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Plain Egglish: Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE

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http://plainegglish.blogspot.com.br/2011/04/prepositionsovervsabove.html

Prepositions:OVERvs.ABOVE
NativespeakersofEnglishusuallyfinditverydifficulttoexplainthedifferencebetweentheprepositionsover andabove,butneverthelesshaveveryclearintuitionsaboutwheneachshouldbeused.Today'spostwillbe gettingintosomedetailaboutthefactorsdrivingtheseintuitions.Thesystemisquitebeautifulinitslogicand veryrevealingaboutsemanticstructure.

OVER Weneedtostartbyrecognisingthatoneofthemainusesofoveristoindicateapathofmotionabove(i.e., higherthan)something: Jilltravelledoverthehill.

Thepathdoesn'thavetobeoneofmotionitcanalsobealineofsight(amongotherthings): Empedocleslookedoverhisbackfence.

Ifyouwereabletotravelalongthesepaths,itwouldbepossibletodropthingsalongthewaythatwouldfall onthehillorhisbackfence,andthepathoffallingobjectsisalsoveryimportantforunderstandinghowover isused: Thebomberflewoverthetarget.[pathofmotionabove] Thebomberisoverthetarget.[Theaircraftiswhereitneedstobetodropbombsontothetarget]

Thereisapathofmotionbeingfollowedbytheaircraftandapathofmotionthatcouldbefollowedbybombs droppedfromit.

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Plain Egglish: Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE

Herearesomeotherexamplesinvolvingthelatterpath,wherethingsarefallingoratleastloadedwiththe potentialtofall: TheswordishangingovertheheadofDamocles.[Theswordispositionedsuchthatitcouldfallonto hishead] TheumbrellaisoverJill.[Theumbrellaisinthepathoftherain,stoppingitfromfallingonJill]

Thedifferencebetweenholdinganumbrellaaboveandholdingitoverprovidesahelpfulillustration.The umbrellaisoverJillifitstopstherainfallingonher.Thesimilarityinmeaningbetweenoverandaboveis duetothefactthatthingsusuallyhavetobedroppedfromabovetobeonacoursetohitthem,butifthe windisblowingtherainatanangle,onlysomeofthepositionsthatareabovewillalsobeover:

IftheumbrellawerebeingusedtoprotectJillfromtheSuninsteadoftherain,shewouldhavetobeinthe umbrella'sshadowforittobeoverher.Itdependsonwhichtrajectoryisrelevantincontext.Theumbrella couldbeinthepathofrain,light,aperson'slineofsightoranythingelsepointingtowardsit. Consideranotherexamplewheresomethingisbothoverandaboveatthesametime: TheroofisoverJill'shead. TheroofisaboveJill'shead.

Theuseofoverinthefirstsentenceemphasizestherolethattheroofplaysinprovidingshelterforthe peoplewholiveunderit,whilethesentencewithaboveissimplystatingitsposition. Giventhewayoverworkswithumbrellasandroofs,wecannowunderstandwhyit'softenusedwithverbsfor

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Plain Egglish: Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE

covering: Jillworealargecoatoverherclothes.[Thecoatblocksthelineofsighttoherclothes] Jillpaintedoverthegraffiti.[Thepaintblocksthelineofsighttothegraffiti]

We'renolongertalkingaboutblockingobjectsthatareliterallyfalling,butinEnglishwecanalsotalkabouta person'slineofsightortheirfocusofattentionasiftheyarefallingonthings: Jill'seyesfelluponasmallpieceofpaper. ThepieceofpapercaughtJill'sattention.[asifherattentionisafallingobjectlikeaballthatcanbe caught]

Inthefollowingexamples,wecanseetheelementsof(1)motionabove,(2)falling,and(3)coveringallat once: Jillsprinkledflouroverthecounter.[herhandismovingabovethecounter,sheisdroppingflour,and theflouriscoveringthecounter] Empedoclespouredwateroverthefire.[hishandismovingabovethefire,heisdroppingwater,and thewateriscoveringthefire]

