Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts
Department of English
and American Studies
English Language and Literature


David Weber
English Prepositions: A Historical
Survey
Masters Diploma Thesis
Supervisor: prof. Dr. Vlav !la"e#$ %s.
!"
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
..
&uthors signature
2
This thesis could not have been written without the help of my supervisor, prof. Dr.
Vclav Blaek, whom would like to e!press my indebtedness here. would also like to
mention my "ratitude to #$ech "rant%"ivin" bodies whose financial help has made part of
my research and writin" possible at the &niversity of 'reibur". (y "ratefulness "oes
especially to prof. Dr. Bernd )ortmann for his kind acceptance in the Department of
*n"lish of the above mentioned university. also wish to thank here to +rof. Dr. (atti
,issanen for sendin" me a photocopy of one of his articles which was not able to access
in Brno neither in 'reibur".
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-
.. ntroduction................................................................................................................. /
2. Data collection and research methodolo"y ................................................................. 0
-. 1in"uistic characteristics of *n"lish prepositions ................................................... .2

-.. +repositions and (orpholo"y ............................................................................ .2
-.2 +repositions and 3ynta! ..................................................................................... ..
-.- +repositions and 1e!icon .................................................................................. .-
-.4 +repositions and 3emantics ................................................................................ .4
4. *n"lish prepositions in the history of *n"lish "rammar writin" .............................. .5
4. . The situation before .50/ ..................................................................................... .5
4. 2 Bullokar and after ................................................................................................. ./
4.- The .6th century ..................................................................................................... 2.
4. 4 The 22th century .................................................................................................... 2-
4.5 #onclusion ............................................................................................................. 20
5. 7ld *n"lish prepositions ............................................................................................. 26
5.. ndo%*uropean stratum .......................................................................................... 26
5.2 8ermanic stratum ................................................................................................. 4.
5.- 7ld *n"lish word%formation ................................................................................. 56
/. (iddle *n"lish prepositions ....................................................................................... /-
/.. 7ld *n"lish stratum .............................................................................................. /4
/.2 (iddle *n"lish word%formation ........................................................................... 00
/.- 'orei"n influences ................................................................................................ 6-
9. 'rom (iddle *n"lish to (odern *n"lish .................................................................. .22
0. #onclusion ................................................................................................................. .22
4
Biblio"raphy ...................................................................................................................... .25
1. INTRODUCTION
5
:hen it comes to the diachronic study of *n"lish prepositions, it must be conceded
that, until recently, historical lin"uists have ne"lected their study. :ith an e!ception of a
chapter in (itchell;s two volume Old English Syntax <(itchell, .605= and another chapter
in (ustano>a;s Middle English Syntax <(ustano>a, .6/2=, there is no comprehensive survey
of prepositions in 7ld nor in (iddle *n"lish. ?s a syntactic work, (itchell;s book has a
stron" formal bias, dealin" predominantly with the preposition%case relation. (ustano>a, on
the other hand, focuses predominantly on semantics. The ma>ority of other handbooks and
"rammars of 7ld and (iddle *n"lish restrict themselves to enumeratin" only a selected
number of prepositions, addin" their basic meanin"s or the case they "overned, if they
actually do at least this. (ore recently, two diachronically oriented studies devotin"
themselves somehow more thorou"ly to the study of prepositions occured, namely,
1undsk@r%Aielsen;s Prepositions in Old and Middle English <1undsk@r%Aielsen, .66-=,
which, however, restricts itself to the semantics of the prepositions in, on and at, and
"lesias%,abade;s Semantic Erosion of Middle English Prepositions <"lesias%,bade,
22.2=, which studies twelve selected (iddle *n"lish prepositions in terms of their
freBuency of occurence and the 'rench influence on their semantic erosion. The situation
has sli"htly improved, especially with a small number of papers published after 2222 <cf.
)ry"ier, 22..C (alak, 22.2C (oDencki, 2225, 2229a, 2229b, 22..C ,issanen 2225, 2229=.
Eavin" said this, one may undoubtedly come to the conclusion that there is a considerable
"ap in the diachronic description of *n"lish prepositions and they have lon" been ne"lected
in lin"uistic inBuiry. The aim of the present work is, therefore, to contribute modestly to
this field of study in providin" a brief survey of their history. 'or the purposes of the reader,
the thesis may be divided into three "eneral subparts. n the first, will treat some "eneral
lin"uistic aspects of *n"lish prepositions, tryin" to define their place in *n"lish lin"uistic
system. n particular, prepositions will be studied in relation with morpholo"ical, syntactic,
le!ical and semantic plane. Then, a discussion will follow of some of the most remarkable
*n"lish reference "rammars with an analysis of their definitions and treatments of *n"lish
prepositions. 'inally, the results of my empirical research are provided. These trace the
Buantitative development of *n"lish prepositions in two of its main historical sta"es % 7ld
*n"lish and (iddle *n"lish. 'innaly, a chapter with some brief remarks on the
/
development between (iddle *n"lish and (odern *n"lish is added. t must be clear from
the title of the present thesis, however, that our survey is historical and, therefore, it would
be out of its scope to focus on (odern *n"lish prepositions as well. ?s for the division into
7ld *n"lish, (iddle *n"lish and (odern *n"lish, one must stress here, that any division
into historical sta"es is necessarily to a hi"h de"ree arbitrary. 3ince the empirical study is
based on the diachronic part of the Eelsinki #orpus, the borderline between 7ld and
(iddle *n"lish periods is drawn in correspondence with the division made by the corpus
compilers. n "eneral terms, data spannin" the time from the ei"ht to the fifteenth century
will be e!plored. The main focus will be laid on the ortho"raphic variants and Buantitative
development. Because of the low freBuency of occurence of most of the prepositions, the
rate will be indicated by per mil <F= and not per cent <G=. ?s for the semantics, focused
only on the prototypical meanin" of each preposition. This primary meanin" is then
e!plicated on a +resent%day *n"lish eBuivalent as well as on its 1atin counterpart. 'or
various e!tended shades of prepositional meanin"s, the reader should consult dictionaries.
?mon" these, especially noteworthy are Bosworth and Toller;s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
<Bosworth and Toller, .692= and )urath and )uhn;s thirteen volume Middle English
Dictionary <)urath and )uhn, .65/ % 222.=.

