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Grammatical Collocations of Verbs and Prepositions

by Marianna Hudcovičová (Author)
©2017 Monographs 122 Pages

Summary

This book presents empirical research of grammatical collocations of the type: verb and the prepositions «of» and «to». It is based on comparisons of English and Czech sentences containing verbs and prepositions that are followed by the object. The author creates English–Czech verbal prepositional counterparts and groups on the grounds of the similar semantic, syntactic features. She identifies the features that are the same for each verb group and generalizes them. The book determines trends and tendencies for verbs when they collocate with a certain preposition.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author(s)/editor(s)
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • Introduction
  • 1. Important Studies
  • 2. Grammatical Collocations
  • 3. Characteristics of Prepositions from the Morphological Aspect
  • 3.1. Division of Prepositions
  • 3.1.1. Simple and Complex Prepositions
  • 3.1.2. Free and Bound Prepositions
  • 3.2. Classification of Prepositions according to their Meaning
  • 3.2.1. Meaning of Place and Direction
  • 3.2.2. Meaning of Time
  • 3.2.3. Other Meanings of Prepositions
  • 3.3. Classification of Prepositions according to their Source and Stylistic Use
  • 4. Syntactical Aspect
  • 4.1. Verb as Determinant of the Clause Type
  • 4.2. Differences between Prepositional, Phrasal and Multi-word Verbs
  • 4.2.1. Guidelines for Distinction between Prepositional and Phrasal Verbs
  • 4.3. Prepositional Construction in the Function of Object
  • 5. Semantic Aspect
  • 5.1. Verbal Semantic Classification
  • 5.2. The Case as a Distinguishing Criterion of the Verbs
  • 5.3. Verb Classes by Levin
  • 6. Valency
  • 6.1. Insight into Valency
  • 6.2. Valency and Linguistic System
  • 6.3. Valency in Functional Generative Description
  • 6.3.1. Characterization of the Valency Field in FGD
  • 6.3.2. Individual Description of the Verbal Valency Frame in PDT
  • 7. Analysis of Verbal Prepositional Structures
  • 7.1. Methodology of Research
  • 8. Analysis of Verbal Prepositional “OF” Structures
  • 8.1. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Communication”
  • 8.2. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Consist”
  • 8.3. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Take away something from somebody”
  • 8.4. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Be guilty of a crime”
  • 8.5. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Purify”
  • 8.6. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Ask”
  • 8.7. Other Verbal Prepositional Structures Taking the Preposition OF
  • 8.8. Discussion of the Verbal Prepositional OF Structures
  • 8.9. Semantic Classification of Verbs Taking Preposition OF by Levin
  • 8.9.1. The group 10.6. Verbs of possessional deprivation: cheat verbs
  • 8.9.2. The group 14. Learn verbs
  • 8.9.3. The group 26.1. Build verbs
  • 8.9.4. The group 26.4. Create verbs
  • 8.9.5. The group 29.4. Declare verbs
  • 8.9.6. The group 29.5. Conjecture verbs
  • 8.9.7. The group 30.1. See verbs
  • 8.9.8. The group 31.1. Convince verbs
  • 8.9.9. The group 37.2. Tell
  • 8.9.10. The group 37.5. Talk verbs
  • 8.9.11. The group 37.7. Say verbs
  • 8.9.12. The verb Inform
  • 8.9.13. The group 37.8. Complain verbs
  • 8.9.14. The group 37.9. Advise verbs
  • 8.9.15. The group 47.1. Exist verbs
  • 8.9.16. The group 48.1.1. Appear verbs
  • 8.9.17. The group Accuse, convict
  • 8.9.18. The group Partake
  • 8.10. Discussion to Findings of Semantic Groups by Levin
  • 9. Analysis of Verbal Prepositional “TO” Structures
  • 9.1. Verbal Prepositional Structure “Rise to”
  • 9.1.1. Other Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Rise to”
  • 9.1.2. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Put to a higher position”
  • 9.1.3. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Increase the size”
  • 9.1.4. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Increase twice, three times, four times”
  • 9.2. Verbal Prepositional Structure “Fall to”
  • 9.2.1. Synonymous Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Fall to”
  • 9.2.2. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Reduce to”
  • 9.2.3. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Limit”
  • 9.3. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Relate to”
  • 9.4. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “React to”
  • 9.5. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Agree to”
  • 9.6. Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Meaning “Contribute to”
  • 9.7. Other Verbal Prepositional Structures with the Preposition “TO”
  • 9.8. Discussion of the Verbal Prepositional TO structures
  • 9.9. Prepositions in Verbal Prepositional “TO” Structures
  • 9.10. Semantic Classification of Verbs Taking Preposition TO according to Levin
  • 10. Application into Practice
  • 11. Discussion, Theoretical Contribution, Prospects of Study
  • 11.1. Discussion
  • 11.2. Theoretical Contribution
  • 11.3. Prospects of the Study
  • Conclusion
  • Slovak Summary
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • Subject Index

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Introduction

This book presents empirical research of grammatical collocations of the verb and the prepositions OF and TO. The study is based on comparisons of English and Czech sentences containing verbs and prepositions that are followed by the object. Material was taken from the electronic databank Prague Czech-English Dependency Treebank 2.0. The structures were examined and analysed from morphological, syntactical and semantic points of view.

