Preposition

11 Key excerpts on "Preposition"

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  Unpacking Metaphor-related Prepositions in Political Discourse

  From Polysemous to Powerful

  • Mokhtar Ounis(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  These dictionary entries consistently highlight two main characteristics of Prepositions: first, their position within a sentence, and second, their function. Prepositions are defined based on their location in relation to other entities within the sentence. Three out of the five definitions incorporate the term “before”, while the fourth definition employs the term “preceding” to emphasize that this positional aspect is intrinsic to the meaning of the Preposition.

  The etymology of the word “Preposition” underscores its inherent emphasis on position. Its origins trace back to the Latin term praeponere, which combines the prefix prae, denoting “before” or “in front of”, with the verb ponere, meaning “to place” or “to put”. As such, a Preposition signifies an element intended to be positioned before or placed in front of another entity within a sentence.

  In addition to their positional aspect, Prepositions have another distinct feature: their function. Both dictionaries and grammar textbooks define Prepositions by the function of creating a relation between two entities within a sentence. For example, Quirk et al. (1985 : 657) assert that “a Preposition expresses a relation between two entities, one being that represented by the Prepositional complement, the other by another part of the sentence”. Additionally, the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, a classical grammar reference, defines a Preposition as “mortar which binds [the main building blocks of] texts together” (Biber et al. 1999 : 55).

  When these two aspects are combined, a Preposition signifies an entity intended to be positioned before another entity while simultaneously establishing a relationship between the preceding entity and the succeeding entity.

  While these two dimensions distinguish a Preposition from other parts of speech, they alone are insufficient to fully define its precise meaning. The question arises: is the meaning of a Preposition independent or contingent on the relations it establishes, or is it a combination of both? Regarding the first view, it posits that a Preposition possesses a fundamental semantic value that is accompanied by a constellation of interconnected meanings. Alternatively, the second view posits that Prepositions derive their meanings through their semantically related associations and that these meanings can be accurately determined and anticipated via computational means, as explained by Srikumar and Roth (2013

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  Grammar, Rhetoric and Usage in English

  Preposition Placement 1500–1900

  • Nuria Yáñez-Bouza(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Preposition placement in English This book is about Prepositions, and more specifically Prepositions placed in stranded position at the end of a clause or sentence, a syntactic arrange- ment known as Preposition stranding (henceforth P-stranding). It is about history, usage and precept: history in that it will trace the history of P- stranding over four centuries, from 1500 to 1900; usage in that it will analyse empirical data from two usage corpora; and precept in that it will assess the influence of normative comments on actual language use, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The starting point is the Preposition itself. In present-day reference grammars, Prepositions are described as a part of speech which expresses a relation between two entities; Prepositions are links which, unlike adverbs or particles, govern another element in the clause with which they are syntactically and notionally related; and they correspond to case inflections in other languages such as German and Latin (see Quirk et al. 1985: §§9.1– 3; Biber et al. 1999: §2.4.5; Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 7.§4.1). One might think that the definition of Preposition in early grammars would be broadly a matter of consensus, yet the following are some definitions from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century grammar books: 1 (1) A Preposition is a part of speech set before other parts; either in Apposition, or Composition. (Wharton 1654: 58) 2 (2) A Preposition (the third Kind of Particles) is a Word set before others; either to govern them; as Alexander travelled into Persia; or else in Composition with them; as, The Con-clusion will shew the Truth, &c. . . . Prepositions are so called, because they are put 1 See further Michael (1970: 65–7), Vorlat (1975: 401–9), Dons (2004: 137–40). 2 Unless otherwise indicated, quotations are reproduced as in the original source. Emphasis is indicated with bold type. 1

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  Language, Cognition, and Emotion in Keats's Poetry

