13. The Prepositional Group—Spatial, Temporal and Other Relationships The English language makes extremely wide use (lexically and grammatically) of its prepositions. Where there is a preposition there is a Prepositional Group, since prepositions cannot stand alone. Even if the preposition is stranded to the end of the clause, and is, separated from the nominal element to which it belongs, the idea of “group” points to the ‘grammatical relation existing between the constituent elements of the same unit. In AdjGs, AdvGs and NGs, the main element (adjective, adverb or noun) is called the “head” to which the other elements (modifier, qualifier, and determiner) are subordinate. The head can also be used alone, without the subordinate elements, thus representing the whole group. Therefore, In the Prepositional Group however, the preposition, though also called “head,” cannot occur without the nominal unit, whereas the nominal unit is not part of the PrepG if there is no preposition present. So, both. constituents are equally necessary to form the group (equal grammatical status), and the structure is exocentrie The Prepositional Group is a three-element structure in which the first element (modifier) is optional and usually realized by an adverb, The central clement is the preposition (head) and is followed by a nominal unit (completive) which is needed to complete the structure (similar function to that of the Cs, Co and Cp). Not all PrepG must contain a modifier, but all must contain a preposition and_a completive. (See Downing and Locke, 1992:580-583) these structures centered on the “head” are called endocent PrepG fo, right into the policeman’s arms completely out of date straight along, this road just at that moment quite near here only by studying hard 1. REALIZATION OF CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS 1.1 Realization of the head element The head element of a Prepositional Group is realized only by prepositions, whieh can be simple (consisting of a single word), or complex (consisting of two or three words): = Simple: at, as, by, down, from, for, in, like, off, above, across, beneath, during, throughout, regarding, considering, underneath, notwithstanding, et. * Two-word prepositions consisting of a preposition, an adjective, an adverb, or a conjunction plus one of the following prepositions for, from, of, to, with, against: — Prep. + Prep: along with, except for, but for, near to, — Adj. + Prep: contrary 10, due to, inclusive of, — Adv. + Prep: apart from, together with, instead of, regardless of, — Conj. + Prep: as for, as from, because of. 124‘The meaning is expressed by the first word, the second functions as the link to the completive: according to my information: because of what I said. * Three-word prepositions following the structure: — Prep (in, on, by, at, for, with) + Noun + Prep (of, with, for, to), with the noun being sometimes determined by the: in aid of the blind, in return for this, by way of a change, by means of signs, on top of that, on the part of everyone, at the expense of your health, at the hands of a tyrant, ete. Sometimes the noun can be modified by an adjective: €.g. with the surprising exception of Tom, in close contact with you; 1.2 Realization of the completive is achieved by the following groups and clauses —NGs in command, on account of his age: private, at last. through thick and thin: for en, until recently; — PrepGs: except in here, from out of the forest, — Cl WH Have you made inquiries about when we're supposed to get there? —Clnf (WH + V-inf): Are there any problems apart from where to stav? — Clnf (V-ing): The strikers charge the employers with ignoring their claims. 1.3 Realization of the modifier The relationship expressed by the Prepositional Group can be modified, mainly for rhetorical purposes, becoming thus a characteristic of interpersonal communication. The modification takes the following forms: * Grading: more, less, far more, much less, the most, the least, eg. You are the Ieast in need of help. They are far more bebind the times than us. + Intensifying modifiers: completely, directly, right, well, all, absolutely, greatly, straight, bacily, much, e.g. It rains ail through the year here. I'm greatly in favor of reducing expenses. + Attenuating modifiers: somewhat, partly, searcely, not fully, 10 some extent, slightly, a nile, hardly, not at all, not altogether, eg. I'm afraid this is hardly up to our usual standard. This regulations. + Quantifying modifiers: a mile, six feet, a long time, not that much, two hours, way back, light years, streets: eg. She was vo hours ahead of her rivals, That’s miles from the truth. + Descriptive or attitudinal modifiers: surprisingly, hopelessly, dangerously, ete. eg. We've been dangerously close to having an accident. + Focusing or r fiers: precisely, mainly, solely, just, principally, chiefly, merely, only, ete. e.g. You say that just for the sake of arguing. [failed precisely because of not feeling well that day. somewhat against the 2. SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF PREPOSITIONAL GROUPS: The basic grammatical role of the preposition is to establish a functional relationship between its completive and another syntactic element of a clause or of a group. In doing this the whole Prepositional Group functions as an element of the clause or the group. Prepositional Groups can realize up to fourteen syntactic functions: five as constituents of other groups, seven as glements of clauses and two as elements outside the clauses.2.1. PrepGs as elements of other groups Prepositional Groups can be embedded in other groups, such as: * Qualifier in AdjG: John is brilliant at physics * Qualifier in AdvG: We will not go far from here. + Qualifier in NG: Have you any books on this topic. + Modifier in NG: Off-the-record comments should not be printed in papers. * Completive in PrepG: I can see you whenever you want except on Monday. 