2. DATA COLLECTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
9
The methodolo"y employed for the empirical investi"ation is essentially
Buantitative and is based on the diachronic part of the Eelsinki #orpus. Eelsinki corpus is
the result of a pro>ect compiled under the supervision of +rofs. (atti ,issanen and 7ssi
halainen at the &niversity of Eelsinki. The diachronic part of the corpus includes te!ts
from 7ld *n"lish, (iddle *n"lish and *arly (odern *n"lish, coverin" period of more than
thousand years. n the corpus, the periods are divided as followsH 7ld *n"lish <922 % ..52=,
(iddle *n"lish <..52 % .522= and *arly (odern *n"lish <.522 % .9.2=. 7ur survey
restricts to the 7ld and (iddle *n"lish periods, since these are most important when it
comes to the historical development of *n"lish simple prepositions. The corpus allows us
for the followin" subdivisionH
7ld *n"lish <922%652= 64 242 words
7ld *n"lish <652%.252= 25. /-2 words
7ld *n"lish <.252%..52= /9 -02 words
7ld *n"lish <total number= 4.- 252 words
(iddle *n"lish <..52%.252= ..- 2.2 words
(iddle *n"lish <.252%.-52= 69 402 words
(iddle *n"lish <.-52%.422= .04 2-2 words
(iddle *n"lish V <.422%.522= 2.- 052 words
(iddle *n"lish <total number= /20 592 words

Total number . 22. 022 words
The ran"e of the te!ts varies from poetry, to prose, le"al te!ts, chronicles, medical and
philosophical te!ts, reli"ious treatisies and homilies, Bible translations, bio"raphies etc.
The corpus also incorporates information about the "eo"raphical dialect of the te!ts,
however, for the sake of puttin" limits to my study, analy$ed prepositions in "eneral, with
no reference to possible dialectal variation. ?lthou"h the thesis is based on empirical
research, very important theoretical notes have to be said at the be"innin". :hen analy$in"
0
prepositions, one must inevitably raise the Buestion of their definition. :hat is the scope of
the notion of prepositionI ? deeper theoretical insi"hts are out of the scope of the present
thesis, however, it must be stressed here, that in my survey, a considerably broader notion
of preposition is employed than in traditional "rammars. #onsider the followin" three
sentences containin" different versions of (odern *n"lish since H
<.= &nderfoJ eche lif and blisse mid en"len of heuene Kat is "iarked si J en Ke bi"innin"e
of Kes woreld.
<2= They were brow"ht upp theyr and syns sworne unto the >urdyccyon of the towne.
<-= Ae mette he @r nan "ebun land si KK an he from his a"num ham for.
:ithin the framework of traditional "rammar <e.". Luirk et al. .605=, it will be only sien
in <.= that would be classified as a preposition. Syns in <2= would be classified as temporal
adverb and sian in <-=, as any word formally similar to a preposition but takin"
a declarative clause complement, would be classified as subordinatin" con>unction.
Aevertheless, keepin" with much work in modern lin"uistics, in the present study, will
e!tend the membership of the preposition cate"ory to both, adverbial particles and
subordinatin" con>unctions. This is a direct conseBuence of a new conception that takes
prepositions to be heads of phrases % similarly as nouns, verbs, ad>ectives and adverbs are
heads of their respective phrases. :hen prepositions are on par with these elements, there is
no reason to impose the condition of obli"atory complement on them. ?ccordin"ly, syns in
<2= will be classified as a preposition without complement and not as an adverbial particle.
n addition, consider the followin" two sentencesH
<4= must with many thankes remember his courtesie to me.
<5= remember did see him every day.
n <4=, the verb is complemented by a noun phrase, while in <5= by a declarative clause.
Despite the difference in complementation, we will classify the word remember in both the
sentences as an instance of a verb. #orrespondin"ly, then, there is no principled basis for
assi"nin" sien in <.= and sian in <-= to different parts of speech merely on the "rounds
6
of their different complementation. This new approach is adopted from Euddleston and
+ullum;s Cambridge rammar of the English !ang"age <Euddleston and +ullum, 2222=
and is also employed in Bas ?art;s Oxford Modern English rammar <?arts, 22..=. 1ast
but not least, one further remark has to be added. n modern lin"uistics, it is commonplace
to distin"uish between the terms preposition and postposition and to "roup both of them
under the headin" adposition. n the present work, the broader and more traditional term
preposition is used, which does not distin"uish between a preposition as an item that stands
before a unit it "overns and postposition as an item standin" after the "overned element.
3. LINGUISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS
3.1 Prepositios !" #orp$o%o&'
'rom a morpholo"ical viewpoint, prepositions can be defined as invariable word
forms which, throu"hout the history of *n"lish, almost never took any inflections. The
e!ceptions were the "enitive suffi! Mes <e.". tomidd#es, togean#es, to$eard#es= and the
suffi! Mmang in ge#mang and on#ge#mang. The most productive, however, is the suffi!
M$ard which occurs since the 7ld *n"lish period in connection with some prepositions and
in this way forms compound forms. The 7ld *n"lish attestations include %fter$eard,
in$ardre, from$eardan, to$eard, "p$eard, "t$eard. n certain e!treme cases, two suffi!es
were added, e.". ongean#$eard#es. The prepositions with suffi! M$ard increased in
number durin" the (iddle *n"lish period and certain new forms like on$ard or "nto$ard
appeared in this period. n the course of the *arly (odern *n"lish period, most of these
forms were decreasin" and the only remnants of this process that can be found in +resent%
day *n"lish are the prepositions to$ard and to$ards. *ven thou"h most prepositions
formed accordin" to the pattern preposition M ward disappeared, knew prepositions were
formed by compoundin" adverbs and the suffi! M$ard. Aevalainen <Aevalainen, .666H
42/= names the followin"H left$ard, north-east$ard, so"th-$est$ard, land$ard&s',
sea$ard&s', s(y$ard&s', s"n$ard&s', $ind$ard&s'. (ost of these, alon" with an array of
others like bac($ard, do$n$ard, east$ard, home$ard&s', north$ard, right$ards, or
so"th$ards surive until nowadays. 3ome of the prepositions also functioned as prefi!es in
.2
word%formative processes. These include 7ld *n"lish and (iddle *n"lish prefi!es %fter%,
%t%, bet$eon%, bi%, for%, foran%, for%, fram%, gegn%, in%, mid%, neah%, nier%, of%, ofer%, on%,
o%, "rh%, "nder%, $i%, $ier% and ymb%. ?s for their morpholo"ical structure, 7ld *n"lish
and (iddle *n"lish prepositions can be classified into simple and compound. 3imple
prepositions are reali$ed by a sin"le morpheme <e.". %fter, %t, fram, geond, of, ofer, on, o,
samod etc.=. #ompound prepositions can be classified accordin" to their morpholo"ical
structure. n 7ld *n"lish, most of the compound prepositions are bimorphemic, the first
morpheme bein" a preposition and the second is most commonly also a preposition <e.".
