English prepositions

English prepositions are words – such as of, in, on, at, from, etc. – that function as the head of a prepositional phrase, and most characteristically license a noun phrase object (e.g., in the water).^[1] Semantically, they most typically denote relations in space and time.^[2] Morphologically, they are usually simple and do not inflect.^[1] They form a closed lexical category.^[3]^[4]

Many of the most common of these are grammaticalized and correspond to case markings in languages such as Latin.^[5]^: 48 For example, of typically corresponds to the genitive.

^ ^a ^b Aarts, Bas; Chalker, Sylvia; Weiner, Edmund (2014). The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (Second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-174444-0.
^ Leech, Geoffrey (2006). Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2691-5.
^ Matthews, Peter (2003). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199202720.
^ This article chiefly addresses prepositions in Modern English.
^ Bain, Alexander (1863). An English Grammar. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green. OCLC 229915428.

[:0-1] Aarts, Bas; Chalker, Sylvia; Weiner, Edmund (2014). The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (Second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-174444-0.

[:1-2] Leech, Geoffrey (2006). Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2691-5.

[The_Concise_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Linguistics-3] Matthews, Peter (2003). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199202720.

[4] This article chiefly addresses prepositions in Modern English.

[5] Bain, Alexander (1863). An English Grammar. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green. OCLC 229915428.

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