2.2 PrepGs as elements of clauses * Adjunct: All this happened long before the war * Subject: When can we discuss this matter? After supper would suit me best + Od: I don’t consider next 10 a busy road as a good place to live. * Oprep: Her parents paid for the new apartment. * Cs ‘She must be out of her mind to reject such an offer. + Co: His drinking left him without a job. + Cp: ‘The convoy came fo a halt 2.3 Other funetions of the PrepGs # Disjuncts: Jn all honesty, I don’t believe a word he said. From my point of view, all his fine promises don’t mean a thing, * Conjunet: A: I’m leaving B: In that case, I'll go too. I'm very fond of music, in particular, the piano. Of all these syntactic functions, the commonest are Adjunets, Subject Complements, Predicator Complements and qualifiers in NGs, AdjGs and AdvGs. SEMANTIC FEATURES OF THE PREPOSITIONAL GROUP. 3. Generally, grammarians have in view some 55 broad relationships expressed by some 140 prepositions. Most of them can be used in different contexts, and therefore different senses. Here they are grouped under three headings: spatial reference, reference. ne reference and abstract in, inside, with in the middle of, into, among, amid{st), in the midst of, between, 2.) Exteriority: out, outside, out of. 3.) Superiority: on, upon, on top of, atop, above, over, onto, 4.) Inferiority: under, underneath, beneath, below. 5.) Anteriority before, in front of, ahead of, preceding, 6.) Posteriority: behind, at the back of, in back of (AmE), following. 7.) Proximity by, near (to), close (to), with, beside, alongside, approaching. 8.) Contiguity: at, against, in contact with, at the end of, at the beginning of, in the middle of, on. 9.) Direction. to, for, towards, up to, after, at, on, in, about, around. 10.) Oppositeness: opposite, facing. 11.) Separation: from, away from, apart from, off. 12.) Transversality: through, across, past, over, by. 13.) Verticality: up, down, 14,)Horizontality: along. 12615.) Cireularity: 16.) Indeterminacy: 17.) Continuity 18.) Extent: round, around, about. about, around, round. past, by, beyond. for, throughout, over, all over, as far as, from...to. 19.) Accompaniment: with, without, along with, together with, in company with, in the 20.) Parallelism 21.) Origin: 22.) Partition: 3.2 Time reference 23.) Point in time’ 24.) Relative to a point: by, until, (up) to, (as) from, since, pending, for 25.) Period of time: company of. parallel to, in parallel with, in line with. from, at. of, per. at, on, (close) on, Gust) on, as of. for, over, during, through, throughout, from...to, in the course of. 26.) Relative to a period: in, at, outside, inside, within, in the course of, between...and.. 27.) Anteriority: 28.) Posteriority: 29.) Frequency before, prior to, previous to, preliminary to, preparatory to. afier, following, subsequent to. per, at intervals of. 3.3 Abstract reference 30.) Cause! 31.) Reason: 32.) Purpose: ) Source: 34.) Manner: 35.) Comparison 36.) Role: 37.) Means: 38.) Agency: 39.) Reaction 40.) Attribution 41.) Existence: 42.) Support: 43.) Opposition: 44.) Exception: 45.) Condition: 46.) Additior 47.) Exchange: 48.) Replacement 49.) Reference: because of, on account of, due to, owing to, for, through, of, from, thanks to. for, from, out of, for love of, for want of, by reason of, for need of, for lack of, for the sake of, in view of, in the on the grounds of, by virtue of. for, to, at, with a view to, from, of. like, in, with, in the manner of, 41a, after. like, unlike, than, as, such as, with, in comparison with, as against, over, above, under. as, in the capacity of, by way of. in, by means of, by dint of, with, without by. to, at, by, with, for of, in, with, without with, without, for, on behalf of, for the sake of. against, up against, contrary to, at variance with, at the expense of. except (for), excepting, with the exception of, excluding, bar, barring, apart from, aside from, but, other than, save, beyond. in case of, but for. besides, as well as, in addition to, with, together with, along with. for, in exchange for, in return for. instead of, in place of, in licu of. regarding, respecting, concerning, with regard to, with respect to, in regard to, as regards, as to, as for, on, of, at, about, ref., re, ght of, aid of, favor of, in support of, 127with reference to, regardless of, irrespective of, for. 50.)Contingeney: with, without. 51.)Concession: for, despite, in spite of, for all, with all, notwithstanding. 52.) Result in consequence of, as a consequence of, consequent on, as result of, (resulting) from. 53.) Process at, in, in the process of, in search of, into. 54.) State: in, out of, on, under, beneath, through, over, beyond, 55.) Approximation: about, around, approaching. PREOSITIONAL GROt Each of the three elements (prepositional head, modifier, completive) of a Prepositional Group can be expanded by recursive realization either by parataxis (coordination) or by hypotaxis (Subordination), 4.1.1 Expansion of the head element * Coordination: — Are you for or against this proposal. Democracy means government of, for and by the people. The offer is valid up to and including the last day ofthe month. * Subordination: Most of the club members are wider, though not munch under, 25 years of age. 4.1.2 Expansion of the modifier + Coordination: — We borrowed the money purely and simply because of the urgent need for it. * Subordination: The club is now practically, if not entirely, without funds. 