%t#foran, be#geondan, be#innan, be#neoan, in#to, on#b"tan, on#innan, to#foran,
$i#innan etc.=. 1ess commonly, the second morpheme is an adverb <e.". be # %ftan, be #
"fan, on # "fan=, a con>unction <e.". to # eacan =, an ad>ective <e.". and # lang= or a
numeral <e.". be # t$eone=. n (iddle *n"lish, the number of simple prepositions has risen
sharply. This was a result of a mer"er of several 7ld *n"lish compound prepositions with
easily discernible morpholo"ical structure which, in (iddle *n"lish, can be revealed only
under a closer diachronic scrutiny <e.". ado$n, abo)e, amid, beneathen, tofore etc=.
3econdly, ma>ority of new loan preposition are monomorphemic <e.". fro, ma"gre, p"r,
sans, co"ntre etc.=. 3ome of the (iddle *n"lish prepositions, however, retained their
clearly identifiable compound morpholo"ical structure <e.". in#to, to#$ard, $ith#in,
for#by, for#$ith, for#to, on#"nder, o"#ta(en, "p#$ard etc.=. #omple! prepositions,
which consist of two% or three%word combinations actin" as a sin"le unit, appeared only
since the 1ate (iddle *n"lish period <e.". by means of, by )irt"e of, by $ay of <cf.
Eoffmann, 2225H/2==. (ost of them have the pattern % simple preposition M noun M simple
preposition. t was durin" the (odern *n"lish period that we saw the "reatest e!pansion of
this cate"ory which remains productive until nowadays.
3.2 Prepositios !" s't!(
The synta! of *n"lish preposition can be studied on two levels % phrase level and
clause level. The basic unit of phrase level is prepositional phrase. +repositional phrase
consists of a preposition which functions as a head "overnin" the phrase, plus prepositional
complement. n 7ld *n"lish, the prepositional complement was most commonly case%
marked. Throu"hout the history of their development, *n"lish prepositions typically came
..
before a noun. The noun does not necessarily come immediately after the preposition, since
determiners <pronoun in 7ld *n"lish, and pronoun or article in (iddle *n"lish= and
ad>ectives could intervene. 7ther possible complements were pronoun, adverb <usually
followed by a preposition=, adverbial <includin" prepositional phrases= or rarely a clause.
To sum up, 7ld *n"lish prepositions "overned the followin" complementsH
a. noun phrase <with head reali$ed by noun or pronoun=
b. adverb phrase <with head reali$ed by adverb=
c. prepositional phrase
n some treatments <cf. 1undsk@r%Aielsen, .66-H-9=, 7ld *n"lish infinitive marker to is
also analy$ed as a preposition. *his )ie$ is s"pported in the morphology by the fact that
after to the infiniti)e "s"ally occ"rs $ith the dati)e ger"nd ending -anne + -enne
<1undsk@r%Aielsen, .66-H-9=. f we accept this view, prepositional complement can also be
reali$ed by infinitive in 7ld *n"lish. This situation then lasted until the late (iddle *n"lish
when "erund replaced the infinitive <cf. 3chibsbye, .694H9-=. (iddle *n"lish prepositions
also "overned noun phrases <with head reali$ed by a noun or pronoun=, adverb phrases
<with head reali$ed by an adverb= or another prepositional phrase. ?s far as (iddle *n"lish
prepositional phrases embedded in other phrasal constructions are concerned, "lesias%
,bade <222-H-02%-0.= distin"uishes the followin" functions of (iddle *n"lish
prepositional phraseH
a. postmodifier in a noun phrase
b. postmodifier in an ad>ective phrase
c. postmodifier of another prepositional phrase
d. ad>unct
e. complement of a verb
(oreover, in (iddle *n"lish verse, prepositions may follow the noun or pronounH
The byschop come to Ke burynes, him barones besyde,
Ne maire with mony ma ti men and macers before hym.
<3t *rkenwald=
3.3 Prepositios !" Le(i)o
.2
+repositions are hi"h freuBency items belon"in" to one of the nine word classes into
which *n"lish le!icon can be divided. They can be defined as a relatively closed class that
is not prone to Buick chan"es. (ost of the formal chan"es in their system are a result of
internal word%formative processes and "rammaticali$ation and not borrowin"s from
e!ternal sources. To put it more directly, have counted only fourteen loan prepositions that
appeared in the course of the history of *n"lish until the end of the *arly (odern *n"lish
period and out of these, three were dropped meanwhile. n this respect, ma>ority of the most
freBuently used prepositions are of ?n"lo%3a!on ori"in. ?s any word class, prepositions
can be broadly defined as a set of vocabulary items sharin" certain common properties.
These "enerally include varyin" number of morpholo"ical, syntactic and semantic
phenomena. ?ccordin" to the de"ree of common properties, we speak about the centre and
the periphery of a "iven word class. There are actually two kinds of central items and two
kinds of peripheral items in every lan"ua"e, namely, those of the whole le!icon and those
of particular parts of speech. ? le!ical item is central to the le!icon because of a relatively
hi"h rate of its occurence in discourse, while a le!ical item is central to the word class due
to a relatively hi"h de"ree of common properties with other central items. The difference
between these two kinds of centre and periphery can be defined as a difference between
Buantity and Buality. ?lthou"h the boundary between central and peripheral items of
a le!icon is not clearcut, one can definitely claim that prepositions, throu"hout the history
of their development, have always been central to the *n"lish le!icon. ?ccordin" to the
corpus data
.
