The emergence of phrasal verbs and their functioning in modern economic discourse

Akopyan Anna Student at the Department of Foreign Languages of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Peoples' Friendship University of Russia" 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 flakeofsnow@mail.ru

English is a language with a long history. People have been studying this international language for many years. Throughout the history of its existence, a large number of apt and eloquent expressions have appeared in it. So there was a science that studies stable phrases – phraseology.

A stable phrase is a phrase that consists of several words that have syntactic and semantic features and are often used in combination with each other. Another name for this term is phraseological combinations, that is, established combinations that have certain meanings. These include: idioms, phraseological units, phrasal verbs, formulas of speech etiquette, and so on. Soviet philologist Yuri Stepanov believes that "... the totality of phraseological units is an extension of the lexical composition of the language" [Stepanov, 1995. p.55.]. Developing this idea, it can be concluded that phraseological units in the English language serve to replenish the vocabulary and perform an aesthetic function.

The term "phrasal verbs" was first mentioned in the book "Words and Idioms" by Logan Smith, published in 1925. It is believed that the first phrasal verbs appeared in the 9th century. However, at that time they were not so common and were extremely rare. Also, phrasal verbs of that time differed in structure from modern ones. In the course of historical development, the English language has undergone certain changes due to the influence of French culture and French speech, respectively. In the 11th century, French took a dominant position, starting to be considered the language of the upper class, while English became the speech of the common people. As a result, phrasal verbs have become a phenomenon of colloquial vernacular speech. Going back in time, it is worth paying attention to the appearance of phrasal verbs in the translation into English of one of the first books of our era – the Bible.

Consider the forms and meanings of phrasal verbs found in the New Testament of the Bible. For convenience and accessibility, phrasal verbs can be classified into phrasal verbs formed using adverbs, using prepositions and using a combination of adverb and preposition.

Consider the first type – examples of phrasal verbs formed using adverbs;

“Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim”^[4]. "Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out and built their military ranks in the valley of Siddim" [my translation – AA].Analyzing this example, we see that “drew up” is a predicate expressed by a phrasal verb in past simple, which is formed due to the adverbial particle up.

The meaning that this verb carries can be interpreted as "move", "stop", "build".

 “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered ”^[2]. "I am running away from my mistress Sarah," she replied." [My translation is AA]."Run away" is a phrasal verb formed using the verb particle away, which indicates the direction of movement – "away".

This verb has the meaning "to leave", "to run away".

Consider the second type – examples of phrasal verbs formed using prepositions;

“But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh ” ^[4]. "But when the harvest comes up, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh" [My translation is AA].

“Come in" is a predicate that is expressed by a phrasal verb formed using the prepositional particle in. In this sentence, it is expressed in present simple time and has the meaning "to ascend".

Consider the third type – examples of phrasal verbs formed using adverbs and prepositions;

“Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai” ^[2]. "Be ready by morning, and then climb Mount Sinai" [My translation is AA].

“Come up on" is a phrasal–prepositional verb formed by the verb come, a particle of the adverb up and a particle of the preposition on. The meaning that this verb carries can be interpreted as "to rise".

To this day, phrasal verbs play a very important role in modern English. Such verbs form a huge part of the vocabulary of native speakers. The abundance of phrasal verbs is one of the most unforeseen traps faced by a foreign student studying English literature or trying to understand spoken language.

Phrasal verbs are very common in the English language, especially often this phenomenon can be found in informal speech. Their main characteristic is polysemy. In this regard, phrasal verbs are rarely found in the format of business discourse. Much attention should be paid to the communicative conditions of their use. The translator should try to convey the speaker's intentions as accurately as possible in translation. He must make sure that the equivalent of the phrasal verb belongs to the same specifics of communication or to a neutral one. It is necessary to take into account the connotative properties of phrasal verbs, which are reflected in English dictionaries, it is also necessary to take into account the expressive and stylistic component of phrasal verbs. However, despite the complexity of their use and translation, the frequency of the use of phrasal verbs is growing. They are no longer uncommon and they can often be found in many texts of various genres and subjects.

