BASIC MEANINGS OF A PARTICLE: BACK
A great deal of the opaqueness that learners find in phrasal verbs can be dispelled by acquiring a grasp of the basic meaning of each adverb-particle, together with some of the derived meanings. Take back, for instance. Back has two basic Path meanings.
First, back can represent a circular path in which the Figure ends up where it started. This is the one expressed by I’ll come back tomorrow, Put the books back on the shelves. The person or thing comes to be in the place or position where they were before, so that I’ll be back at 4.30 means ‘I’ll be again in this place where I am now’.
Close to the basic meaning is give back and pay back as in I’ll give/ pay you back the money tomorrow (that is, I’ll return the money to you tomorrow). By a short extension, we have the meaning of reciprocity ‘in return, in reply’ as in I’ll ring you back this evening. A metaphorical extension of pay back occurs as a threat in I’ll pay you back for this!
Second, back can have the meaning ‘in the opposite direction to the one a person is facing’ as in:
stand back (intrans.): Stand back from the edge of the platform!
keep back (trans.): The police kept the crowd back as the royal car drew near.
This meaning is given a figurative extension in His illness has kept him back all this term. With this second meaning, the end-point is not the same as the initial point.