  • Katrina Brannon(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Prepositions play an essential, constructive, and linking role in grammar and semantics. In regard to this, Gibbs remarks that “Prepositions seem to be particularly good at pushing their objects around” (1994 : 48). Furthermore, one intrinsic quality of Prepositions in language is their ability to express the notions of space and time, which are very often conceptualized and verbalized metaphorically, as there is an inherent “thematic parallelism between space and time that results in a single set of abstract relations between the two domains [of space and time]” (Gibbs 1994 : 168). Thus, it is logical to see Prepositions as grammatical elements which are fundamentally metaphorical, given the fact that their primary vocation within language is to allow for the expression of processual relationships. This unique quality of Prepositions thus renders them particularly salient in the analysis of conceptual metaphor, particularly within poetic language, as the combination and multiplication of metaphorical expression is central. As R. Gibbs observes, “metaphorical mappings do not occur in isolation from one another” (Gibbs 1994 : 152). This leads to reflection upon the intrinsic metaphoricity of grammatical classes and the ways in which they are capable of rendering conceptually metaphorical concepts more salient metaphorically, by way of the superposing of “higher and lower metaphorical mappings” (Gibbs 1994 : 152). Therefore, Prepositions are key to the full expression of conceptual metaphor: particularly in poetic metaphor, within which the combination of metaphorical mappings is most welcome. Spatial Prepositions, moreover, play a special role in metaphoric expression. 1 In Chapter 4, I delved into the inherent link between conceptual metaphor and force-dynamic expressions. This exploration will continue in the present chapter, as Prepositions hold an important role in causality

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  Two First Languages

  Early Grammatical Development in Bilingual Children

  • Jürgen M. Meisel(Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  CHAPTER 6 PrepositionS IN BILINGUAL LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Swantje Klinge 124 Two First Languages 0. INTRODUCTION. The present study documents the acquisition of Prepositions by three bilingual first language learners, focusing on syntactic and semantic aspects, both being fairly difficult to analyze when studying a word class as diverse as Prepositions. The study will also try to explore the functions and interplay of linguistic and nonlinguistic strategies employed by first language learners, i.e. whether one can account for a general sequence of acquisition based on perceptual salience, semantic and syntactic complexity, and, perhaps as an additional variable, input frequency. Prepositions occur, in German usage and French, with NP or V, they precede Adj, Det, N and/or NP. On the one hand, Prepositions are similar to verbs, e.g. they can take NP objects, on the other hand, they differ from them as they do not take verbal complements or express tense. Unlike adverbs, Prepositions, as part of Prepositional phrases (subsequently PP), form a so-called closed class of semantically non-autonomous 1 , morphologically invariant function words expressing local, temporal, modal, and causal relations (cf. Döpke & Schwarze, 1981). Along with word order and morphological marking, learning to use Prepositions is an important part of the child's grammatical development, as these function words are a major device for indicating syntactic relations between various sentence constituents (e.g. determining case in German). Slobin (1985a) also argues that, with regard to the Operating Principles 2 , a differentiation between content words and function words is essential to the construction of linguistic entities. Indeed, the child seems to classify part of his/her linguistic material quite early as belonging to functor classes.

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  Linguistic Issues in Machine Translation

