable. For example: come about = happenfall out = quarrelgive up = abandondrop off = fall asleep;take in = deceive;5) A combination in which the postposition brings lexically specific hue.The last bit postposition brings nuance:a) perfective: eat up = eat the hole;Carry out = execute;b) terminative means not complete action and termination an unfinished action:Leave off work;Give up an attempt;

b) terminativegive up c) inchoative or inceptive:

break out

g) Durative or longer:Go on

d) interactive or repeated.Write again

perfective: eat up

c) inchoative or inceptive:strike up a tune, light up = begin smoking;break out = to start suddenly (of violent events).g) Durative or longer:Go on, talk away, struggle along;d) interactive, or repeated. Such postpositions as again, anew, afresh, sometimes

back and over endorsing the verb form a combination with value of the repetition of steps:

Write again, write anew, and write afresh....But the classification of verb phrase is not absolute.The boundaries between the discharges are not clearly established, and the verb in

one case may apply to the second level, and the other to the fourth. This may be due to the fact that the etymology of the verb in time to reveal all complex and, consequently, its value is not derived from his components. In addition, there are always words that allow different interpretations.

So, this classification should be called conditional.

Verb phrase

Verb postposition

Come + out (spatial meaning)

+ in (find a place - abstract derived value) Fall + down (supports the importance of the verb)

+ out (quarrel - semantically decomposable) lexically specific hue

1.7 Classification of Phrasal verbs

Group verb is very diverse as to their compatibility, as well as the added value that they are or who they acquire in the text. They can express the character of the transition from one state to another, inducing action, etc., but in all cases action is always a value, the prisoners in the verb.

Very large and diverse group of phrase verbs express the movement and at the same time describing it. Verbs of this group often express not just the traffic and move from one place to another. Therefore, most of them used to Postpositions indicating direction of movement (into, out, up, to).

For example: stand up - stand up; go out - go, go; go into - enter; jump into - jump, leap; It should be noted cases where the phrasal verb is termination, or, conversely, the

beginning of the movement.For example: get over - to end, away from anything; jump down - jumping off, jump off; run out - run out; throw off, get off - to start (something);A very large group consists of group verb, expressing the transition object from

one state to another, or his movement.In fact, verbs of motion objecting to the transition from immobility or beginning

of motion, can be attributed to this group or be considered as an intermediate link. Generally, the boundaries between different groups of phrase verbs are very unsteady in lexical terms, so it is not easy determined.

For example: 1) move in = to take possession of a new place to live move towards - to go in the direction of (something or someone) 2) to change one's opinion in the direction of. move off = to start a journey; leave.The third group belongs to group verb with semantic component "Lack of change

of an object". For example: stay behind;to remain at a distance behind something or someone;keep behind ; stay down = to remain at a lower level ; remain ahead = to stay in a forward or leading positionThe following group of values is dominated by verbal component "image

Movement ". For example: walk away from = to leave (something or someone) on foot; walk about / around = to walk in a place without direction; spin along = to move forward easily a quite quickly with arolling movement; frighten away / off = to make (somebody) leave through fear.[5][9] [6]

1.8 Formal and informal language

The word is a unit of speech which serves the purpose of human communication. The modern approach to word studies is based on distinguishing between the external and internal structures of the word. By external structure of the word we mean its morphological structure. For example, post-im-press|ion|ist|s the following morphemes

can be distinguished; the prefixes post- and im-, the root –press-, the noun-forming suffixes –ion, -ist and grammatical suffix of plurality –s.

The internal structure of the word or its meaning is the word’s semantic structure. It is the words main aspect.

Then words may belong to formal or informal speech. Formal style is restricted to formal situations. Formal words fall into 2 main

groups: words associated with professional communications and so-called learned words which are mainly associated with the printed page.

Archaic words and obsolete words stand close to the learned words because they also associate with printed page. This words are partly or fully out of circulation (e.g. thou, thy, aye, nay).

Historicisms are the words denoting objects and phenomena that are the things of the past and no longer exist.

Professional terminology are words that belong to special scientific professional or trade terminological systems.

