Abstract—English phrasal verbs are one of the key and
difficult parts in English learning. Since the traditional
linguistics holds that English phrasal verb is an integral thing
that cannot be analyzed, learners can only perform rote tasks
of memorization which is time-consuming and inefficient.
However, cognitive linguistics holds that the semantics of
phrasal verbs and their constituents, verbs and particles, are
both prescriptive and analytical. These dual attributes of
phrasal verbs require researchers using the relevant theories of
cognitive linguistics to analyze the cognitive semantics of
phrasal verbs, so that learners can master phrasal verbs
systematically and efficiently. Out is situated in the second
place of the usage frequency of the particle in English phrasal
verbs; and the meaning of it is enormous and complex which
gives much trouble and burden to leaners. The current
research in the cognitive linguistics field on the particle “out”
and its phrasal verbs are mainly based on spatial schema, while
those without in- out spatial meaning still lacking the
pursuable explanation. While conceptual metaphor and
conceptual integration theory build the broader prospect for
studying semantics of particle “out” and its phrasal verbs.
They have a great deal of cognitive explanatory power for
analyzing particle “out” and its phrasal verbs with the
prototype theory and image schema.
Index Terms—Particle „out‟, phrasal verb, cognitive
semantics, conceptual integration theory.
Fan Li and Zongxiang Feng are with the School of Foreign Studies,
Northwestern Polytechnical University, China (e-mail: lf13259568204@
163.com, fengzx@nwpu.edu.cn).
Li Li was with Ningxia University, she now is with Yinchuan
Zhongshan Park, China (e-mail:421473752@qq.com).
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Cite:Fan Li, Zongxiang Feng, and Li Li, "The Cognitive Semantics of Particle “out” and Its Phrasal Verbs," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-8, 2020.