Stylistic functions of phrasal verbs in English and their rendering in Russian translation

the paper is devoted to the study of the stylistic functions of phrasal verbs in modern English and to the specifics of their rendering into Russian. Phrasal verbs, which combine grammatical and lexical levels, perform not only nominative but also expressive, colloquial, and idiomatic functions, shaping the author’s individual style. The relevance of the research is due to their high frequency in fiction and journalistic discourse, where they create narrative dynamism and naturalness, and to the difficulty of selecting adequate equivalents in translation. The aim of the study is to identify regularities in the functioning of phrasal verbs and to determine optimal translation strategies. The methodological framework includes a corpus analysis of 250 examples from English-language novels and articles from «The Guardian» and «The New York Times», as well as an experiment with philology students. It was found that colloquial, expressive, and especially idiomatic phrasal verbs, whose meanings cannot be inferred from their components, present the greatest challenge. The analysis showed that professional translators more often resort to equivalent verbs and stylistic adaptation, which ensures the preservation of the author’s intention, whereas students tend to rely on literal translation. Typical errors in rendering emotionally colored expressions have been identified, and practical recommendations have been proposed to improve translator training, including the creation of comparative corpora and active use of contextual equivalents. The results contribute to translation theory and practice, help develop effective teaching methods, and can be used in university courses on stylistics and translation studies.

phrasal verbs, stylistic functions, translation, English language, Russian language, expressiveness, translation strategies