Basic vocabulary words are stylistically neutral. Their stylistic neutrality makes it possible to use them in all kinds of situation both formal and informal.

Informal style is relaxed, free-and-easy, familiar and unpretentious. But it should be pointed out that the informal talk of well-educated people considerably differs from that of the illiterate or the semi-educated; the choice of words with adults is different from the vocabulary of teenagers; people living in the provinces use certain regional words and expressions. Consequently, the choice of words is determined in each particular case not only by an informal (or formal) situation, but also by the speaker's educational and cultural background, age group, and his occupational and regional characteristics. Informal language (or colloquial language) is the language of private conversation, of personal letters, etc. It is the first form of language that a native speaking child becomes familiar with. Because it is generally easier to understand than formal English, it is often used nowadays in public communication of a popular kind; for example, advertisements and popular newspapers mainly employ colloquial or informal style (Leech and Svartvik 24). Vast use of informal words is one of the prominent features of 20th century’s English and American literature. It is quite natural that informal words appear in dialogues, in which they realistically reflect the speech of modern people.

Informal words are divided into 3 types: colloquial, slang, dialect words.The Oxford English dictionary defines slang as “language of highly colloquial

style considered as below the level of standard educated speech and consisting either of new words or current words employed in some special sense”.

The scientists define a dialect as a variety of a language which prevails in a district with local peculiarities of vocabulary and pronunciation. Among other informal words, colloquialisms are the least exclusive: they are used by everybody, and their sphere of communication is comparatively wide, at least of literary colloquial words. These are informal words that are used in everyday conversational speech both by cultivated and uneducated people of all age groups.

Arnold

The term c o l l o q u i a l is old enough: Dr Johnson, the great English lexicographer, used it. Yet with him it had a definitely derogatory ring. S. Johnson thought colloquial words inconsistent with good usage and, thinking it his duty to reform the English language, he advised “to clear it from colloquial barbarisms”. By the end of the 19th century with Neo-grammarians the description of colloquial speech came into its own, and linguists began to study the vocabulary that people actually use under various circumstances and not what they may be justified in using.

As employed in our time, the adjective c o l l o q u i a l does not necessarily mean ‘slangy’ or ‘vulgar’, although slang and vulgar vocabulary make part of colloquial vocabulary, or, in set-theoretical terminology, form subsets contained in the set we call colloquial vocabulary.

The term l i t e r a r y c o l l o q u i a l is used to denote the vocabulary used by educated people in the course of ordinary conversation or when writing letters to intimate friends. A good sample may be found in works by a number of authors, such as J. Galsworthy, E.M. Forster, C.P. Snow, W.S. Maugham, J.B.Priestley, and others. For a modern reader it represents the speech of the elder generations. The younger generation of writers (M. Drabble for instance) adhere to f a m i l i a r c o l l o q u i a l . So it seems in a way to be a differentiation of generations. Familiar colloquial is more emotional and much more free and careless than literary colloquial. It is also characterised by a great number of jocular or ironical expressions and nonce-words.

Low c o l l o q u i a l is a term used for illiterate popular speech. It is very difficult to find hard and fast rules that help to establish the boundary between low colloquial and dialect, because in actual communication the two are often used together. Moreover, we have only the evidence of fiction to go by, and this may be not quite accurate in speech characterisation. The basis of distinction between low colloquial and the two other types of colloquial is purely social. Everybody remembers G.B. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” where the problem of speech as a mark of one’s social standing and of social inequalities is one of the central issues. Ample material for observation of this layer of vocabulary is provided by the novels of Alan Sillitoe, Sid Chaplin or Stan Barstow. The chief peculiarities of low colloquial concern grammar and pronunciation; as to the vocabulary, it is different from familiar colloquial in that it contains more vulgar words, and sometimes also elements of dialect.

Other vocabulary layers below the level of standard educated speech are, besides low colloquial, the so-called s l a n g and a r g o t . Unlike low colloquial, however, they have only lexical peculiarities. Argot should be distinguished from slang: the first term serves to denote a special vocabulary and idiom, used by a particular social or age group, especially by the so-called underworld (the criminal circles). Its main point is to be unintelligible to outsiders.