, the followin" prepositions occur amon" the fifty most freBuently used *n"lish
wordsH
. 2 - 4 5 / 9 0 6 .2
7ld *n"lish on to mid in for of at be after ofer
(iddle *n"lish of to in for be on by with at
*arly (odern *n"lish of to in for with by at from on
(odern *n"lish of in to for with on by at from
3.* Prepositios !" Se#!ti)s
+repositions and their relation to semantics have always been problematic. They are
often considered to have too little semantic content or, vice versa, to be too polysemous to
.
The data for 7ld *n"lish, (iddle *n"lish and *arly (odern *n"lish are drawn from the diachronic part of
the Eelsinki #orpus. (odern *n"lish data are adopted from a survey of British Aational #orpus by 1eech et
al. <222.H.22=
.-
warrant a proper semantic description. (ost lin"uists consent that nouns, ad>ectives and
main verbs are items with a full le!ical meanin". :hen it comes to prepositions, Buestion
mi"ht arise, whether they should also be re"arded as le!ical elements with their own le!ical
meanin" or rather as semantically empty "rammatical elements. The answer than varies
accordin" to the lin"uistic framework within which prepositions are studied. n the early
version of 'unctional 8rammar <Dik, .669a, b=, or #ase 8rammar <'illmore, .6/0=,
prepositions function as "rammatical elements. n Oackendoff ;s approach <Oackendoff
.69-C .699C .60-=, #o"nitive 8rammar <e.". Pelinsky%:ibbelt, .66-= or 'unctional
Discourse 8rammar <)ei$er, 2220=, on the other hand, prepositions are described as an
autonomous le!ical cate"ory. 3everal other theoretical proposals like Eead%Driven +hrase
3tructure 8rammar <+ollard and 3a", .604=, 8enerali$ed +hrase 3tructure 8rammar
<8a$dar et al, .605=, 1e!ical 'unctional 8rammar <Bresnan, 222.=, or 8enerative
8rammar <#orver and Van ,iemsdi>k 222.=, re"ard certain prepositions to be "rammatical
and other le!ical. t is not my purpose to "o into a len"thy theoretical dispute over the
le!ical or "rammatical nature of prepositions. Various attempts have been made to come up
with a satisfactory semantic treatment of prepositions. :hat is important for our survey, is
the fact that the basic meanin" of each preposition, irrespective of whether it is "rammatical
or le!ical in nature, is spatial, with e!tensions to temporal meanin" and further abstract and
idiomatic meanin"s <cf. (acken$ie, 222.H .--=. This is proved also by a diachronic
development, since in 7ld *n"lish period, prepositions and their complements constituted
a conceptual unit with an informative content associated with basic spatial or temporal
sense <"lesias%,bade, 222-H .24=. n (iddle *n"lish, many prepositions developed from
the basic spatio%temporal meanin" to more abstract meanin"s and conseBuently underwent
semantic "enerali$ation <cf. "lesias%,bade, 22..H29=. :hen dealin" with semantics in the
present thesis, tried to "rasp the primary, or prototypical meanin" of each preposition,
which in most cases corresponds to the basic spatio%temporal meanin". 'urther semantic
networks of each preposition may be consulted in dictionaries.
*. ENGLISH PREPOSTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR
+RITING
.4
?fter havin" described *n"lish prepositions lin"uistically, in the present chapter, we
will aim to e!amine the development of different lin"uistic definitions and treatments of
prepositions in selected reference "rammars of *n"lish. ?lthou"h one of the first
"rammarians to introduce the term preposition was Dionysius Thra!, who lived in
?le!andria some time around the second and first century B.#.*., in the present chapter, we
shall limit ourselves strictly to the *n"lish "rammatical tradition, whose roots date back to
the second half of the si!teenth century. ? demarcation of the ob>ect of our research in
these terms, however, is not sufficient enou"h. The reason is that in the very be"innin"s of
*n"lish "rammatical tradition, the term *n"lish "rammar mi"ht have referred to
a "rammar of 1atin written in *n"lish, a "rammar of *n"lish written in 1atin, as well as
a "rammar of *n"lish written in *n"lish. t must be stressed, therefore, that in the present
survey, we will only deal with reference "rammars of *n"lish written in *n"lish. ?nd yet,
this still includes vast amount of works by various authors. ?ccordin"ly, the scope of the
present chapter is hi"hly selective in what it covers and the ma>ority of "rammars were
simply not included. Aevertheless, the author of these lines focused on, in his opinion, the
most representative ones and believes that these will provide the reader with a sufficient
insi"ht into the research topic.
*. 1 T$e sit,!tio -e.ore 1/01
?lthou"h the year .50/ marks the be"innin" of *n"lish "rammar writin", the definition of
prepositions can already be found in 7ld *n"lish literatureH
Q+r@positio is foresetnyss, se byJ "eJeod naman and worde and stent @fra on foreweardanH
ab illo homine Rfram Jam manSH her is se ab pr@positioT.
<?elfric;s +reface to his translation of Ars rammatica by Donatus ?elius=
This definition is far from bein" lin"uistically correct, since already in the 7ld *n"lish
period, there sometimes occured postposed prepositions. ?elfric;s definition, as well as the
term foresetnyss itself, imitates the 1atin ori"inal by Donatus ?elius. The ?n"lo%3a!on
term for a preposition is derived from the 1atin term praepositio, the morpheme for
meanin" QbeforeT, the root settan meanin" Qto placeT and the derivational morpheme Mnyss
.5
indicates the class of nouns. The ?n"lo%3a!on calBue, nevertheless, did not "ain much
popularity and the 1atin ori"inal penetrated into the *n"lish le!ical system in the late .4th
century <cf. 7!ford *n"lish Dictionary=. By the end of the si!teenth century, "rammars had
been written for nearly all of the *uropean vernacular lan"ua"es. ?lso, it is a well%known
fact that there was a stron" influence of 1atin "rammatical tradition upon these "rammars
and the *n"lish were not an e!ception. n fact, in the case of *n"lish "rammars, this trend
continued up to the .0th century, when certain "rammarians finally reali$ed that differences
between 1atin and *n"lish are too "reat and 1atin "rammars cannot form the basis for the
description of *n"lish. n a word, one can undoubtedly claim that Qthe history of *n"lish
"rammar writin" was one of "radual and hard%won liberation from the shackles of 1atin
"rammarT <1inn, 222/H 94=.