Thecontinuumofmeaningsassociatedwithoverextendsinmanydifferentdirectionsbasedonthesecore concepts.Afewexamples(notanexhaustivelist): Thesongplayedovertheradio/airwaves.[pathofmotionextendedtopathoftransmission] Jilllookedoverhernotes.[motionaboveextendedtoshiftingattention] Theyarguedovermoneyandhowthechildrenshouldberaised.[shiftingattentionovertopicsthatare metaphoricallycoveredbyaconversation] JackstoodoverJill.[threateninglikeabomberoveratargetoraswordhangingoverDamocles] Jillcrossedovertheborder/athreshold.[motionaboveextendedtocrossing] Thepriceofoilisnowoveronehundredandtendollarsabarrel.[crossinginspaceextendedto surpassingvaluesonascale]

Themeaningofoverisalsoextendedtopathsintime: Jillworkedoveraperiodofthreedays.[pathofmotionextendedtopathintime]

Andaswithpathsthroughspace,thingscanmetaphoricallyfallfromapathintime,soinEnglish,wespeakof eventsfallingonparticulardaysasifeventsareobjectsandtimeisapaththatrunsabovedaysrepresented assurfacesthateventscanbeon: Jill'sbirthdaywillfallonaFridaythisyear.

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Plain Egglish: Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE

Wecanalsospeakofthingscoveringaperiodoftime: Jill'sbiographycoverstheperiodofheryouthandearlycareer.

Seethespaceandtimetagformorepostsaboutthespatialmetaphorsthatstructurethewaywetalkabout time.Notethatovercanalsobeanoun(usedinthesportofcricket)andanadjective(meaningfinished). WhatI'vesaidaboveonlyappliestoitsuseasapreposition. ABOVE Aboveisfarsimplerinitsmeaningthanover,butthereareafewcomplications. Itcanmeanatahigherlevel: Thesummitis8,848metresabovesealevel. ThewaterlevelwasabovethatofthefloodinNewOrleans. Jillliftedthechildabovethecrowd.

Abovealsomeanshigherinaverticalline,asopposedtoatahigherlevelbutpossiblytooneside: Therewasasignabovethedoor.

Whenthereispotentialambiguity,wesaydirectlyaboveorrightabovetomakeitclearthatwemeanina verticalline(andincloseproximity). Notethatwhatcountsasupdependsontheframeofreference.Forexample,iftheframeofreferenceisa book,paragraphAwillstillbeaboveparagraphBwhenthebookisturnedupsidedown. ManyofthesedetailsareofcoursenotthingsthatnonnativesneedtobetaughtwhenlearningEnglish,but areneverthelesspartofafullaccountofthemeaningsofthesewords. MOREISUPANDGOODISUP Becauseoftheverticalityaspectofaboveandsomesensesofover,theyformpartofageneralsystemof metaphorsfortreatingmoreasupandgoodasup.Thisisahugesubjectonitsown,whichIwon'tgointo here,sufficetosaythatmanyspatialtermsrelatingtoupareusedtoexpressmoreandbetter.Some examplesinvolvingabove: Onehundredisaboveninetynine.[thespatialmeaningofhigherextendstocomparisonsofvalueson scalesotherthanheight] Jillwasabovethatsortofchildishbehaviour.[moremoral]

Someexamplesinvolvingover: Jillisovereighteen.[thespatialmeaningofhigherextendedtoagewithasenseofmovement

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Plain Egglish: Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE

upwards/crossingathreshold] Thecurrentdesignisanimprovementovertheoldone.[thespatialmeaningofhigherextendedto betterwithasenseofmovementupwards] UNDERANDBELOW Underandbelowarethecounterpartsofoverandabovesuchthatunderissensitivetopathsofmotion, falling,covering,andsoon,whilebelowisnot: Theypassedunderthebridge.[motionbelow] Empedocleslookedundertherock.[lineofsightbelow] Jillwasundertheumbrella.[protectedfromfallingthings] Thegraffitiwasstillvisibleunderthepaint.[paintcoveringthegraffiti] Thequestionsunderconsiderationweremoneyandhowthechildrenshouldberaised.[thetopicsthat werecoveredbytheconsiderations]

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