The boundaries between various layers of colloquial vocabulary not being very sharply defined, it is more convenient to characterise it on the whole. If we realise that gesture, tone and voice and situation are almost as important in an informal act of communication as words are, we shall be able to understand why a careful choice of words in everyday conversation plays a minor part as compared with public speech or literature, and consequently the vocabulary is much less variegated. The same pronouns, prop-words, auxiliaries, postpositives and the same most frequent and

generic terms are used again and again, each conveying a great number of different meanings. Among the colloquialisms one finds verbs with postpositives: cool off, think things out, come on. Every type of colloquial style is usually rich in figures of speech.

Only a small fraction of English vocabulary is put to use, so that some words are definitely overworked. Words like thing, business, do, get, go, fix, nice, really, well and other words characterised by a very high rank of frequency are used in all types of informal intercourse conveying a great variety of denotative and emotional meanings and fulfilling no end of different functions. The utterances abound in imaginative phraseology, ready-made formulas of politeness and tags, standard expressions of assent, dissent, surprise, pleasure, gratitude, apology, etc.

1.9 Verbs post-positive phrases and colloquial style

Phrasal verbs are used in the informal sense in colloquial speech, in sharp contrast with the more formal verbs. One needs to perfect their usage and learn about the phrasal verb meanings in detail in order to have a command over the English language. A single verb can be used as a phrasal verb in more than one way such that it has a literal phrasal verb meaning as well as an idiomatic phrasal verb meaning.Verbs with post-positional adverbs are also numerous among colloquialisms: put up, put over, make up, make out, do away, turn up, turn in, etc. Many phrasal verbs have a more formal synonym that is normally used in formal texts. When students choose the formal synonym they sound more formal and less natural to native speakers. Students who use phrasal verbs in formal situations can sound too informal.

Examples of formal and informal use of phrasal verbs:In a business letter you would not say:"I'll show up around half-past ten." You would use a more formal phrase like:"I will arrive at around half-past ten."In spoken speech, say at an informal dinner with friends, you would say:"Dig in" rather than the more formal, "Please start eating".Verbs both literal and idiomaticVerbs-postpositive phrases are often informal, emotive, and slangy, and may

contrast with Latinate verbs, as in They used up/consumed all the fuel; They gathered together/assembled/congregated in the hall; The soldiers moved forward/advanced. Putting off a meeting parallels postponing it; driving back enemy forces repels them; putting out a fire extinguishers it; bringing back the death penalty restores it. However, such pairing often depends on context and collocation. In some cases, one phrasal verb may match several Latinate verbs: bring back = restore (the death penalty), return (money to someone), retrieve (a shot bird or animal from where it has fallen). In other cases, one Latinate verb may match several phrasal verbs: demolish matching knock down, tear down, blow up as variants in destructive style. It is sometimes possible to match the elements of phrasal verbs and Latinate verbs: climb up with a/scend, climb down with de/scend. It is the idiomatic phrasal verbs that cause the most problems for students of English. See BISOCIATION.

There are literal and figurative usages of verbs-postpositive phrases. Many phrasal verbs, like come across, can be both idiomatic and literal depending on the meaning. The verb bring in is used literally in The milkman brought in the milk, figuratively in The prime minister brought in a new policy. Only in the second sense can bring in be matched with introduce (itself originally metaphorical in Latin): not *The milkman introduced the milk, unless a joke is intended. Jokes and cartoons are often based on a deliberate confusion of phrasal-verb meanings: as when someone says, ‘Put the kettle on’ (taken to mean heat some water in a kettle for tea), then notes with appreciation, ‘Mmm, it suits you’ (crossing over to putting on clothes and leaving the listener to imagine someone wearing a kettle). An artist might build a cartoon round the literal/figurative contrast in Where did you pick up that idea?, with someone searching through garbage for inspiration, and the headline OIL WILL RUN OUT SOON might be supported by a picture of barrels with legs leaving a room.