Since we are interested in the use of phrasal verbs in economic discourse, we will analyze an article from the English–language economic magazine “The Economist” - “Omicron amplifies three dangers that stalk the global economy” ^[3] and consider the phrasal verbs used in the text of the article in terms of their type and the meaning they carry based on the context.

The author of the article writes: “The Omicron variant of the coronavirus, first publicly identified on November 24th, may be able to circumvent the defences built up (= made, created) by vaccination or infection with covid19" ^[3]. "The Omicron coronavirus subtype, first publicly identified on November 24, can bypass the protection gradually built up by vaccination or infection with Covid-19" [My translation – AA]. In this sentence we see a phrasal verb belonging to the first type and consisting of two components: the verb "to build" – "to build", "to cut down" and the postposition "up" – "up", but in the text related to the fight against the pandemic, this phrasal verb acquires another meaning and it should be interpreted as "create", "strengthen (health)", "gradually create".

“But the threat of a wave of illness spreading from one country to the next is once again hanging over (= impended, overhanged) the world economy, amplifying three existing dangers” ^[3]. "But the threat of the spread of a disease transmitted from one country to another has again loomed over the global economy, while reinforcing the three existing dangers" [My translation is A. A.]. In this example, "hang over" consists of the verb "hang" – "hang", "hang", "execute" and the preposition "over" – "through", "by".

In the context of this sentence, the phrasal verb acquires the meaning of "overhang", "overhang", "overhang", "hang around", "hang over your head" and refers to the second type of phrasal verbs.

“Italy is keeping most of the unvaccinated out (= do not let, do not allow to enter) of indoor restaurants…”^[3]. "Italy does not let most of the people who have not passed the vaccination into restaurants..." [My translation – AA].

There are basic translation options, but also, together with prepositions, it can take on completely different meanings, which is why there is a misunderstanding. In most cases, this verb means "to keep, to keep". But being transformed into a phrasal verb, “keep out” acquires a negative meaning. It consists of the verb "keep" and the adverb "out" – "outside", "outside", and belongs to the first type. In the context of this sentence, the phrasal verb acquires the meaning "not to let in", "not to let in", "forbidden zone (warning sign)".

“For overall inflation to recede, consumers need to shift spending back (=reduce) towardsservices like tourism and eating out (= eat not at home)” ^[3]. "In order for overall inflation to decrease, consumers need to reduce spending on services such as tourism and eating out" [My translation is A. A.].This sentence has two examples of the use of phrasal verbs that belong to the first type.

One of them is "shift back", which consists of the verb "shift" – "move", "exceed", "push" and the adverb "back" – "back", "back". This phrasal verb can be translated as "reduce", "push back", "push back". Another example is "eating out", consisting of the verb "eat" – "eat", "absorb", "grab" and the adverbs "out" – "outside", "outside".  This expression carries the meaning of "eating out". In addition, there is a phrasal verb with the opposite meaning of "eat at home" – "eat in".

“And cautious workers may put off (= delay, defer, postpone) their return to the labour force, pushing up (= raise) wages” ^[3]. "And cautious workers can postpone their return to the labor market by raising wages" [My translation – AA].

Two phrasal verbs are also present in this example. One of them is “put smth. off". The verb "put" refers to a group of irregular transitive verbs and has many meanings, for example, "put", "expose", "make something do", "express (in words)" and in combination with prepositions and adverbs is widely used not only in ordinary colloquial, but also in business speech. So, for example, being part of a phrasal verb with the adverb "off" – "away", its meaning can be interpreted as "postpone (for a while)".

Another example is the phrasal verb "push up", consisting of the semantic verb "push" and the adverb "up" – "up", "up". In this case, the phrasal verb carries the meaning of "increase", "inflate (prices)". Both phrasal verbs belong to the first type, because they are formed using adverbs.

“Emerging economies have greater reserves and depend less on (= rely on, hang on) foreign­currency debt…”^[3]. "Emerging economies have large reserves and are less dependent on foreign currency debt..." [My translation is A. A.].