  • Frank Van Eydne(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  Being more ambitious, we could even propose to get rid of Prepositions altogether and let semantic relations express the lexical content of Prepositions. This would be an example of abstraction (in the terminology of van Eynde, this volume) which maximises interlinguality. This Translation of Prepositions in multilingual MT 151 type of approach will be found for example in the cognitive semantics of Jackendoff(1983) who represents into the room in he ran into the room as: (18) [path TO ([place IN ([thing ROOM])])] Within the framework of the Eurotra transfer model, a fully interlingual approach based on semantic relations as exemplified in (18) could be integrated by adopting representations such as the one sketched in (19): (19) from within the Community o > frole=mod, cat=ppj ° {role=gov, cat=prep, o frole-argl, cat=pp} modsr=place origin} s' ^ ^ °{cat=prep, ^o{role=argl, cat=npj modsr=place position} o {role=gov, cat=nj {lu=dummy} {lu=dummy} {lu=community} However, for reasons that will be detailed below, the experimental approach followed in Eurotra has consisted in retaining Prepositions in the Interface Structure from which transfer is effected. Each Preposition in the Interface Structure is typed with a semantic relation attribute-value (a/v) pair. Two different strategies for transfer can be followed: one which, as it were, treats the semantic relation labels as strongly interlingual, the other way which treats them as weakly interlingual. The specific computation of semantic relations will not preoccupy us here (see Melero etaL, 1990 for detailed discussion) and we concentrate only on what happens at the level of transfer between a source and a target language. The reader is referred to Allegranza et al. (1991), Durand et al. (1991) for overviews of the Eurotra linguistic specifications and to the papers in Copeland et al.

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  Postclassical Greek Prepositions and Conceptual Metaphor

  Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Biblical Interpretation

  • William A. Ross, Steven Edward Runge, William A. Ross, Steven Edward Runge, Steven E. Runge, William A. Ross, Steven E. Runge(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter

    (Publisher)

  2  Greek Prepositions: A Cognitive Linguistic View

  Richard A. Rhodes

  The purpose of this essay is to bring insights that Cognitive Linguistics offers to bear on some select postclassical Greek Prepositions.1 The general topic of Prepositional meaning has a very extensive literature in Cognitive Linguistics. The fundamental insights on how Prepositions profile spatial scenes are most fully articulated in Ronald Langacker.2 Some important earlier works developed then nascent insights into Prepositional and particle meanings extensively, in particular Claudia Brugman and Susan Lindner, laying the foundation for how Cognitive Linguists now think about Prepositional meaning.3 The best summary of cognitive thought on Prepositional meaning can be found in Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans’s book on the semantics of English Prepositions.4

  As for new work on postclassical Greek Prepositional meaning, the approaches have been either lexicographic or didactic. The lexicographers catalogue the various usages of Greek Prepositions encountered in the texts, and organize them into senses based on the judgment of the lexicographer. For example, LSJ lists a grouped set of meanings for ἐν, including in; within, surrounded by; on, at, or by; in the number of, amongst; in one’s hands, within one’s reach or power; in respect of. On the other hand, many language teaching materials give as a learning tool a figure such as that in Figure 2.1. 5 In neither the lexicographic nor the didactic presentation of the data is any overarching analysis offered.

  Figure 2.1: A traditional visual representation of Greek Preposition meanings.

  Cognitive Linguistics, on the other hand, offers a principled way to understand the kinds of meanings Prepositions express. The cognitive view of language is that meaning arises out of perceptual experience. “Meaning is not objectively given, but constructed, even for expressions pertaining to objective reality. We therefore cannot account for meaning by describing objective reality but only by describing the cognitive routines that constitute a person’s understanding of it.”6

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  Theory and Language Acquisition

  • Martin Pütz, Susanne Niemeier, Martin Pütz, Susanne Niemeier(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  No Preposition required. The role of Prepositions for the understanding of spatial relations in language acquisition Katharina J. Rohlfing 1. Introduction In cognitive semantics locative Prepositions play an important role for the processing of spatial relations. By using a locative preposi-tion, the speaker's understanding of a spatial relation is marked. One of the most striking issues for cognitive science is whether there are universal relations that are first acquired and then marked via a Preposition associated to them. Some studies (Clark 1973, Grieve, Hoogenraad and Murray 1977, Sinha et al. 1999) from developmental psychology indicate that this may be the case. In English and Ger-man, an order of acquisition has been observed, whereby the relations IN and ON are acquired earlier than e.g. UNDER. It is probable that these relations IN and ON are universal and therefore acquired first. On the other hand Bowerman's (1996a) results indicate a high degree of language specificity for spatial relations acquisition. Choi and Bowerman (1991) conducted a study, in which they collected and compared data of children learning English and Korean. This study is especially important, because the languages differ significantly in how they classify spatial configurations: the English IN-relation is matched by two different Korean relations, depending on whether the relation is a tight fit (like a video cassette in its box) or whether the relation is a loose fit (like an apple in a bowl). This different spatial configuration originates from a different categorization: English makes a distinction between actions resulting in containment (put in) versus support or surface attachment (put on), while Korean makes a cross-cutting distinction between tight-fit relations ( kkita ) versus 230 Katharina J. Rohlfing loose-fit or other contact relations (various verbs).