According to the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, 'phrasal verbs' occur: • 1900 times per million words in fiction• 1800 times per million words in conversation• 1400 times per million words in newspapers• 800 times per million words in academic writing

The proportions are similar to those for lexical verbs in general, except that the figure for academic writing is disproportionately low. In other words, the distribution of phrasal verbs across these four genres is roughly the same as the distribution of verbs in general, but they are especially rare in academic writing.

However, individual phrasal verbs can have distributions that go against the grain of this generalization. For example, carry out is equally common in newspapers and academic writing, but rare in conversation and fiction, and point out is more common in academic writing than in the other three genres.

So, in the chapter we tried to give common definition categories, classification and the basic structure of phrasal verb and examine features of colloquial style. We can come to the conclusion that phrasal verbs are used in the informal sense in colloquial speech, in sharp contrast with the more formal verbs. Some phrasal verbs can have a multitude of different meanings depending on the context.

2 PHRASAL VERBS IN USE: SITCOM “FRIENDS”2.1 Phrasal verbs’ usage as a phenomenon in English mass media

Everyday English is characterized by informal and non-standard properties of the language, especially phrasal verbs, idioms and slangs which are popularly adopted in the United States, United Kingdom and other English speaking countries. Informal sentence is another uniqueness of everyday English. Informal language (or colloquial language) is the language of private conversation, of personal letters, etc. It is the first form of language that a native speaking child becomes familiar with. Because it is generally easier to understand than formal English, it is often used nowadays in public communication of a popular kind; for example, advertisements, popular newspapers and TV shows mainly employ colloquial or informal style (Leech and Svartvik 24). Consequently, an informal aspect of English language may not yet be commonly known among people who are English learners.

Movies and TV shows are a good source where one is able to find many aspects of learning related to the English language, especially everyday English. Learning English through movies also provides practice in listening and speaking skills. In particular, American romantic movies and serials are qualified for studying colloquial language as they contain abundant phrasal verbs, slangs, idioms and informal language patterns. On the basis of these arguments, we attempted to study phrasal verbs in the informal English usage in the characters’ conversations of the sitcom “Friends” as the main source of research sample.

Phrasal verbs take a considerable place among vocabulary verbs of Modern English language and are generally used in idiomatic phrases, so it is not an exaggeration when we say that the phrasal verbs are one of the main and important items of theoretical study and practical mastering of the English language. As far as phrasal verbs are frequently used they become common phenomenon in everyday English as well as in mass media.

It is stated in a number of books and dictionaries that “phrasal verb” is a type of idiom, meanwhile a lot of idioms do not include phrasal verbs in the content. Moreover, some phrasal verbs totally changed their meaning. According to A Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs and their Idioms by Tom McArthur, combinations of simple, monosyllabic verbs (put, take, get, etc.) and members of a set of particles, adverbs or prepositions are considered as “Phrasal Verbs”. The function of this kind of expressions is similar to verbs. Examples are “chicken out of”, “case across”, “set off” and so on. Therefore, it should be stated that not every phrasal verb is regarded as an idiom.

2.2 Background, Synopsis and Procedure of “Friends”

1) The background of the sitcom “Friends”The “Friends” is an American sitcom, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004 in the United States. It was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman who wrote scripts for all series. The serial contains of a number of idioms and phrasal verbs which can be applied in everyday English usage.2) Synopsis

Few ensemble sitcoms of the 1990s and early 2000s commanded as much love and devotion from their fans as the immensely popular NBC series Friends -- and few such sitcoms generated as many "water-cooler conversations" as the characters' lives and loves evolved over the series' ten-year run. Set in New York City, the action largely took place in two neighboring loft apartments. One of these was the home of Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), who can be described as the series' "rock" -- or better yet, "den mother." An assistant chef who later ran her own restaurant, Monica lived with her best friend, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), who had come to New York after running out on her wedding; employed as a waitress in the earlier episodes, Rachel later became a buyer for a retail fashion chain, and finally an assistant to a high-profile designer. Occasionally dropping into Monica's apartment was her brother, Ross (David Schwimmer), a paleontologist who spent most of the first season coming to grips with the fact that his wife, Carol (Jane Sibbett), had declared herself a lesbian and divorced him (Carol would later give birth to Ross' son Ben, whom she and her partner insisted upon raising themselves). Across the hall from Monica's flat lived Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), an aspiring actor whose professional luck was generally bad until he landed a continuing role on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives -- as a man with a woman's brain! Joey lived with "corporate guy" Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), who was regarded as the class clown of the bunch. A frequent guest at both apartments was Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), an airheaded will-o'-the-wisp who never quite got it all together at any one time.

- Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green- Courteney Cox as Monica Geller- Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay- Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani- Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing- David Schwimmer as Ross Geller

3) Methodology In this part, the information of the materials used in the research is described.

Besides, the research procedures and data collection are given in order to facilitate the understanding of the readers when reading or studying this research and assist the readers in searching information from cited materials for their further study. Materials

Procedures For doing the analysis part of phrasal verbs, we firstly studied some fundamental

rules and principles of phrasal verbs, from the Internet and books on linguistics. Then, the 10 episodes had been watched for several times to acquire the

understanding of the plot all through the story, and to attain the meaning of all the conversations taking place in the sitcom. After that, some phrasal verbs from the downloaded subtitles were isolated. Next, a number of phrasal verbs were selected as a data collection. Finally, the definitions of phrasal verbs which are relevant to the context were searched from the cited materials.

Data Collection In the analysis process, we found numerous phrasal verbs available in the sitcom

“Friends”. To analyze and explain the definitions of phrasal verbs with the context, we selected 10 phrasal verbs which are the most interesting and noticeable. The remaining phrasal verbs which were not included in the data analysis can be found in the Appendix section.

2.3 Analysis of Phrasal verbs

1.Monica : Can we turn the TV off? Do we really want to spend the weekend like this?

Chandler : Am I getting in the way of the room-switching fun?

Monica : Don't blame me for tonight.

We found the following definitions of the phrasal verb “get in”:1. “to go into something, 2. “to be allowed to enter a place”, 3. “to succeed in entering the place”4. “to arrive at your home or at work”However, in the idiom “to get in the way of something” this phrasal verb is used

in the meaning “to prevent from” (Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms). According to the situation in the dialogue.

Monica was talking with her boyfriend Chandler in the hotel where they stayed. Chandler was annoyed by several room-switching made by Monica because she found them dirty. Therefore, “get in the way of” refers to “preventing somebody from doing something”.

2. Phoebe : If anyone asked me to give up any of you, I

couldn't do it.

Joey : Me neither.

Chandler : Maybe I could do it.

According to Longman Phrasal verbs dictionary, phrasal verb “to give up somebody” has 2 definitions: “to end friendship or romantic relationship with someone” or “to give your child to someone else for adoption”. Judging by the context, the first meaning “to end friendship or romantic relationship with someone” is more suitable in this situation. Ross’ wife Emily wanted him to stop meeting his friend

Rachel because she feels jealous to her. Other friends condemned his decision “to end friendship” with Rachel.

3. Rachel : Who's Kip?

Chandler : My old roommate. We all hung out together.

In the Longman Phrasal verbs dictionary phrasal verb “hang out” has a literal and metaphorical meanings. It can mean (a) literally: “to hang clothes somewhere outside”; and (b) metaphorically: “to spend a lot of time with someone, relaxing and enjoying yourself”. In this situation, the character is supposed to say that they used to “relax” and “chill out” together, that is hang out is used in the meaning of “to spend a lot of time with someone, relaxing and enjoying yourself”.

4. Rachel : You told me the story. He and Monica dated.

Chandler : When they broke up, you all promised you'd stay his friend. And what happened? He got phased out.

According to Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, there is only one definition of phrasal verb “to phase out”. It means “to gradually stop using something”.

This dialogue can be understood only if we connect it with the previous conversations. When Kip and Monica dated, Kip was a friend for all company. But when they broke up everyone of “friends” “gradually stopped communicating” with him and he left the company. Therefore we can suggest that in the character’s speech this verb assumes a new informal metaphorical meaning “to gradually stop communicating with somebody”.