Prepositions are words frequently used in English and Czech or Slovak. English is a typical analytical language, while Slovak and Czech belong to the group of inflected languages. This typological difference may be one of the reasons why this part of speech causes many problems for learners of English. Students are accustomed to transferring their mother tongue perspective into the foreign language. Due to the difference, mistakes may arise.

Another problem is the meaning of prepositions. If we want to describe the function or the meaning of individual prepositions, it is in some cases very difficult or impossible. We think that prepositions are words that cannot be dealt with in isolation from other parts of speech. That is why they are analyzed here together with verbs.

There are 83 simple prepositions in English. A comparison of English and Czech prepositions requires their context. For this study, two of the most frequent prepositions were chosen: OF and TO, each to be analyzed with the verbs with which they collocate. Taken into account were such types of verbs as: to fall to, look at, to insist on, etc. Phrasal verbs were excluded. In the sentence, the verbs require an object. Verbs with adverbial complementation were omitted. Thus the criteria were defined for distinguishing the objects in the sentence for the purpose of the study.

I found the topic of the research very interesting and challenging, too. When I started to collect relevant material, I only came across publications that dealt with the topic of verbs and prepositions separately or examined only phrasal verbs, i.e. verbs and the particle that can stand in the function of an adverb.

The aim of my study is: to devise English – Czech verbal prepositional counterparts; to create verbal prepositional groups on the ground of similar semantic and syntactic features; to identify the features that are the same for each verb group and generalize them; to establish the trends and tendencies for verbs bound to particular prepositions. ← 11 | 12 →

Chapter 1 presents major studies in the field of grammatical collocations, prepositions and verbs. Many well-known Slovak and Czech grammarians who made a contribution to this field of study are mentioned, e.g. Kvetko (2014), Klégr (1996), etc.

Chapter 2 presents collocations, especially grammatical collocations and their classifications.

Chapter 3 treats prepositions from the morphological aspect. They are classified according to the following criteria: dependency on other words, meaning, and stylistic value.

Chapter 4 provides the syntactical aspect, the verb as a determinant of the clause type. It offers criteria for distinguishing prepositional and phrasal verbs. In the last section, prepositional constructions in the function of an object are presented.

Chapter 5 deals with the semantic point of view, especially verbal semantic classification and the case as a distinguishing criterion of verbs.

Chapter 6 defines valency, its terminology, and the place of valency in the linguistic system. One part treats the place of valency in the functional generative description and offers the individual description of the verbal valency frame in the Prague Dependency Treebank.

Chapter 7 introduces the practical part and methodology of the research.

Chapter 8 provides an analysis of verbal prepositional OF structures and the methodology applied in the research with the use of charts and tables. This chapter contains Levin’s analysis of the semantic groups.

Chapter 9 analyses verbal prepositional TO structures and provides the semantic classification of the structures. It describes Czech prepositions as counterparts to the English preposition TO. The findings are presented in the form of a chart and tables.

Chapter 10 provides application into practice. Chapter 11 closes the study with a discussion, prospects of the study and sums up the theoretical contribution of the research.

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1. Important Studies

Kvetko (2014), on the base of his life-long research in the field of English Lexicology, created Prekladový anglicko – slovenský prekladový slovník which contains 8 000 English entries with 16 000 Slovak equivalencies and 13 000 examples. The size or range of the dictionary is similar to the dictionaries published by renowned English or American Publishing Houses.

Details

Pages
122
Year
2017
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631703526
ISBN (PDF)
9783653072716
ISBN (MOBI)
9783631703533
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631677421
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-07271-6
Language
English
Publication date
2017 (March)
Keywords
Verbs Prepositions Verbal prepositional structures Semantic group Valency Equivalency
Published
Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2017. 122 pp., 4 graphs, 5 tables

Biographical notes

Marianna Hudcovičová (Author)

Marianna Hudcovičová has studied at the Faculty of Education, Trnavská University in Trnava, Slovakia, where she received her Master degree in English language. She achieved her Doctorate degree in English Grammar from the Department of English and American Studies, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. She works at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Slovakia. Her main interests include English Morphology and Syntax, Comparative Linguistics, and Semantics of verbs.

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