4.1.3 Expansion of the completive The greatest amount of expansion occurs in this element, since it is realized by embedded ‘groups. and clauses. * Coordination: — Kindest regards TO your wife and all the children. It appears that the Unions are not fully unanimous AS TO [whether 10 avcept the latest offer made by the employers or whether to go on strike again Opinions are divided AS REGARDS [how much they should claim in higher wages and what reduction in working hours they can reasonably demand] + Subordination: One of the Nobel prized was awarded TO [an Indian doctor [still only a young man [at the time} We do not agree WITH [the verdict [that the accident was due to dangerous driving [while under the influence of drink|] 4.2 Discontinuity of Prepositional Groups It occurs in the Prepositional Group when the normal order of the elements, Preposition + Completive, is inverted. Thus the completive is fronted to initial position of the clause, whereas the preposition is placed at the end. From the grammatical point of view, it is a marked form, giving importance to certain parts of the message. Discontinuous Prepositional Groups are achieved in the following ways: (@)_incleft clauses: Iam worried about your health. vs. 128Itis your health I'm worried about. Your health is what I am worried about. What Lam worried about is your health, (b) in clauses with restrictive meaning: He only thinks about his work. vs. ‘The only thing he thinks about is his work. His work is the only thing he thinks about, Ail he thinks about is his work. (© __ in passive clauses, with completives as Oprep: My opinion is never asked for. The matter should have been gone into more thoroughly. I don’t like being shouted at. Our dog will be taken care of while we are away. (@) inactive clauses equivalent to clauses introduced by the anticipatory it: It is wonderful to work for that company. + That company is wonderful to work for. It is interesting to listen fo her as a lecturer. + She is an interesting lecturer to listen to, (©) with 1H- completives in interrogative and relative clauses {the discontinuous structure is characteristic in informal style, whereas in formal style the continuous order should be used] Who can we rely on? (informal) On whom can we rely? (formal) What was the man accused of? (informal) Of what was the man accused? (formal) “Note: Some I7H- questions admit only the discontinuous structure, the continuous one being unacceptable: e.g. What's the weather like? * Like what is the weather? What have you come for? * For what have you come? Where do we leave from? * From where do we leave? HTS = The sequence Preposition + Nominal Completive, with optional modifier, fanctions as a clause clement, classified as ‘group’. ‘The Preposition is recognized as *head’ element, and may consist of one, two or three words, all being single prepositions. = When modified, the PrepG may be graded, intensified, quantified or described. 1.) Complete the PrepGs in these sentences with units of the classes indicated on the left: Neg: We were woken up by a sound like... AdjD: I didn’t understand much at...but Ido now. Ady: Iwas sitting in the back row and couldn’t hear the speaker from. PrepG. ‘The shops arc open every day except... CIE FIL Can you sec the sea from....? Clnf (Wh-inf): Have the judges decided on... Clnf (V-ing): Are you worried about...? 1292.) Express these sentences differently, beginning cach one as indicated. Iam most interested in the ecological consequences of this project. - It is the. You must be particularly careful about your money when walking in the streets. - What you must be Thaven’t yet paid for the meals... - What....The meals. I find it difficult to talk to my parents. - I find my. In what do you believe then? ~ What. ‘On which flight did you say we are booked? - Which flight...? We are collecting this money in aid of the refugees. = Who are you..? I told you that they gave us this medal in return for the clothes we sent them after the earthquake. = What did you say...? Caracas is the capital of Venezuela, - Which country...? ‘The caretaker said that this is the par - Who did the caretaker... ? 3.) Identify whether the underlined words are adverbs or prepositions. The children had left their toys about all over the floor. Our friends live just across the road from us. Keep on walking We usually go to a little pub up the street Come on, drink up your beer! Keep on the right side. Tell me all about what happened. Tl run off enough copies for all students. Everything is going to change in the near future. In debates he puts his ideas across very well. Some plants can live at temperatures below freezing. ‘The picture is not finished yet, but I'll paint in the sky later. ‘There were just a few light clouds high up in the sky. We're a long way off understanding the real causes of the situation,Bibliography Alexander. L. G. Longman English Grammar. London and New York: Longman, 1994. Collins Cobuild English Grammar, Collins, London and Glasgow: Collins Publishers, 1990. Downing, Angela and Locke, Philip. A University Course in English Grammar. New York: Prentice Hall, 1992. English Grammar: A University Handbook. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopadie, 1982. Halliday, M. A. K. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London, N.Y., Sydney, Auckland: Edward Arnold, 1994 Jespersen, Otto, Essentials of English Grammar. University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1981 Leech, G. N. 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