Multi-word verbs across englishes: A corpus-based study

• Main Author: Ella, Jennibelle Reyes
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: English language—Verb phrase; English language—Foreign countries; Linguistics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/1511
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study described the morphological, syntactic, and semantic features of multi-word verbs in 12 World Englishes based on the International Corpus of English. The 76 multi-word verbs were searched in their present, present participle, past, and past participle forms using the AntConc 3.4 concordance program. All multi-word verbs used as finite verb forms were manually extracted and verified to ensure that they satisfy the description of multi-word verbs, morphologically and syntactically. Guided by Quirk et al.’s (1985) classification of multi-word verbs, this study analyzed their occurrences from word to sentence level.The corpus analysis yielded 20, 951 multi-word verbs in three major categories, namely: phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs. This number represents 75 out of the 76 multi-word verbs found in the corpora. They generally occurred in the present form and were widely distributed in various text categories across Englishes. Prepositional verbs were the most frequently used (54%), followed by phrasal verbs (40%), and phrasal-prepositional verbs (6%). Higher frequencies and a bigger range of multi-word verb usage were found more in the Inner Circle than in the Outer Circle. Phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs occurred more in the Inner Circle while prepositional verbs appeared more in the Outer Circle. Based on the overall mean (582) frequency, New Zealand (794), Australian (734), Irish (586), Singaporean (715), and Nigerian Englishes (683) displayed an overuse of the multi-word verbs; in contrast, British (565), Canadian (507), East African (534), Hong Kong (526), Indian (467), Philippine (444), and Jamaican Englishes (428) exhibited an underuse. Moreover, the Inner Circle yielded a higher mean rating in both spoken (1369) and written (536) registers while the Outer Circle recorded a lower mean rating of 1105 in spoken and 522 in the written register than the overall mean.The ten most frequently used multi-word verbs were look at, give NP to, go for, deal with, go through, look for put on, pick up, get in, and carry out. This list consisted of six prepositional verbs and four phrasal verbs that converge more in the spoken, specifically in direct conversation than in the written registers. Results also showed higher occurrences of multi-word verbs in dialogues than in monologues, and in print than in non-print text types.The top ten multi-word verbs with an overall total of 10, 361 were used to further describe grammar aspects, such as voice, transitivity, and idiomaticity. The majority of the multi-word verb constructions were expressed in active voice. Prepositional passives comprised a small percentage in the distribution possibly due to restrictions in stylistics and grammatical acceptability since they are verbal idioms. Carried out and dealt with were the most common be passives and were also written register dependent. They typically occurred agentless to foreground the passive subject and subsequently downgrade the agent in the construction. A tendency to use agentless passives was more evident in the Outer Circle than in the Inner Circle.In terms of transitivity, Type II (transitive) phrasal verbs were more prevalent than Type I across the varieties. Pick up, put on, carry out, and get in adopted both the non-separable and the separable patterns, though the non-separable pattern was more preferred than the separable pattern. In contrast, Type I (intransitive) prepositional verbs were highly preferred, with approximately six times more instances than Type II transitive prepositional verbs. Type I prepositional verbs consist of look at, look for, deal with, go for, and go through while Type II prepositional verbs include give NP to, put on, and get in. A number of cases of literal/free combination and highly idiomatic use were found in constructions with pick up, put on, get in, go for, and give NP to while those that can be both semi- idiomatic and highly idiomatic were in sentences that included look at and look for. Free combination, semi-idiomatic, and highly idiomatic multi-word verbs occurred more in the varieties in the Inner Circle than in the Outer Circle.The study showed that multi-word verbs are variety-specific and spoken register dependent. Their informal and colloquial characteristics are more evident in those varieties with fluent speakers. The variation in their occurrences and in their behavior with respect to voice, syntactic order, and idiomatic status suggests complexity, substrate influence, and cultural differences.