*. 2 B,%%o2!r !" !.ter
8rammarians influenced by 1atin tradition were, for instance, likely to consider *n"lish
prepositional phrases as pure eBuivalents of 1atin case systems. +repositions with a
different function were usually deemed to be adverbs or, in some cases, a separate word
class. ?s far as the influence of 1atin "rammars in the first .52 years of *n"lish "rammar
writin" is concerned, Vorlat discerned the followin" tendenciesH
<a= +oole, Aewton, the .92/ "rammar, Turner and *ntick % copy 1atin "rammars,
without insi"ht into a specific functionin" of the *n"lish prepositions
<b= some valuabe remarks are made ri"ht at the be"innin" of *n"lish "rammar writin"
by Bullokar, however much he may "enerally depend on his 1atin source
<c= authors as (ie"e, Duncan, (aittaire and Bri"htland <with 1ou"hton= appear to have
an ori"inal contribution to make <Vorlat, .695H 42-=
The oldest study of *n"lish prepositions is represented ri"ht at the be"innin" of
*n"lish "rammar writin" by :illiam Bullokar;s ,ref rammar for English <Bullokar,
.50/=, the first *n"lish "rammar written in *n"lish. Bullokar defines prepositions as Qa part
of speech properly used prepositively, that is "overnin" an accusative case set ne!t after it
<e!cept sometime in verse it is set after his casual word= as, "o too the churchH and is
./
sometime postpositively used, that is, when it "overneth the relative, that, or which, comin"
before a verb, whose "overnin" preposition is set after such verbH as, this is the man whom
we spoke of, or whome we spokeC and is some time used in composition after a verb, but
bein" severed from the verb by the adverb, not, or by an accusative case, may be said to be
set in apposition adverbiallyT <Bullokar, .50/H 49=. 'irst of all, it is interestin" to observe
that Bullokar takes notice of the fact that prepositions can occur postpostively, an important
syntactic property commonly disre"arded by later "rammarians. *!cept for syntactic
definition, Bullokar focuses on morpholo"ical aspect of prepositions as well. Ee considers
as prepositions those items which "overn accusative case, otherwise, he re"ards them as
adverbs. ? uniBue feature of his work is that in his analysis, the prepositions "p, do$n, in,
before, beneath, behynd, beyond, "nder, n%r and nih can form their respective comparative
and superlative de"rees, and in this way form ad>ectives or adverbialsH
up U uper, upermostVupmost
down U downer, downermostVdownmost
in U iner, inermostVinmost
before U former, foremost
beneath U n@ther, n@thermost
behynd U hynder, hyndermostVhyndmost
beyond U yonderer, yondermostVyondmost
under U undermost
n@r U n@rer, ne!t
nih U niher, ne!t
<Bullokar, .50/H 40%46=
Bullokar;s "rammar did not miss word%formative aspect of *n"lish prepositions as well. Ee
notes that some prepositions can take the suffi! Mward, e.". in$ard, o"t$ard, thus creatin"
ad>ectives which can be further modified by addin" Mly into adverbs, e.". in$ardly. To
a present%day speaker of *n"lish, affi!ation to prepostions mi"ht seem odd. Aevertheless,
especially durin" the (iddle *n"lish period, the suffi! M$ard really occurred in
combinations with some prepositions <cf. (ustano>a .6/2, 42-=. ?s far as semantics is
.9
concerned, Bullokar notices that prepositions compounded before a verb commonly chan"e
the meanin" of a respective verb while prepositions compounded after a verb retain its
proper si"nification. To sum up, as is clear from the above mentioned data, the first *n"lish
"rammar provides a relatively thorou"h treatment of prepositions, studyin" them on
morpholo"ical, syntactic and semantic level. The followin" decades, and the "rammars they
produced, devoted considerably less space to the study of prepositions and most of them, as
we have already mentioned, were stron"ly influenced by the definitions from 1atin
"rammars.
n The *n"lish ?ccidence , prepositions are defined simply as a part of speech
"ndeclined- most commonly set before the $ords $hich they go)ern <+oole, ./4/H .6=.
3ubseBuently, +oole provides the reader with a classification of prepositions into three
basic "roups. Those, which "overn accusative, those which "overn ablative and those
which "overn both accusative and ablative. ? similar definition can be found in :harton;s
"rammarH Q? +reposition is a part of speech set before other partsC either in ?pposition, or
#ompositionT <:harton, ./54H 50=. ?nother definition stron"ly influenced by 1atin
"rammatical tradition is that of Aewton;sH Q? +reposition is a word commonly set before
other +arts of 3peech, either in ?pposition W...X or in #ompositionT <Aewton, .//6H 5.=.
? very va"ue definition can be found in a "rammar by (iY"eH Q? +reposition is a :ord
that e!preses some #ircumstance or other of the Aoun. <(iY"e, ./00H 9=. n his
description, (iY"e observes that Q?lthou"h the +repositions took that Aame from their
bein" commonly placed before Aouns, yet in *n"lish they are often placed at the end of
a 3entenceT <(iY"e, ./00H 02=. (ie"e is therefore the second author after Bullokar to
e!plicitly notice the possiblity of postposition. ?s he puts it, the postposition takes place
especially after the pronouns $ho and $hat. ?s far as the relation of the verb and
preposition is concerned, (iY"e claims that when preceded by a preposition, the verb
makes one compound word with it, while when used after the verb, it is distinct from it.
'inally, (iY"e deals with the ellipsis of prepositions which, accordin" to his observations,
take place when two substantives are transposed <e.". lory of od U od/s lory=, after
some verbs <e.". send it me, bring it me=, before the word home <e.". to go home= and in
some fi!ed e!pressions <e.". a ho"se forty foot high instead of a 0o"se to the height of
forty foot=. #ases when prepositions are not followed by a noun are considered as an
.0
adverbial use. n ?ickin;s "rammar, no chapter is dedicated specifically to prepositions,
and their definition is also Buite simpleH Q? +reposition is a part of 3peech, which is
commonly set before other parts of 3peech, either in ?pposition, as of me, to 8odH or else
in #omposition as, toward, upward, forwardT <?ickin, ./6-H 5%/=. ?nother simple
definitions of prepositions can be found in an anonymous "rammar of .92/, where we read
that Q? +reposition is a +art of 3peech set before other :ordsT <?nonym, .92/H .9= and in
Turner;s "rammarH Q? +reposition is a :ord set before other :ords, either to "overn them
W...X or else in #omposition with themT <Turner, .9.2H -5=.
