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IDENTIFYING THE MEANING OF PHRASAL VERBS IN THE MOVIESIvana Vinko, 2012, undergraduate thesis
Abstract: This diploma thesis deals with phrasal verbs, which are an important and frequently used element in English language. Since they are typical of spoken English, my aim was to explore their usage in direct speech. As a basis for my research I chose three American dance movies: Step up, Step up 2: The Streets and Step up 3D. According to the genre of the movies, I expected a large number of phrasal verbs to occur. I focused on idiomatic phrasal verbs, whose meaning cannot be easily guessed from the component parts, whereas literal phrasal verbs are easy to understand. I analyzed the frequency of occurrence of idiomatic phrasal verbs in the movies, and identified those that occur in idioms and in slang expressions. Moreover, I focused on the translation of idiomatic phrasal verbs and slang expressions in Slovene.
The results of the analysis confirmed my hypothesis that idiomatic phrasal verbs dominate over literal ones in the movies. Often they occurred in idioms and in slang expressions. The analysis also showed that phrasal verbs in idioms cannot be translated in Slovene word for word. Instead, we need to find their closest equivalent in Slovene to make the translated version sound natural.
In the last part of the analysis I made a comparison of the occurrence of idiomatic phrasal verbs in the movies and in literature. The comparison confirmed my hypothesis that idiomatic phrasal verbs are more frequently used in spoken than in written English. However, in both cases their usage also depends on the formality of a situation.
Keywords: phrasal verb, idiomatic phrasal verb, idiomatic expression, slang, Slovene translation of phrasal verbs
Published in DKUM: 08.10.2012; Views: 2823; Downloads: 177
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