5. A man in commercial : Can't get the monkey off your back? Then put it in your mouth... with Monkeyshine Beer.

In the above situation phrasal verb “to get off” can mean “to stop being dependent on something that you used to have regularly or “to leave the place where you are”.

It is a part of the commercial of beer which the friends watched on TV. A man in commercial saying “to get the monkey off your back” is using a pun or play on words because it has 2 definitions: idiomatic (1) to give up taking drugs (probably he meant “hard work” instead of “drugs”; literal (2) It can be interpreted in direct way as “make the monkey leave your back” (a man in commercial had a monkey on his back). This

commercial advertised a beer as a way of relaxing from hard work. It is known that pun is one of the favorite stylistic devices in advertising.

6. Ross : You know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "No divorces in '99!"

Chandler : But your divorce isn't final yet.

Ross : Just the one divorce in '99!

We found the following definitions of the phrasal verb “to go out”:- “to leave a room, building”; -“to do something difficult in a determined way, even though it needs a lot of effort”-“to leave your house to meet people or enjoy yourself”;-“to travel to another country”;-“stop shining or burning”;-“to be announced”;- “to stop being fashionable”;- “to lose a game”

This phrasal verb is included in the structure of the idiom “to go out on a limb” which means “to do something which is very different to most other people”(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms). This scene took place at Monica’s home on New Year’s Day. Ross suggested friends making resolutions in the new year of 1999. He had already divorced with Carol and was going to divorce with Emily. So, he was very excited of starting a new life and promised to be happy and “try hard” not to divorce anymore during that year. According to the situation in the dialogue, only one definition is suitable here: “to do something difficult in a determined way, even though it needs a lot of effort”.

7. Monica : I know that I was acting a little crazy...but I feel the same way.

Chandler : You know what I just realized? You just freaked out about our relationship.

Longman Phrasal verbs dictionary gives 2 informal definitions of “freak out”:1)“to suddenly feel very shocked, worried or frightened” ; 2)“to suddenly behave

in a strange and uncontrolled way”. This phrasal verb is used only in informal speech. After Phoebe said that beginning parts of relationships are the best and she asked

when it ended for Monica and Chandler, Monica took this question as offence. She wanted to prove that their feelings were still strong. That’s why she tried to show everybody how much they loved each other. Chandler was tired of her “being nervous”

about their relations. It seemed him crazy. That is why we suppose that “freak out” is used here in the second meaning.

8. Phoebe : I can't believe I can't find a selfless good deed. You know that old guy that lives next to me? I snuck up there and raked up the leaves on his front stoop.But he caught me, and he force-fed me cider and cookies.

In accordance with Longman Phrasal verbs dictionary, “sneak up” is informal phrasal verb used especially in American English. It means “to come near to someone very quietly so they don’t hear or see you” which is similar to “creep up on”.

“Rake up” means “to talk about something unpleasant from the past” or “to collect things together for a particular purpose, when this is difficult to do”.

This is a part of the scene where Phoebe tried to find a selfless good deed. She remembered the situation when she was a child. She wanted to help her neighbor to collect old leaves (to rake up) and do it unnoticed (sneak up) but he saw her and returned her kindness. Thus, in the sentence “I snuck up there and raked up the leaves on his front stoop” phrasal verbs mean “to come near to someone very quietly so they don’t hear or see you” and “ to collect things together for a particular purpose, when this is difficult to do” accordingly.

9. Ross : Where's the chicken?

Chandler : It's in the back. The duck pissed him off.

“Piss somebody off” is a spoken and informal phrasal verb similar “to annoy”, “be hacked off”, is used especially in British English.

Chandler and Joey have a duck and a chicken in their apartment. When Ross came to them he saw only the duck. Chandler joked that the duck “annoys” chicken very much. So in the context this phrasal verb has the same meaning “to annoy someone very much”.