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  Crosslinguistic Influence in Second Language Acquisition

  • Rosa Alonso Alonso(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Multilingual Matters

    (Publisher)

  The fact that languages divide up and lexicalise spatial configurations and functions in different ways has also been addressed by Tyler and Evans (2003) in their Principled Polysemy Model, which provides a cognitive linguistics account of the various meanings associated with English Prepositions in terms of systematically related polysemy networks. We recognise the value of this powerful model but do not rely on it in the present study because of the nature of our analysis, which focuses on learners’ choice of spatial Prepositions in contexts that reflect fairly prototypical meanings of IN, ON and AT. Our study is nevertheless motivated by a cognitive linguistics perspective that assumes crosslinguistic differences in the ways that speakers of different languages construe spatial configurations. We now turn to the findings of previous research regarding crosslinguistic differences and crosslinguistic influence in the expression of spatial relationships.

  Crosslinguistic Differences and Crosslinguistic Influence in the Expression of Spatial Relationships

  One of the misconceptions about spatial Prepositions is that their use is determined solely by the spatial and geometrical configurations of the objects whose relationships they refer to (e.g. apple in a bowl , pen on a table ). Although some Prepositions in some languages (e.g. above in English) might refer relatively straightforwardly to geometrical configurations (but see Tyler & Evans, 2003), others are chosen more on the basis of extra-geometric information, such as location control. Location control refers to the likelihood that if the reference object moves, the located object will move with it (Coventry & Guijarro-Fuentes, 2008). The English Preposition IN is chosen on the basis of both geometric (containment) and extra-geometric (location control) criteria. For example, an apple that is sitting inside a bowl is deemed by English speakers to be in the bowl because the apple is at least partially contained by the bowl and because the apple will move with the bowl if the bowl moves. An apple that is on a table underneath an upside-down bowl, on the other hand, is not in the bowl because, even though the apple is contained by the bowl, the apple will not move when the bowl moves. Studies reviewed by Coventry and Guijarro-Fuentes (2008) show that pre-linguistic infants are sensitive to both geometric and extra-geometric information in preferential looking tasks, and that it is not until infants begin acquiring their native language that their preferences become more language-specific (see also Bowerman & Choi, 2001; McDonough et al

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  Johnson's and Webster's Verbal Examples

  • Kusujiro Miyoshi(Author)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter

    (Publisher)

  Lowth also had this to say: PrepositionS, so called because they are commonly put before the words to which they are applied [...]. (Lowth 1762:91) In this respect, Webster was basically in line with Johnson, though he did not refer to Latin grammar. Webster’s explanation of Prepositions is more detailed than Johnson’s. In the “Grammar” attached to his Dictionary, Webster stated that: Prepositions, so called from their being put before other words, serve to connect words and show the relation between them, or to show the condition of things. Thus a man of benevolence, denotes a man who possesses benevolence. Christ was crucified between two thieves. Receive the book from John and give it to Thomas. (Webster 1828: n. pag. [17th in the “Grammar”]) Though this does not closely concern the present topic, Webster uniquely claimed that some prefixes should be included in the category of Prepositions. He, terming them ‘inseparable Prepositions’, stated: We have a number of particles, which serve to vary or modify the words to which they are prefixed, and which are sometimes called inseparable Prepositions, because they are never used, but as parts of other words. Such are a, be, con, mis, pre, re, sub, in abide, become, conjoin, mistake, prefix, return, subjoin, &c. These may be called prefixes. (Webster 1828: n. pag. [17th in the “Grammar”]) According to Yoshihiko Ikegami (1971:47), Webster stuck to this view throughout his life as a grammarian. However, the similarity in their opinions about the position where Prepositions should be placed does not mean that Johnson and Webster treated the words identically. As I pointed out earlier in this sub-section, there is a notable difference between Johnson and Webster in their formulation of the structures of entries on Prepositions. For instance, Johnson divided the entry on of into 23 sub-entries and allocated 60 citations in them.

