Linguistics Homework

Dema Al-khudair

S11102368

Personal Language Project:

Phrasal Verbs and Franco-Latin Verbs.

LING321

Dr. Kathleen Guillaume

Due: May 17, 2015

This essay talks about phrasal verbs, Franco-Latin verbs and how English has a parallel system of verbs.

First, phrasal verbs are a structure of; verb + preposition or a verb + adverb. It creates a meaning different from the original verb.

Example: 1- I ran into my teacher yesterday. (To meet).

2- He ran away when he was 15. (left home).

There are two types of phrasal verbs; transitive and intransitive.

Transitive verbs can be followed by an object.

Example: I made up the story. (created) + object (the story).

Intransitive verbs can not be followed by an object.

Example: He suddenly showed up. (appeared)+no object.

Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable and some transitive phrasal verbs are not.

Example (separable transitive phrasal verb):

1-I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car. This sentence has the object in the middle of the phrasal verb.

2- She looked the address number up. The object is in the middle of the phrasal verb.

Example (inseparable transitive phrasal verb):

1- I ran into my high school friend just yesterday. The object followed after the preposition.

2- They are looking into the problem. The object followed after the preposition.

There are many particles in phrasal verbs and each particle carries a different idea or meaning to the verb with it.

Off (To distance)

Examples:

1-Take Off- The plane took off at 12 noon.

2-Back Off- He backed off when he saw that his manager was angry.

3-Put Off- She had her wedding put off until June.

4- Break Off- The broke off their contract with that company.

5- Ran Off- Her husband ran off without telling his wife anything.

6- Show Off- That man is such a show off.

Up (To add to something, expand, the idea of all or nothing)

Examples:

1-Put Up- She had to put up with her mother-in-law.

2-Blow Up- The dynamite blew up in the cave.

3-Mark Up- She was told to mark up the summer clothes section.

4-Sell Up- The family sold up their house so that they can move to Paris.

5-Finish up- The children were told to finish up their homework to be rewarded later on.

6- Top Up- The waiter asked the customer if he would like a top up to his coffee.

Out:

1- Sell Out- He sold out his apps and ideas to Microsoft.

2- Break Out- The prisoner managed to break out of prison.

3- Pass Out- The room was so hot she passed out.

4-Work Out- Everything worked out in the end.

5-Fill Out- “You must fill out this form”.

6-Hand Out- Each student was given a hand out of the material they need to cover.

Down:

1-Stand Down- "After ten years at the head of the company, the chairman has decided to stand down."

2-Write Down- The student was writing down his notes.

3-Break Down- She was so stressed she broke down.

4-Bring Down-The building was brought down.

5-Back Down- She backed down and accepted the odds.

6- Calm Down- She started panicking, she needed to calm down.

Onto Franco-Latin verbs, a great number of words in the English language are originally from different languages such as; French, Latin, German, Greek, Arabic and many more. According to many sources, about 45% of the English language has words that originated from the French language. These words do have their “phrasal verb” version, here are some examples:

Example:

Phrasal Verbs	Franco-Latin Verbs
Put off	Postpone
Blow up	Explode
Break up	Divorce
Put up	Resist
Pass Out	Faint
Stand Down	Resign
Bring Down	Destroy

Conclusion: English has a parallel structure of verbs in the sense of carrying the same meaning.

References:

1- http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html

2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

3-http://examples.yourdictionary.com/parallel-structure-examples.html

4-http://www.english-at-home.com/idioms/phrasal-verbs-using-out/

5- http://www.english-at-home.com/idioms/phrasal-verbs-with-down/