| Popis: |
This doctoral dissertation is concerned with the dynamic processes that are at play in the development of the system of prepositions in contemporary Czech. In the first part, I review different treatments of prepositions as a word class in the Czech linguistic tradition. I use available descriptive accounts to discuss the features of two main subtypes of this category, i.e. primary and secondary prepositions, focusing in particular on the process of 'prepositionalization' of secondary prepositions, i.e. the grammaticalization path that leads to their emergence. The primary focus of the first part of the dissertation is the role of meaning and the semantic features of prepositions as function words, as well as the meaning which prepositions contribute to more complex linguistic items, i.e. the interrelation of prepositions and case marking and valency patterns derived from verbs. I also draw attention to prefixed words which are, in the majority of cases, derived from primary prepositions. I approach meaning mainly from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, employing also the view of construction grammar which treats prepositions both as constructions in their own right and as parts of higher order constructions. Chapter three is concerned with the processes of language change with regards to... |
