rial for the study. But most significant of all, perhaps, is the fact that the editors of Webster's Dictionary and of the New English Dictionary have used the verb-adverb combination very freely in defining other words.1 I have come somewhat hesitatingly to the point of publishing my study of the combination just because I realize that its meanings and its uses fluctuate so much as yet that it is very hard to give definitions and classifications that will be generally acceptable. Often, indeed, the combination has several meanings, part of good literary standing, part purely colloquial. For example, one can call off names, a dog, or an engagement; get up may mean 'to arise,' 'to organize,' or 'go faster'; make up signifies 'to make ready,' 'to become reconciled,' or 'to prepare for the stage'; put up 'to lay away,' 'to tolerate,' or 'to lodge'; turn out 'to turn aside,' 'to eject,' or 'to appear.' These combinations are capable of such varying shades of meaning that no two persons will show quite the same reactions toward them. Consequently I have made little effort to distinguish slang and colloquialisms, but have offered most of the material gathered trusting that the reader will be able to determine for himself in each case whether the phrase is to be classed as good, literary English or as colloquial or slang. I hope, however, that my study may prove suggestive to the average speaker of English and may even lead some to a more thoughtful use of these combinations. 1 In Webster's Dict., for example, cf. average v. 2 'to close out a transaction,' close v. 1 'to stop, or fill up, as an opening,' blow 6 'to puff up,' bore 2 'to enlarge and true up (a hole),' cage 'to shut up or confine,' chuck to throw up, to give up,' dole 2 'to deal out,' get at 'to come at'; or in the New English Dict. cf. act 2 'to bring into action, bring about,' air 5a 'to show off, to parade ostentatiously,' back 19 'to back down, to recede downward from a position taken up,' bag. v.14 'to bag up, to put up in a bag; to shut or store up generally.' Not infrequently the editors of the N. E. D. have utilized combinations in writing definitions which they have failed to define or illustrate in their proper places, which seems to show that some of our verb-adverb combinations are more necessary in the expression of ideas than scholars are willing to admit formally. The New English Dictionary. C. F. Koch: Historische Grammatik der Englischen Sprache, 2. aufl. 3:116-146. 1891. T. O. Harrison: The Separable Prefixes in Anglo-Saxon. Johns Hopkins diss. 1892. H. Eitrem: Stress in English verb+adverb groups. Englische Studien 32:69-77. 1903. Webster's New International Dictionary. 1909. T. A. Rickard, W. H. Shockley, A. E. Pratt: Standardization of English in Technical Literature. Excerpt from The Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy for 1909–10. J. Ellinger: Ueber die Betonung der aus Verb+Adverb bestehenden englisch-Wortgruppen. Progr. der Franz Joseph-Realschule in Wien. 1910. John Kirkpatrick: Handbook of Idiomatic English. Paris, 1912. Geo. O. Curme: The Development of Verbal Compounds in Germanic. Beitr. z. Gesch. d. deutschen Sprache u. Lit. 39:320-361. 1914. Early English Literature Cited Alfred's Bede-T. Miller: The O. E. Version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. Early Engl. Text Soc. 95-96. 1890. Aelfric's Saints' Lives-W. W. Skeat: Aelfric's Lives of the Saints. Early Engl. Text Soc. 76. 1881. Ancren Riwle-Maetzner: Altenglische Sprachproben Bd. I, Abt. 2, pp. 1-41. 1869. Bale's Kynge Johan-J. M. Manley: Specimens of the Pre-Shakespearean Drama 1:525-618. 1897. Ballad of Robin Hood and the Monk-Sargent and Kittredge: English and Scottish Popular Ballads. pp. 282-286. 1904. Beowulf W. J. Sedgefield: Beowulf. 2nd. ed. 1913. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales-W. W. Skeat: Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Vol. 4. 1894. Conversion of St. Paul-J. M. Manley: Specimens of the Pre-Shakespearean Drama 1:215-238. 1897. Dame Sirith-Zupitza-Schipper: Alt- und Mittelenglisches Uebungsbuch. 7. aufl. pp. 131-138. 1904. Juliana-Grein-Wülker: Bibliothek der Angelsächsischen Poesie 3:117139. 1898. King James Bible-A. W. Pollard: The Holy Bible. A Facsimile. 1911. Mandeville's Travels-A. W. Pollard: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. 1905. O. E. Genesis-Grein-Wülker : Bibliothek d. ags. Poesie 2:318-444. 1894. Owl and Nightingale-J. E. Wells: The Owl and the Nightingale. 1909. Paston Letters-Jas. Gairdner: The Paston Letters. 1901. Piers Plowman-W. W. Skeat: The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman. 9th ed. 1906. Testament of Love-W. W. Skeat: Chaucerian and Other Pieces. pp. 1-145. 1897. Witch of Edmonton-Ernest Rhys: Best Plays of Thomas Dekker. pp. 387-473. 