10. Rachel : You know, we really should quit. Okay, let's quit! Great! Give me those cigs.Come on!

We found the following definitions of the phrasal verb “come on”:1) “to start do something” ;

2) used to tell someone to come with you somewhere, or to hurry;3) used to encourage someone to do something or, to try harder;4) used to tell someone that you do not believe or agree with that they have just

said;5) used to comfort someone or tell them not to worry.In this situation Rachel tries to make her colleagues quit smoking. Therefore we

can state that “Come on” in the Imperative is used “to encourage someone to do something or to try harder”.

2.4 Discussion of phrasal verbs analysis

The number of each type of phrasal verbs used in 10 episodes of the sitcom is calculated. Furthermore, all phrasal verbs are classified into five categories by postpositions in their values:

postposition with spatial meaning postposition as an abstract derived value semantically decomposable combination postposition supporting the verb postposition with specific hue

Their distribution is shown in table A. The number of each type of phrasal verbs used in the movie is counted. In table B examples for each category are shown. Table C presents frequency of phrasal verbs in 10 episodes. The results are demonstrated as follows.

Table A Category Amount of phrasal

verbsspatial meaning 20

postposition is an abstract derived value 11

postposition supports the verb 15

A combination is semantically decomposable

6

the postposition brings lexically specific hue

a) perfectiveb) terminativec) inceptived) durative or longere) interactive, or repeated

41121

Total 61

Table BCategory phrasal verbs

spatial meaning Come in, get in, get out, storm out, move out, put

back, give back, get back, go down, stand up, put

on, look up, be back, call back, put out, come back, go across, look back, take

backpostposition is an abstract derived value Figure out, pick up, come

on, work out, set up, freak out, drop off, hang up, find out, check out

postposition supports the verb Pick out, work on, head for, ask out, come up, get

off, come down, look over, come out, walk up, go out, clear up, look for,

run into, call fora combination is semantically decomposable

Give up, hang out, break up, hit on, tell on, fill up

the postposition brings lexically specific hue

a) perfective

b) terminativec) inceptived) durative or longer interactive, or repeated

Add up, wait up, do up, carry outGive upBreak outGo on, hold onWrite again

Table CPhrasal verb Frequency in the text

Come on 24Go on 9Get out 7Go out 6

Come up, put out 4

Get in, get back, give up, break up, move on, pick up, find out, freak out, get back, go out, come in, take back, put on

3

hang out, drop off, give back, hold on, work out, check out, take out, look for, go through

2

Add up, sneak around, figure out, pick out, work on, head for, storm out, hit on, move out, ask out, put back, hang up, get off, tell on, come down, put on, look up, wait up, look over, call back, put out, come out, take over, walk up, set up, look back, hold up, clear up, look for, run into, do up

1

From table A and table B, it is noticeable that phrasal verbs which have spatial meaning are numerous, with 20 out of the 61 in total. A combination in which only the postposition supports the verb constitutes the 2nd largest group, followed by “abstract derived value”. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that there is only one terminative, inceptive and repeated postposition, appearing in the conversations of the 10 episodes of the sitcom.

From table C, we can see the result of all phrasal verbs found in the scripts of the 10 episodes. It is concluded that phrasal verb “come on” with the meaning “to encourage someone to do something or to try harder” is the most commonly used in the conversations of the serial, amounting 24 times in 10 episodes. Phrasal verb “go on” in the same meaning “to encourage somebody to do something” or “to continue to do something” was used at least one time in every episode.

According to the results, phrasal verbs in which the postposition has specifically spatial meaning are the most commonly used. Among all categories of idioms, phrasal verbs are the most popularly used in this sitcom for two possible reasons.

1) Phrasal verbs are broadly accessible by people from different social classes, education levels, age and occupations. As phrasal verb contains only simple words which are “verb” and “preposition”, almost all people can use it and understand it.

2) Phrasal verbs match the atmosphere in “Friends”. They could describe actions in informal manner to allow the conversation continuing smoothly and naturally with other informal elements.

Additionally, phrasal verb is classified as a type of idiom, but not every phrasal verb is idiom. “Phrasal verbs” are the most popularly used in the serial’s conversations. According to the results of the 10 episodes, this serial’s conversation reflects career, age and the relationship between the speaker and the listener. It is obviously seen that people employed informal language to replace academic language use. All in all, the characters in this serial communicated by using informal way for comfort, naturalization and promptness.

