LEXICON No. 27 1997 An Analysis of NTC's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs and Other Idiomatic Verbal Phrases (1) Kyohei NAKAMOTO 1 An Analysis of the Collins COBUILD English Dictionary, New Edition Hideo MASUDA 18 Makoto KOZAKI Naoyuki TAKAGI Kyohei NAKAMOTO Rumi TAKAHASHI Historical Development of English-Japanese Dictionaries in Japan (3): Tetsugaku-Jii (A Dictionary of Philosophy, 1881) by Tetsujiro Inoue et al. Takahiro KOKAWA 74 Chihiro TSUYA Yuri KOMURO Shigeru YAMADA Chieko SHIMAZU Rumi TAKAHASHI Takashi KANAZASHI Tetsuo OSADA Kazuo DOHI Antedatings of Japanese Loanwords in the OED2 Isamu HAYAKAWA 138 The Treatment of Vulgar Words in Major English Dictionaries (1) Hiroaki UCHIDA 152 -WA VA 169 177 SA1W 177 Iwasaki Linguistic Circle c/o Kenkyusha Limited 11-3 Fujimi 2-Chome Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102 An Analysis of NTC's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs Japan and Other Idiomatic Verbal Phrases (1) Shigeru Takebayashi, Chairman KYOHEI NAKAMOTO 1. Introduction Phrasal verbs dictionaries are very popular in the UK (e.g. McArthur & Atkins (1974), Cowie & Mackin (1975, 1993), Courtney (1983), Turton & Manser (1985), Sinclair & Moon (1989)). However, the situation is quite different on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. According to the publisher's blurb on the back cover, NTC's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs and Other Idiomatic Verbal Phrases (hereafter NTCPV) is "the only American dictionary of phrasal verbs". This article, written by an intended user of this book, will review NTCPV in a comprehensive and objective fashion. I used a copy in the first printing and did not consult one in the latest possible printing. Mis- takes and inappropriate descriptions and explanations that will be men- tioned may have been corrected by now (I hope so). 2. Intended users According to the preface, NTCPV is "intended for the new-to-English user as well as for fluent speakers" (p. vii). It is a common commercial practice to avoid specifying user groups, but, as a language teacher myself, I guess it must have been a tough task for the NTC compilers to satisfy 1997 6* 20 13 Rig! 1997* 6 )4 29 H fi various needs of various user groups at a time, just as it is hardly an easy gih fff itAZ- it iR task for a language teacher to satisfy the whole class consisting of beginners Atflia.7 00140-2-8737 as well as highly advanced learners. ¶-102 IAO-T-ItEBRII±M, 2-11-3 4*YUliiiiiAltfrkl ( It 03-3288-7711) EJUI1Ph Tiff A /± gq 2 KYOHEI NAKAMOTO An Analysis of NTCPV (1) 3 3. Phrases included The particle to is confusing in some entries as the next table shows, 3.1. Phrasal verbs where `to-inf and `to-prep' stand for to as the marker of the infinitive and NTCPV is a dictionary of 'phrasal verbs and other idiomatic verbal to as a preposition, respectively: phrases'. However, the title is a little misleading because (1) 'phrasal verb' (1) to-prep only (e.g. abbreviate sth to sth); is defined ambiguously, (2) there are some strange 'particles' (see 3.2), and (2) to-inf only; (3) 'other idiomatic verbal phrases' are loosely defined. (2a) a pro-verb 'do' used (e.g. oblige sb to do sth); In the preface 'phrasal verbs' (or "combinations of a verb and one or (2b) a particular verb used (e.g. lead sb to believe sth); more adverbs or prepositions") are defined semantically, namely, combi- (3) to-inf as well as to-prep; nations that "function together as a single unit of meaning". However, (3a) monosemous entry (e.g. drive sb to sth); (3b) polysemous entry (e.g. condition sb or sth to sth). they are defined grammatically (and ambiguously) in the glossary called "TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS" (pp. xvi—xvii). According to sense (3a) and (3b), where to has two meanings, are very confusing. The two 1 (s.v. phrasal verb), they consist of a verb and an adverbial particle, while examples given at drive sb to sth, "She drove him to leaving her" and "She they are defined much more loosely in sense 2, namely, "a generic term drove herself to stay awake", will confuse the learner. At condition sb or covering prepositional verb, phrasal-prepositional verb [sic], the construction sth to sth to stands for to-inf in sense 1, while it is to-prep in sense 2. described under sense 1, and other verb + particle collocations where the It is mentioned that NTCPV "does not include most instances of particle is an adverb or other function word". It seems the term 'phrasal verb + to where the to is the marker of the infinitive" (p. ix). It is not clear verb' is used in the second sense in the dictionary's title. how such combinations have been chosen (for instance, force sb to do sth NTCPV also contains "[m]any sequences that are readily understand- is not included). able" (p. vii) and "a number of constructions analogous to phrasal verbs" In dictionaries of this type to should be treated only as a preposition; it (p. ix). should not stand for the marker of the infinitive. 