A cognitive-linguistic investigation of English phrasal verbs related to plants

Abstract

The focus of the paper is on the semantics of English phrasal verbs whose constituent verb is related to the concept of PLANTS. The investigated set of verbs includes twenty-two phrasal verbs featuring the particles OUT, OFF, UP, THROUGH, IN and AWAY. The analysis is conducted in the framework of cognitive semantics, which states that the meaning of phrasal verbs can be analysed in view of their constituent particles and the interplay between the verb meaning and the particle senses. It is concluded that the general meaning of the examined phrasal verbs is a result of different spatial configurations underlying the conceptual-semantic structure of the constituent particles, while their specific meanings are motivated by different conceptual metonymies stemming from the constituent verb. Numerous abstract meanings are additionally derived via various submetaphors of the basic metaphor COMPLEX ABSTRACT SYSTEMS ARE PLANTS embedded in the conceptual framework of the constituent verbs.

U radu se razmatra značenje engleskih fraznih glagola čiji se sastavni glagol odnosi na BILJKE. Analizirana je značenjska struktura 22 frazna glagola sa partikulama OUT, OFF, UP, THROUGH, IN i AWAY. Analiza je izvršena u okviru teorijskih postavki kognitivne lingvistike u kojoj se značenje fraznih glagola posmatra u kontekstu sastavnih partikula i semantičke interakcije između sastavnog glagola i partikule. Zaključuje se da opšta značenja razmatranih fraznih glagola izviru iz različitih prostornih konfiguracija koje leže u osnovi pojmovno-značenjske strukture sastavnih partikula, dok su specifična značenja motivisana različitim pojmovnim metonimijama koje potiču od sastavnog glagola. Brojna apstraktna značenja dodatno proističu iz različitih podmetafora osnovne pojmovne metafore APSTRAKTNI SLOŽENI SISTEMI SU BILJKE, koja se nalazi u osnovi pojmovne strukture sastavnih glagola.