The phrasal verb "to depend" has the following meanings: "depend on", "hope for", "count on". It is important to pay attention to the fact that this verb is always used with the particle “on” or “upon".

“If Omicron turns out (=work out, turn up) to be more transmissible than the earlier Delta variant,it will make China’s strategy more difficult” ^[3]. "If Omicron turns out to be more transmissive than the previous type – Delta, it will complicate China's strategy" [My translation – AA].

The phrasal verb “turn out” is one of the more frequent, it can often be found not only in colloquial speech, but also in writing. It has the meaning "to be" and belongs to the first type. Very often this verb is part of the syntactic construction "complex subject".

“If they must, firms and governments will be able to roll out (=bring to the) market new vaccines and drugs some months into 2022” ^[3]. "If necessary, organizations and the government will be able to bring new vaccines and medicines to the market a few months before the beginning of 2022" [My translation – AA].

In this example, "roll out" consists of the verb "roll" – "to spin", "to roll", "to launch (about the movie)" and the adverb "out" – "outside", "outside". In the context of this sentence, the phrasal verb acquires the meaning "to come in large numbers", "to pronounce clearly", "to bring to market" and belongs to the first type.

“Using a taxonomy first drawn up (=make up, prepare) by Asia Partners…”  ^[3]. "The use of taxonomy, first compiled by Asia Partners..." [My translation – AA].

In everyday life, everyone is familiar with the semantic verb "draw", which translates as "draw", "pull". But in this case, this verb acquires a completely different meaning, being an integral part of a phrasal verb, which belongs to the first type and consists of the verb "draw" and the adverb "up" – "up", "up". This example of a phrasal verb can be interpreted as "edit", "develop", "compose".

“Russia has favoured home­grown out fits in e­commerce and fintech, and in the past year has cracked down on (=suppress, inhibit, restrain) the activity of Silicon Valley firms” ^[3]. "Russia prefers domestic companies, this proves that last year it already suppressed the activities of Silicon Valley firms" [My translation – AA].

The phrasal verb "crack down" belongs to the third type and consists of the semantic verb "crack" – "split", "break", "surrender", the adverb "down" – "down" and the preposition "on" – "on", "on", "in", "at". The main meaning of this phrasal verb is to take rather harsh measures against someone or something, to strike a serious blow and even to crack down (not in the criminal sense of the word).

“When the supply of capital dries up (=run dry, dry) groups still struggling to make money could be in trouble” ^[3]. "When the supply of capital runs out, groups still trying to make money may be in trouble" [My translation is A. A.].

The phrasal verb "dry up" belongs to the first type and consists of the semantic verb "dry" – "dry", "dry", "wipe" and the adverbs "up" – "up", "up". You can translate this example as "deplete, run out".

After analyzing the above, as well as many other examples, we can conclude that phrasal verbs refer to verbs that, in combination with various postpositions, may include not one or two, but many new meanings. The fact that the number of phrasal units in modern English has increased, as well as the frequency of their use has increased, once again confirms the fact that they are the most important component of the lexical layer of the English language. They perform an important function due to their conciseness, accuracy and expressiveness. Many such verbs entered the language of the media, the language of various professional communities, and some phrasal verbs began to be used more often than "simple" verbs that are synonymous with them ^[6].

Thus, a phrasal verb is an independent lexical and grammatical unit that has its own nomenclature, morphological and semantic classification. Phrasal verbs as a means of communication have a number of advantages over ordinary verbs. Because of their characteristic expressiveness, emotional coloring and informativeness, phrasal verbs began to be used in various fields of scientific and professional discourse. As a result, phrasal verbs have undergone stylistic and contextual influence, which has led to the fact that many phrasal verbs acquire specific semantic meanings that can be used exclusively within a particular type of discourse. Their meanings are often unrelated to either the semantic verb or the postposition with which they are used. It is worth noting that, in this regard, phrasal verbs can make it difficult or distort the understanding of the meaning of not only a single sentence, but also the text as a whole when perceived by non-native English speakers. That is why the study of phrasal verbs in terms of their semantic meaning and features of use in various spheres of human life is an urgent task these days.