3.2. Particles 3.3. Idiomatic and non-idiomatic combinations Particles are "prepositions and some directional adverbs that are governed NTCPV is a dictionary of "Idiomatic Verb Phrases" (front cover). How- by verbs" (p. xvi). However, 'particle' is defined elsewhere as "an adverb ever, it also contains a great number of non-idiomatic combinations. The or other function word" (p. xvii). It is not mentioned what are "other dictionary often neglects to tell the user whether a particular phrase has an function words". idiomatic (or figurative) meaning as well as literal one. For instance, only A survey has revealed that NTCPV contains the following 'particles': literal meanings are shown in the following entries: brighten up, bring sb (1) conjunctions: after (snap back (after sth)), before (appear before or sth forward, break sth on sth, carry sb or sth out, drop across sb sth, think before doing sth), that (make out [that] sth), until or sth, line up alongside sb or sth. (keep sth until sth); It seems that non-idiomatic combinations were selected in a rather ran- (2) to as the marker of the infinitive (e.g. challenge sb to sth). dom fashion. For instance, break sth on sth as in "He broke his arm on the (Direct and indirect objects are indicated by "someone", "something", steps" is included, but phrases like break sth under, break sth in, etc. are etc. in NTCPV, but to save space they are often abbreviated to `sb' and not. Similarly, sway back and forth, sway from side to side, and buy `sth' in this review.) sth on credit are all included, but run back and forth, shake sth from 4 KYOHEI NAKAMOTO An Analysis of NTCPV (1) 5 side to side, and pay in cash are not. with TURN ► UPSIDE, where turn sth upside down is explained. Many of these literal combinations are regarded as 'free combinations'. Phrases having a causative verb such as get or let are shown under the Take the 'verb + to death' construction as an example. NTCPV includes index head with the causative verb. They should be cross-referenced from both bleed to death and choke to death, but it does not include other the entries without the causative verb. For instance, get sth sewed up possible combinations such as burn to death, starve to death, stab sb to and let sth slip by are shown under GET ► UP and LET ► BY, death, nor does it include a more important phrase put sb or sth to respectively, but they are not cross-referenced from sew up and slip by, death. respectively. It is misleading to include non-idiomatic (free) combinations in such a random fashion, for it is doubtful that phrases included are more typical, 5. Entry heads important collocations than those omitted. Entry heads printed in boldface type contain the two words in the index head and are listed in alphabetical order beneath the index head (p. x). For 3.4. Antonymous phrasal verbs instance, under BRING ► DOWN are listed bring sb down, bring sb It is not unusual that the combination with an opposite meaning to a down to earth, bring sth crashing down (around one), etc. particular phrase is not included. For instance, strike for sth in the sense One of the distinctive features of NTCPV is the indication of human of "to conduct a work stoppage in order to gain something" is included, and nonhuman direct/indirect objects (p. viii). This will be discussed in 6. but its antonymous phrase strike against sth as in "The workers were striking against unequal pay" is not (see also break sth on sth in 3.3). 5.1. AND, and, or Phrases associated in meaning with each other should be included (and `AND' is used to introduce alternate forms (see 5.6), while 'and' is an ele- cross-referenced appropriately; see 10). ment of a phrase (e.g. fluctuate between sb and sb). The boldface 'or', which introduces an alternative element (except make heads or tails of 4. Index heads sb or sth, where the first or is a part of this phrase), can be confusing in Entries are introduced by 'index heads' and 'entry heads' (see 5). some entry heads such as match sb against sb or sth against sth else. An index head is capitalised and consists of a verb followed by a particle The or should be typographically distinguished from other elements of the separated by an arrowhead (p. x; e.g. LAY ► OUT). The particle is phrase, say, in italic type (see also 6.1).