FUNCTIONS OF PHRASAL VERBS IN CINEMATOGRAPHIC DISCOURSE AS A HOSTING DISCOURSE FOR LEGAL ONE

Abstract

The article investigates the functioning of phrasal verbs in cinematic discourse as a hosting environment for legal discourse. The study is based on the analysis of the English-language television series “The Lincoln Lawyer”, which serves as a representative example of contemporary audiovisual legal narrative. The research aims to determine how phrasal verbs contribute to the adaptation, transformation, and pragmatic organization of legal communication within a cinematographic discourse. The findings demonstrate that legal discourse in cinematic texts does not reproduce its canonical, highly formalized structure. Instead, it undergoes semantic and pragmatic modification in order to ensure accessibility for a broad audience. In this process, phrasal verbs perform a systemforming function, acting as linguistic tools that balance professional accuracy with communicative clarity. Their contextual meanings are shaped by situational roles, institutional settings, and communicative intentions of the participants. In courtroom interactions, phrasal verbs perform procedural-organisational, structuring, and facilitative functions, conceptualizing legal processes as dynamic actions or movements. In institutional communication outside the courtroom, they serve pragmatic-organisational and facilitative functions, optimizing professional interaction. In non-institutional dialogues, particularly between lawyers and clients, phrasal verbs fulfill interpersonal and facilitative roles, reducing psychological distance and simplifying complex legal realities. The study concludes that phrasal verbs constitute an important element in the integration of specialized legal discourse into cinematic narrative, contributing to authenticity, accessibility, and pragmatic flexibility in mass-cultural representations of the legal profession