GRA M ÁTICA INGLESA III 1

THE S TRUCTURE OF THE PREPOS ITIONAL P HRAS E

Hidalg o Teno rio, E. (2017), “The structure of the English Prepositional Phrase”, in Engli sh Grammar in Focus: The

Phrase, ch. 4.

Quered a (1976), Metodología de los verbos compuestos ingleses Madrid: S.G.E.L., pp. 25-75.

4.1 Th e Prepositional Phras e: form, function and dis tribution

1. Defini tion: Exo c e nt r i c structure requiring both a Prepos ition and, very ofte n, an NP (near the garden) or s ome oth er

constructions (before then (Adv P); from below the surface (PP); before arriving at the

station (non-tensed clause)

Exoc en t ric: n o n-head construction: none of its elements is syntactically or semantically equivalent to the whole phrase,

ie c ann ot rep lace th e PP a s a who le:

Cf.: She is [very good at English] = She is [good] AdjP: Endocenctric

She’s been [to London] → *She’s been to; *She’s been London PP: Exocen tric

2. Fu nct ion al ch ara cte ri za tio n of PP s :

Claus e level: A (Ad jun ct ): It h ap pene d before the war

Oi: You must send a pre sen t to me

Op: He doe sn’t b elie ve in anything

Cs: He i s out of his mind

Co: His sen se of h umou r left hi m with no friends

S: After supper would suit me best

Od: I consi der nex t to t he station fin e

Outside claus e level: ‘Extern al’ A dv erb ials: Disju nc t: In my opinion, ev erythi ng is n ot OK.

Con jun ct : I can ’t do that . In that case , I’ll d o it myself.

Phrase level: Qualifier in NP: the girl in the corner

C in NP: some book s on astronomy

C in Ad jP: good at English

Qualifier in A djP: sho rt for his ag e

Qualifier in A dvP: fa r from here

Mod in NP: off-the-record comments

Axis in PP: fro m before the war

3. For mal ch ar acte r iz ati on: Inte rnal str ucture of the PP:

{(EXT.DEP) [RELATOR + AXIS]BASIC PP}EXTENDED PP

Extended PP

Ext.Dep./AdvP H / PP

H/Adv Relator/P Axis / NP-Advp/PP/Cl

completely in their arms

quite near here

right from behind the wall

only about what they wanted

just by studying hard

Dis continuous PP:

Cleft s ent en ces : It’s your health I’m wo rried about => I’m worried about your heal th

Res t. rela tive cla us e: Th e only th ing ( that) he thinks about is himself

Pass. clause with Op: My opinion is never asked for

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GRAMÁTICA INGLESA III 1

THE STRUCTURE OF THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

Hidalgo Tenorio, E. ( 2017 ), “The structure of the English Prepositional Phrase”, in English Grammar in Focus: The Phrase , ch. 4. Quereda (1976), Metodología de los verbos compuestos ingleses Madrid: S.G.E.L., pp. 25-75.

4.1 The Prepositional Phrase: form, function and distribution

1. Definition : Exocentric structure requiring both a Preposition and, very often, an NP ( near the garden ) or some other constructions ( before then (AdvP); from below the surface (PP); before arriving at the station (non-tensed clause)

Exocentric: non-head construction: none of its elements is syntactically or semantically equivalent to the whole phrase, ie cannot replace the PP as a whole: Cf.: She is [very good at English] = She is [good] AdjP: Endocenctric She’s been [to London] → *She’s been to; *She’s been London PP: Exocentric

2. Functional characterization of PPs:

Clause level: A (Adjunct): It happened before the war Oi: You must send a present to me Op: He doesn’t believe in anything Cs: He is out of his mind Co: His sense of humour left him with no friends S: After supper would suit me best Od: I consider next to the station fine Outside clause level : ‘External’ Adverbials: Disjunct: In my opinion , everything is not OK. Conjunct: I can’t do that. In that case , I’ll do it myself. Phrase level: Qualifier in NP: the girl in the corner C in NP: some books on astronomy C in AdjP: good at English Qualifier in AdjP: short for his age Qualifier in AdvP: far from here Mod in NP: off-the-record comments Axis in PP: from before the war

3. Formal characterization: Internal structure of the PP:

{ (EXT.DEP) [RELATOR + AXIS] BASIC PP} EXTENDED PP

Extended PP

Ext.Dep./AdvP H / PP

H/Adv Relator/P Axis / NP-Advp/PP/Cl

completely in their arms

quite near here

right from behind the wall

only about what they wanted

just by studying hard

Discontinuous PP:

Cleft sentences: It’s your health I’m worried about => I’m worried about your health Rest. relative clause: The only thing ( that ) he thinks about is himself Pass. clause with Op: My opinion is never asked for

Cl. equivalent to cl. + prop it: That firm is good to work for => It is good to work for that firm Wh-complements in interr. cl.: On whom can you rely? => Who can you rely on? To what extent do you disagree? => * What extent do you disagree to? What is the weather like? => * Like what is the weather?

4. Realisation of Relator: simple prep: from, in, out, of, against complex prep: because of, except for, near to, instead of for the sake of , in aid of, in contact with, on behalf of 5. Realisation of Axis: NP: in command / after which / on account of his age AdjP: in private / at last / through thick and thin AdvP: for ever / since then / until quite recently PP: except in here / from out of the forest Tensed Wh-cl: Have you decided about when you will come? Non-T Wh-cl: Have you any problems apart from where to stay? -ing clause: They charged him with ignoring their claims 6. Realisation of External Dependent: QP (grading): far more behind those times AdvP (intensifying): absolutely in favour AdvP (attenuating): partly against my principles NP (quantifying): five inches below the earth AdvP (descriptive): perilously near to exhaustion Intensifier (focusing): just for the sake of arguing 7. PPs as ‘marked NPs’

Historical note: from inflections (case endings) to syntax (fixed word order and prepositions) - The preposition as a mere linker:

a) - The men loaded the truck with hay

The men loaded hay in the truck b) - He went into the house vs. He entered the house
He went after the president vs. He followed the president
He went by the pub vs. He passed the pub on his way home
Our dog went for the postman vs. Our dog attacked the postman
He went with Mary vs. He accompanied Mary
He went over the wall vs. He jumped the wall
He went across the road vs. He crossed the road
He went up the mountain vs. He climbed the mountain
Her dress goes with her eyes vs. Her dress matches her eyes
He went to the British Museum vs. He visited the British Museum c) On many occasions, NPs can appear with and without preposition:
I'd like to send this parcel (by) air mail
They play the game (in) a different way
She cooks chicken (in) the way I like
A hat (of) this size will be fine f) Compare these pairs of examples: (a) - recruitment of personnel (b) - personnel recruitment (a) - the appeal for charity (b) - the charity appeal (a) - relief from famine (b) - famine relief (a) - damage to the brain (b) - brain damage (a) - the investigations into fraud (b) - the fraud investigations (a) - the bridge over the river (b) - the river bridge

EXT.DEP RELATOR - AXIS BASIC PP EXTENDED PP , Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

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GRAMÁTICA INGLESA III 1

THE STRUCTURE OF THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

{ (EXT.DEP) [RELATOR + AXIS] BASIC PP} EXTENDED PP

Extended PP

Ext.Dep./AdvP H / PP

H/Adv Relator/P Axis / NP-Advp/PP/Cl

completely in their arms

quite near here

right from behind the wall

only about what they wanted

just by studying hard