CONCLUSION

Consequently, phrasal verbs take a considerable place among vocabulary verbs of Modern English language and are generally used in idiomatic phrases, so it is not an exaggeration when we say that the phrasal verbs are one of the main and important items of theoretical study and practical mastering of the English language.

Это вывод по 3 зад.3. In our paper we have analyzed about sixty verbs, taken from “Friends”

sitcom’s informal speech. From the analysis of informal sentences in the episodes’ conversations, there is a group of phrasal verbs that are spoken frequently by the characters. Examples are: “Come on”, “go on”, “get out”, “come up”, “put out”.

Это какая-то каша из выводов, распредели, что за чем идет.

Having classified verbs with postpositions, taken from the informal speech with a view to postpositions’ values we made a conclusion that the verbs with postposition “on” and “up” predominate as a large quantity of verbs with these postpositions are polysemantic. Also, verbs with postpositions which have spatial meaning are most commonly used. We can make the conclusion that postposition plays the main role in the semantic meaning of the verb.

As a result, we can see that verb-postpositive phrases particularly characterize colloquial style. Their common usage in everyday language is explained by that they allow people to have comfortable, natural and abrupt oral communication. And those phrasal verbs’ usage in the informal speech allows them to express their thoughts and make our speech more dynamic and diverse. Familiarity and simplification are the two basic governing rules of colloquial style.

Additionally, phrasal verb is classified as a type of idiom, but not every phrasal verb is idiom. It is because idiom is defined as a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words and many of phrasal verbs have the similar meaning as the words they contain. Among all categories of idioms, phrasal verbs are the most popularly used.

So, this project can be used for studying and teaching this phenomenon in the course English grammar and for learning their meaning more deeply. Phrasal verb is an interesting topic for doing further study based on this research.

1. to study verb-postpositive phrases, give their classification 2. to examine features of colloquial style3. to study informal language used in the sitcom “Friends”, including phrasal

verbs and idioms containing phrasal verbs. 4. to reveal the phrasal verbs most frequently used in colloquial speech

Вот твои задачи! 1 и 2 по теории – дай выводы конкретно по ним. Например,

1. A phrasal verb is a type of verb in English that operates more like a phrase than a word. English phrasal verbs come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, they're a verb and preposition combination which, when combined, changes the meaning of the main

verb into something else. Phrasal verbs can be divided into the following basic structures:

1. Preposition and post preposition2. Verbs with prepositions and noun3. Verbs with post prepositionsи т.д.

REFERENCES

1. DVD of the sitcom “Friends”: Season 1 Episode 1 Season 2 Episodes 1, 6, 21, 22 Season 5 Episodes 4, 5, 16, 17, 18

2. Dictionaries: - Longman Phrasal verbs dictionary (2005) - Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (2002) - Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (2002) - Dictionary of American Idioms (1995)

3. Websites http://www.wikipedia.org http://www.opensubtitles.org http :// idioms . thefreedictionary . com

APPENDIX

1. Be up to (Traditional) To be doing or planning something, often secretly

2. Break up To end a romantic relationship

3. Calm down To become quite; relax

4. Come on Used to say in order to tell someone that you do not believe them or that you disagree with them

5. Fall for To begin to love

6. Figure out To find an answer by thinking about (some problem or difficulty); solve

7. Get the hell out (traditional) To leave a place very quickly 11. 8. Get over

To finish; to pass over 9. Go on

To continue to exist or happen 10. Hang out

To spend a lot of time in a particular place, or to a lot of time with someone 11.Hold on

To wait for a short time 12. Hole up

To hide in a place in order to escape someone who is looking for one or in order to avoid an unpleasant situation Mess up To cause trouble; to spoil something Put up To put in place Round out To complete; make whole Screw up To make a mess of, to make an error which causes confusion Show up To come, appear

Shut up To stop talking

28. Take off To leave fast; depart suddenly; run away 30. Tear down To take all down in pieces; destroy 31. Tie up To take all the time of 32. Turn out To prove to be