1904. Recent Literature Cited Bible-Revised Version of 1882. Four Years-J. W. Gerard: My Four Years in Germany. 1917. Outlines-Jno. D. Barry: Outlines. 1913. Sixes and Sevens-O. Henry: At Sixes and Sevens. 1911. SECTION I. INTRODUCTION I have avoided the use of the term 'verb-adverb compound' because I do not wish to give the impression that in all the combinations that I have studied and cited hereinafter the verb and combining particle are welded together with a uniform closeness. On the contrary, these combinations differ greatly in respect to closeness of combination. In some, as, for example, bear out 'corroborate,' come by ‘acquire,' get at 'reach,' hit it off 'agree, be congenial,' make out ‘understand,' own up 'confess,' put out 'extinguish,' stack up ‘fare,' whack up 'share or divide,' the elements of the combination have almost or altogether sacrificed their individual meanings and by the act of combination have assumed a new meaning; these may, without hesitation, be termed compounds. In other combinations, however, and by far the greatest number, the verb is modified in meaning by a certain weakly adverbial function of the particle but does not entirely merge its verbal personality in the combination. The particle, it is true, loses much of its usual adverbial or prepositional signification but in the combination assumes peculiar adverbial values, as, for example, in bake up 'make a batch of,' blossom out 'blossom in a showy manner,' blot out 'destroy,' bottle up 'enclose in a bottle,' button up 'fasten with buttons.' And in many others, finally, the usual values of verb and prepositional-adverb remain fairly evident, as in brush off, brush out, bubble over, burn down, cave in, fall down, flame up, hang up, leak out, rinse out, tack down. It becomes evident at once that this last group of combinations shades off so imperceptibly into the great mass of adverbial modifications such as fly away, walk south, go home, etc., that it would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt to classify every verb-adverb combination as either close enough to be termed a verb-adverb compound, or loose enough to be called merely an adverbial modification. And so I have avoided the issue, as regards such an attempt at classification, by including in the material for the present study only combinations formed with the sixteen prepositionaladverbs about, across, around (or round), at, by, down, for, in, off, on, out, over, thru, to, up, with. I have, moreover, avoided an equally difficult task by refraining from a thorogoing attempt to classify verb-adverb combinations as either acceptable English or as colloquial and slang. The dictionaries, it is true, give a certain amount of assistance to the student of diction and good taste in speech; but none the less, correct usage is such an intangible and varying thing that it is practically impossible to determine the social status of each combination and usage. Some, as, for example, ask for, bow down, cry out, go on, make off, point out, would unquestionably be accepted by all, tho, in some cases, very careful speakers might prefer to employ single words of more highly specialized meaning, such as request, bow or kneel, exclaim, continue, depart, demonstrate. Others are more or less thoroly justified by the technical or specialized use to which they are generally put. So we call up by telephone, connect up with the assistance of plumber or electrician, kick off at the beginning of a football game, lay by corn at the last plowing, make up for the stage, etc. But many are frankly colloquial or even slang, altho only a year will suffice, sometimes, to transfer one. from the lower stratum of linguistic society to a place of prominence and good standing. Carry on, for example, appeals to all nowadays, since the war has ennobled it, and no one knows what trick of fate may suddenly bring the purist to welcome with open arms such questionable characters as butt in 'interfere,' hold up 'rob,' sport up 'dress up,' etc. Indeed, if no other justification were to be found for such a study as this, the very realization which comes to even the most superficial observer, of the fluctuating, ever-growing character of the English language should be sufficient to deter one from passing the subject lightly by and should prevent him ever after from making over-arbitrary pronouncements regarding questions of propriety in speech. For when one is brought to realize that the colloquial waif of today may be the respected citizen of tomorrow, he looks somewhat less harshly at the suspect and gives it at least the benefit of a judgment based upon its individual linguistic merits and possibilities. For language is, after all is said, only a medium for the interchange of ideas, not a cultural end. |