TEMPORAL AND LOCATIVE PREPOSITIONS VERSUS ADVERBS: LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL OVERLAPPING (CORPUS-BASED STUDY)

Abstract

The paper focuses on an essential problem of a “part-of-speech” theory, including temporal and locative prepositions and adverbs overlapping in lexical and grammatical perspective. The study is pursued on a corpus-based approach towards prepositions and adverbs overlapping in present-day English (PDE), giving consideration to the complements applied. The latter are divided into two wide groups, namely Noun Phrase and Alternative Complements. To organise the results the comparative-parametric method of linguistic research developed by Sternina was introduced. A comparison has been made between traditional interpretation of complement use and practical corpus-based results in PDE. It has been ascertained that among 94 lexical units treated as one-word prepositions 49 units show overlapping of prepositions and adverbs; however, 39 units bear locative and temporal semes. The results of the PDE corpus-based research show that conventional interpretation of prepositions as lexical units governing Noun Phrase Complements and Adverbs as units correlating with Alternative Complements is deceptive, as it is based on a synchronic syntactic approach, neglecting diachronic syntax and semantics. The hypothesis proposed describes a necessity to reconsider modern PoS division theory, taking into account diachronic approach and analysis of lexical units at the stages of their genesis in Old English and Middle English periods.

Keywords

• adverb
• preposition
• functional-grammatical transposition
• complement
• lexical and grammatical combinability
• corpus-based study.