Conceptualization of Phrasal Verbs with 'Over' by Native and Non-native Speakers: A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective

This comparative study investigates how native and non-native English speakers conceptualize phrasal verbs formed with the preposition over. It examines their ability to parse these verbs semantically and syntactically, focusing on metaphor, prototypical meaning, dynamicity, and the spatial relationship between the trajector (TR) and the landmark (LM). In this framework, the TR represents the dynamic action or process metaphorically expressed by the phrasal verb, while the LM refers to the spatial or conceptual location toward which the action is directed. Differences related to language proficiency are also explored. The study employed a test consisting of eight sentences containing phrasal verbs with over, administered to two groups of students (30 native and 30 non-native speakers). Participants were asked to illustrate the situations described by the sentences. A qualitative analysis of the drawings enabled a comparison between the groups. Findings reveal a significant correlation between linguistic proficiency and visual conceptualization skills. Native speakers consistently demonstrated greater awareness of dynamic processes and metaphorical meanings, while non-native learners showed relatively more literal interpretations. Moreover, the disparity between groups increased proportionally with the degree of metaphoricity in the phrasal verb. Pedagogically, the results underscore the value of organizing prepositional meanings into systematic cognitive networks, offering a powerful tool for teaching and learning complex multiword expressions.