n Bri"htland and 8ildon;s "rammar, we can discern the first hints of prepositions
considered as functions e!pressin" relations amon" thin"s. Q+repositions, or 'oreplaced
:ords, were invented W...X to show the ,elations, that Thin"s have to one anotherT
<Bri"htland and 8ildon, .9..H ..9=. The first truly systematic treatment of *n"lish
prepositions can be found in 8reenwood;s +ractical *n"lish 8rammar . Q? +reposition is
a +art of 3peech, which bein" added to any other +arts of 3peech, serves to mark or si"nify
their 3tate or ,eference to each otherT <8reenwood, .9..H 9.=. 8reenwood subseBuently
clarifies that by usin" the word added , he wants to stress that prepositions are used before
as well as after a word. Ee names nouns, pronouns, verbs, participles, article and adverbs as
those parts of speech which can be preceded by a preposition. 7n the followin" pa"e, he
paraphrases his previous definition, statin" that Q? +reposition is a :ord added to other
:ords, to show the ,espect, or ,elation one Thin" has to anotherT <8reenwood, .9..H 92=,
concludin" that all relations e!pressed in 8reek or 1atin partly by a diversity of cases and
partly by prepositions, are e!pressed e!clusively by prepositions in *n"lish. 'inally,
8reenwood provides the reader with a first detailed empirical account of syntactic and
semantic properties of selected *n"lish prepositions.
? new approach to the study of prepositions can easily be noticed in the definition
by (aittaire. Q<The term preposition= si"nifies a word placed before, and therefore
"overnin" and reBuirin" another to followW...X ? +reposition is a +article, which Bualifies
and e!plains the si"nification of some part of speech, by "oin" before a word, which it
"overns or brin"s into the clause or sentenceW...X The +reposition has <no si"nification=
without the word which it precedes, and to which it is in the nature of a si"nT <(aittaire,
.9.2H 62%6-=. (aittaire;s ori"inality rests in the fact that he considers prepositions to be
.6
synsemantic particles that only contribute to the meanin"s of the word they "overn. n this
way, he introduces to his definition semantic aspect. ?mon" other "rammars from this
period, let us mention the followin" definitions of prepositionsH
Qt is a :ord set before another, either separate from it, or, >oined to itT <*ntick, .920H 25=.
Q+reposition is an ndeclinable that "overns the Aouns that follow it. t serves to modify or
circumstantiate the AounT <Duncan, .9-.H 4-=.
Q? +reposition is a +art of 3peech set before other :ords, and shews the ,elation that the
:ord followin" it has to some :ord before itT <Barker, .9--IH 22%2-=.
? careful reader can detect the failures of these definitions like mer"in" the concept of
preposition with that of a prefi!, ne"lectin" the possible postposition or narrowin" one;s
attention to the relation between prepositions and nouns only. These were most commonly
mistakes of "rammarians influenced by 1atin tradition. 'rom time to time, a more
elaborated definition occuredH
Q+repositions, or 'oreplaced :ords, are either little :ords >oyned with other :ords in
#ompositionC or such as bein" put betwi!t other :ords, <chiefly Aames= shew their relation
to each other, in afinity, distance, or some other casual circumstance. 3ome +repositions are
>oined in #omposition W...X 7r bein" put between :ords they shew the relation they stand in
to each other, usually called #aseT <#ollyer, .9-5H 42=
?n anonymous .9-/ "rammar focuses on a contrastive definitionH Q? +reposition is a +art
of 3peech set before other :ord before it W...X n the 1atin 8rammar, they are usually
ranked under these two Eeads, vi$. +repositions in ?pposition, and +repositions in
#omposition W...X the *n"lish Ton"ue W...X not only applies them to the same uses and ends
that the 1atin Ton"ue dothC but also to supply that which the 1atin Ton"ue does another
way, vi$. in makin" up the several #ases of Aouns, which the 1atins do by different
22
Terminations or *ndin"s thereof T <?nonym, .9-/H /9%/6=. 7ther authorative "rammars of
this period include "rammars of 3a!on and +riestleyH
Q? +reposition W...X is a :ord set before othersC either to "overn them... or else in
#omposition with themW...X +repositions "overn Aouns, Zc. and bein" placed before them,
shew the +roduction, (otion or 3ituation of Thin"sT <3a!on, .9-9H 95=.
Q? +reposition is a word that e!presseth the relation that one word hath to anotherT
<+riestley, .9/.H 20=.
? year after the publication of +riestley;s work, one of the most influential
"rammars of *n"lish which started the a"e of prescriptive "rammars was written by 1owth.
1owth;s "rammar became one of the most popular *n"lish "rammars and went throu"h
over 22 editions in decades followin" publication. 1owth;s definition summari$es the best
of the precedin" ones plus introduces etymolo"ical note on their semantic ori"in accordin"
to which, the ori"inal function of prepositions is to e!press place relations, which were later
widened to other relations. To put it in his own words, Q+repositions, so called because they
are commonly put before the words to which they are applied, serve to connect words with
one another, and to show the relation between them. 7ne "reat use of +repositions in
*n"lish, is to e!press those relations which in some lan"ua"es are chiefly marked by #ases,
or the different endin"s of the Aoun. (ost +repositions ori"inally denote the relation of
+lace, and have been thence transferred to denote by similitude other relationsT <1owth,
.9/2H 6.%62=.
