ON USE AND MEANING OF PREPOSITIONS

This study explored the relationship between the use and meaning of 33 prepositions. The Ss composed sentences for each preposition and then found sensible substitutes for the preppositions; other Ss gave free associations to each preposition; and other Ss grouped the repositions according to their meaning. Patterns of prepositional similarity, derived for the three procedures, showed that prepositions with overlapping substitutes generally had overlapping contexts in sentences, had overlapping free associations, and frequently belonged to the same groups. Free associations were most often the substitutes of a preposition and next most often nominals differing from, but having common properties with, its objects in sentences. The results implied: (a) that a S treats two prepositions as being semantically related to the extent that they are interchangeable in sentences; and (b) that a S implicitly uses hierarchical phrase structure rules and cognitive categories corresponding to prepositional and noun phrases when he gives free associations and when he makes judgments about meaning. © 1968 Academic Press Inc.