The phrasal verb in English

Abstract EN

This paper concentrates on the syntactic struture of the phrasal verb and presents eight tests to isolate this verbal structure from other non - phrasal verbal combinations.

The tests are usefully channelled to express themselves in regularities underlying phrasal and non - phrasal verbs.

It highlights some severe collacational restrictions that obtain with the phrasal structure whose particle is unequivocally realized as an adverbial.The paper also maintains that between and within phrasal and non-phrasal structures are varying degrees of idiomaticity, distinguishing, the most idiomatic (ie the least transparent) structure from the least idiomatic (ie the most transparent) one.

It enunciates that although some verbs appear to be of one category than another, there is a continual process of idiomatic ascent that eventually converts 'marginal' and non-phrasal verbs into phrasal ones.