*. 3 T$e 13t$ )et,r'
By the end of the ei"hteenth century, more than 292 "rammatical works on *n"lish
have been published <8neuss, .66/H 20=. This number multiplied enormously durin" the
nineteenth century up to ., 6-2 titles listed by 8orlach <8orlach, .660=. ?t the end of the
ei"hteenth century and in the first half of the nineteenth century, some important "rammars
were published in ?merica, represented mainly by the work of :ebster, (urrey, #obbett
and Brown. 7ne of the first "rammars in ?merica was :ebster;s two volume 8rammatical
nstitute . n the second volume, :ebster defines prepositions as Qwords set before nouns
and pronouns to show their relation to other wordsT <:ebster, .904H /4=. Ee distin"uishes
2.
two sorts of prepositions % separable, which can stand alone, and, inseparable, which are
used only in connection with other words and Qcommonly "ive a new meanin" to the wordT
<:ebster, .904H /5=. ?ccordin" to (urray, Qa preposition is a word set chiefly before nouns
or pronouns, to connect them with other words, and to show their relation to those wordsT
<(urray, .965H 99=. 3imilarly as :ebster, he divides prepositions into separable and
inseparable. QThe separable prepositions are those which may be used separate from other
words W...X 3ome of these are sometimes con>oined with other words W...X The inseparable
prepositions are used only in the composition of wordsT <(urray, .965H 99=. #obbett states
that prepositions Qare called +repositions from two 1atin words, meanin" before and placeC
and this name is "iven them because they are in most cases placed before Aouns and
+ronounsT <#obbett, .0.6H 4.=. ?lthou"h the morpholo"ical part of #obbett;s "rammar
deals mainly with etymolo"ical aspects of particular parts of speech, when it comes to
prepositions and their history, #obbett claims that Qit is useless to attempt to "o into curious
inBuiries as to the ori"in of prepositions. They never chan"e their endin"sC they are always
written in the same manner. Their use is the main thin" to be consideredT <#obbett, .0.6H
94=. n 8oold Brown;s "rammar, we can find the followin" definitionH Q? preposition is
a word used to e!press some relation of different thin"s or thou"hts to each other, and is
"enerally placed before a noun or a pronounT <Brown, .02-H 62=.
?s for the British "rammars of the .6th century, an (ichael notes that Qmost
"rammars of *n"lish published in Britain durin" the nineteenth century are dull W...X They
are dull, especially durin" the second half of the century, because they impose on the
lan"ua"e a stiflin" form of analysisT <(ichael, .66.H ..=. Aevertheless, (urray;s "rammar
of .965 became particularly popular even in the followin" century with many editions and
abrid"ements published in the &3? as well as in Britain. t can therefore be considered as
one of the most influential "rammars of the nineteenth century. ?nother influential
"rammar by Aesfield defines preposition as Qa word placed before a noun or noun%
eBuivalent to show in what relation the person or thin" denoted thereby stands to somethin"
elseT <Aesfield, .060V.646H 6-=. Aesfield introduces the term 7b>ect for what will later be
called prepositional complement and names nouns, pronouns, adverbs, infinitives, phrases
and clauses as possible ob>ects to a preposition. ? special cate"ory distin"uished in his
"rammar are disg"ised prepositions which can be illustrated on an e!ample of the
22
preposition of that can be chan"ed into dis"uised preposition o, as in fo"r o/cloc(, 1ac( o
/latern etc., or the preposition on bein" chan"ed into a in 2o"r sells at tenpence a po"nd,
which, as Aesfield states, can sometimes be falsely identified as an indefinite article. n the
Qidiom and constructionT section, Aesfield provides the reader with e!amples of nouns,
ad>ectives, participles, verbs and adverbs which are followed by prepositions on a purely
idiomatic "rounds. n addition to simpler prepositions, he also distin"uishes participial
prepositions that are of participial or ad>ectival ori"in.
*. * T$e 24t$ )et,r'
?s phonolo"y became a full%fled"ed field, scholars started to write a phonolo"ically
focused "rammars. n his ? 8rammar of 3poken *n"lish , +almer includes a description
of intonation patterns of *n"lish with all the e!ample words and sentences "iven in
phonemic transcription. ?s for prepositions, he firstly focuses attention on the fact that
certain prepositions have both their stron" and weak formsH
stron" form weak form
@t [t
bai b[
f [ f[
fr m fr[m
v [v, v, [, [f, f
tuH t[, tu
intuH int[, intu
<+almer, .624H ..=
Ee then adds that stron" forms are used when the preposition is isolated, when it is
stressed, when it occurs at the end of a sentence or breath "roup, when not followed
immediately by an ob>ect or "enerally when followed by an unstressed pronoun. Ee also
delineates a cate"ory of "roup%prepositions which comprise of ?dverbM+reposition, ?dverb
M Aoun M +reposition or +reposition M Aoun M +reposition constructions. The followin"
seBuence is dedicated to the function of *n"lish +repositions which is to form <to"ether
with a followin" noun, noun%"roup or pronoun= ?dverbial and ?d>ectival +hrases of
2-
various kinds. ?s for synta!, +almer states that the normal position of the preposition Qis in
front of the ob>ect that it "overns. :hen the ob>ect "overned by a preposition is an
interro"ative, or connective words, and is conseBuently shifted to the be"innin" of the
sentence, the preposition does not "enerally accompany it, but retains the place it would
occupy if the ob>ect were not so shiftedT <+almer, .624H .66=.
#urme, in the second volume of his three%volume "rammar of *n"lish writes that
Qa preposition is a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it "overns
and another word, which may be a verb, an ad>ective, or another noun or pronounT <#urme,
.6-5H 09=. #urme introduces the term prepositional unit which can be understood as
comple! consistin" of a preposition M prepositional ob>ect. +repositional unit can be of two
kinds. :here the ob>ect of the preposition is a sin"le word, the prepositional unit is
a prepositional phrase. :here the ob>ect of the preposition is a clause, the prepositional unit
is a prepositional clause. 3yntactically, #urme states that the prepositional unit can be
employed as an adverbial, as an ob>ect, or as an ad>ective element in the predicative and the
attributive relation. #urme also mentions a special class of prepositions which he calls
inflectional prepositions. ?s he puts it, inflectional prepositions Qhave often lost a "ood deal
of their ori"inal concrete meanin" and are no lon"er felt as prepositions, for they have
developed into inflectional particles which indicate definite "rammatical relations, often
takin" the place of old inflectional endin"sT <#urme, .6-5H 6.=. This means that since the
nouns and ad>ectives lost their old inflectional endin"s, we often employ the preposition to
to indicate the dative relation and the preposition of to indicate the "enitive relation. n case
of verbs, inflectional preposition standin" behind a "iven verb serves to convert intransitive
verbs into transitive.
There are several "rammars of the most recent decades which did not devote
a sin"le chapter to the study of prepositions, and do not provide us with their definitions
neither. These include Pandvoort;s Eandbook of *n"lish 8rammar or Oespersen;s seven
volume (odern *n"lish 8rammar on Eistorical +rinciples , )ruisin"a and *rades;s two
volume *n"lish 8rammar as well as +outsma;s 8rammar of 1ate (odern *n"lish .
