Syntactic Theory
The Preposition
Tests to identify prepositions
- there is no clear semantic criterion.
- since prepositions don't show morphological change in English, there is no morphological criterion either.
- synctactic test:
- Prepositions occur right before an NP, i.e. in the environment:
__ NP
- Prepositions occur right before an NP, i.e. in the environment:
It is not entirely clear whether preposition is an open or a closed word class:
- arguments for treating P as an major class:
- the preposition anent (in line with/ in front of) is probably about to disappear from the language (see Kaplan 1989, p. 158)
- forming complex preposition may show a certain degree of productivity/openness: on behalf of, by means of, ...
- arguments for treating P as a minor class:
- Some prepositions only occur to fulfill grammatical requirements, i.e. they have a functional/grammatical meaning.
Examples: a teacher of chemistry, be keen on ice cream, wait for Chris, ... - the set of prepositions is fairly stable.
- Some prepositions only occur to fulfill grammatical requirements, i.e. they have a functional/grammatical meaning.
Categories: Glossary