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  Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar

  • Tom Lundskaer-Nielsen, Philip Holmes(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  på må og få (at random). Other types of meaning will be distinguished under the individual Prepositions.

  Using Prepositions correctly is one of the most difficult tasks facing learners of a foreign language, and the correct use of Danish Prepositions is no exception. Nevertheless, when comparing Danish and English there are a number of correspondences in the basic meanings of many Prepositions. Generally speaking, it is much easier to predict or ‘guess’ the right Preposition when it has spatial (and, to some extent, temporal) meaning than it is when it has figurative or abstract meaning. This is not surprising since abstract meaning, in particular, is furthest removed from notions of time and space and therefore not subject to the same restrictions of use. This fact is most clearly demonstrated by idiomatic expressions because, by definition, they cannot be broken down into the meanings of their individual parts, but must be understood – and learnt – as whole phrases.

  It is, of course, impossible to provide an exhaustive treatment of Prepositional usage and meanings within the scope of this chapter, but it is hoped that the following guidelines will be of some use to readers. For more specific exemplification of the use and meanings of individual Prepositions, readers are advised to consult Dansk Sprogbrug, Nudansk Ordbog or a good Danish–English/English–Danish dictionary. The most comprehensive treatment is to be found in the monumental Ordbog over det danske Sprog

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  Sivisa Titan

  Sketch Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary Based on Material Collected by P. Josef Meier and Po Minis

  • Claire Bowern(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • University of Hawaii Press

    (Publisher)

  That is, they are always accompanied by an overt noun phrase (al-though the phrase itself may comprise a pronoun, noun, or larger phrase). 112 Prepositions Meier seems to treat the Preposition plus pronoun in spatial phrases as distinct from the indirect object or Prepositional phrases (where a form identical to the Prepositions e or te is written together with the pronoun). Prepositions may be complements to nouns or adjuncts within the clause. As nominal complements, they can appear between the noun head of the phrase and other modifiers; in (7.18), for example, the Prepositional phrase e das ‘in the sea’ appears between ni ‘fish’, which it modifies, and asiuna ‘all’. (7.18) Buai crocodile i 3sg cani set.aside ala 3pl [ni fish e in das sea asiuna]. all ‘The crocodile got together all the fish in the sea.’ (VIII.9/7) 7.3 Deverbal Prepositions The other type of Preposition in Titan has rather different syntax from the uninflecting Prepositions which were described in the previous sections. Most notable is their agreement for TAM categories with the main verb of the clause. Most deverbal Prepositions can appear without a NP com-plement. Many are etymologically related to verbs and are cognate con-structions to “ambient” or instrumental serial verb constructions in other Admiralties languages (Hamel 1993) and those of more remote relations. However, the Titan forms show behavior which differs in several ways from those of the other languages. Thus while the relevant constructions are se-rial verbs in the other languages, in Titan they have grammaticalized fur-ther and an analysis of the items as Prepositions is more appropriate. In recognition of the etymology of these forms I have called them “dever-bal” or “inflecting” Prepositions to distinguish them from the other type of Preposition discussed in previous sections. 7.3.1 Summary of Forms Table 7.2 gives a list of the deverbal Prepositions found in the corpus.

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