(oreover, Oespersen in his +hilosophy of 8rammar refuses to acknowled"e prepositions
as a separate word class su""estin" to treat them alon"side with adverbs and con>unctions
as a sin"le word class of particles instead <Oespersen, .625H 09=. 7n the other hand,
24
3chibsbye;s Q(odern *n"lish 8rammar with an ?ppendi! on 3emantically ,elated
+repositionsT, ori"inally published in Danish in .659, devotes ninety pa"es to the study of
prepositions, with a special focus on their semantics.
The renewed attention to prepositions stems from an endeavour to write
a comprehensive synchronic description of *n"lish "rammar, which resulted in the
publication of The #omprehensive 8rammar of *n"lish 1an"ua"e by Luirk, 8reenbaum,
1eech and 3vartvik. 7ne of the most authoritative 22th century "rammars, it was preceded
and followed by certain less comprehensive volumes, however, for the sake of puttin"
limits to the present chapter, we will restrict our attention only to the main volume.
2
+repositions are here "enerally defined as items e!pressin" Qa relation between two entities,
one bein" that represented by the prepositional complement, the other by another part of the
sentenceT <Luirk et al., .605H /59=. The authors differentiate between central prepositions
and mar"inal prepositions. #entral prepositions are defined ne"atively as items that cannot
have as a complement a that%clause, an infinitive clause, or a sub>ective%case form of
a personal pronoun. (ar"inal are those which behave in many ways like prepositions,
althou"h they have affinities with other word classes such as verbs or ad>ectives, e.". bar,
barring, excepting, excl"ding, sa)e, concerning etc.
(orpholo"ically, they make a differentiation between simple and comple!
prepositions. 3imple prepositions consist of one word only and are most freBuent. They are
further subdivided accordin" to phonolo"ical criteria into monosyllabic and polysyllabic.
#omple! prepositions are subdivided into two% and three%word seBuences. 3yntactically, the
structure of prepositional phrase is defined as a seBuence of preposition M prepositional
complement. The prepositional complement is most often reali$ed by a noun phrase,
a nominal wh%clause, or a nominal %in" clause. ?mon" the syntactic functions of
prepositional phrases, the followin" are mentionedH
a. postmodifier in a noun phrase
b. adverbial
c. complementation of a verb
d. complementation of an ad>ective
2
This is also the case of Euddleston and +ullum;s "rammars.
25
?s far as the meanin" of prepositions in concerned, the authors make a note that Qso varied
are prepositional meanin"s that no more than a presentation of the most notable semantic
similarities and contrasts can be attemptedT <Luirk et al., .605H 59-=. n a very "eneral
sense, their semantic framework can be sketched as followsH
a. prepositions e!pressin" time relations
<positionH point, periodC durationH startin" point, period, terminal point=
b. prepositions e!pressin" space relations
<positionH point, line, surface, areaC movementH direction, destination=
c. prepositions e!pressin" the causeVpurpose spectrum
<cause, reason, motive, purpose, destination, tar"et=
d. prepositions e!pressin" the meansVa"entive spectrum
<manner, means, instrument, a"entive, stimulus=
e. prepositions e!pressin" accompaniment
f. prepositions e!pressin" support and opposition
". other prepositional meanin"s
<concession, respect, e!ception, addition, ne"ative condition=
Biber et al. <.666= define prepositions as Qlinks which introduce prepositional phrasesT
<Biber et al., .666H 94=. #onseBuently, they draw a distinction between free v. bound
prepositions. Q'ree prepositions have an independent meanin"C the choice of preposition is
not dependent upon any specific words in the conte!t. n contrast, bound prepositions often
have little independent meanin", and the choice of the preposition depends upon some other
word <often the precedin" verb=T <Biber et al., .666H 94=. 'ormally, they differentiate
betweem simple prepositions and comple! prepositions which can be further subdivided
into two%word prepositions, three%word prepositions and four%word prepositions. 7ther
seBuences are considered free variations.
?nother "reat milestone of *n"lish "rammar writin" was undoubtedly the publication
of The #ambrid"e 8rammar of the *n"lish lan"ua"e by Euddleston and +ullum. n their
view, prepositions can be "enerally defined as Qa relatively closed "rammatically distinct
class of words whose most central members characteristically e!press spatial relations or
serve to mark various syntactic functions and semantic rolesT <Euddleston and +ullum,
2222H /2-=. 3yntactically, prepositions are Qheads of phrases % phrases comparable to those
2/
headed by verbs, nouns, ad>ectives, and adverbs, and containin" dependents of many
different sortsT <Euddleston and +ullum, 2222H 560=. n Euddleston and +ullum;s view,
similarly as ?d>+s, A+s and V+s, the prepositional phrase can also be premodifiedH
3he died Wtwo years after their divorceX.
<Euddleston and +ullum, 2222H 566=
By contrast, traditional "rammars like Luirk et al. <.605= would consider this case as
a separate adverbial reali$ed by a A+. 'urthermore, accordin" to Euddleston and +ullum,
prepositional phrase can stand on its own even without a prepositional complementH
haven;t seen Wher since the warX.
haven;t seen her WsinceX.
<Euddleston and +ullum, 2222H /22=
?"ain, in Luirk et al. <.605=, since from the second sentence would be considered as an
adverb. Euddleson and +ullum name nouns, pronouns, embedded ++s, A+s, ?dv+s, ?d>+s,
interro"ative and declarative clauses as items which can possibly follow a preposition. n
mentionin" declarative clauses, they once a"ain diver"e from the traditional "rammar. Their
view is sli"htly different in that the preposition cate"ory includes all of the subordinatin"
con>unctions of traditional "rammar, with the e!ception of $hether, if <when eBuivalent to
$hether= and that when it introduces a subordinate clause. ?n absolutely new distinction
made by Euddleston and +ullum is that of "rammaticised v. non%"rammaticised uses of
prepositions. n "rammaticised use, Qthe preposition has no identifiable meanin"
independent of the "rammatical construction in which it occurT <Euddleston and +ullum,
2222H /2.=.
Ee was interviewed by the police.
They were mournin" the death of their kin".
\ou look very pleased with yourself.
<Euddleston and +ullum, 2222H /2.=
29
7n the other hand, in non%"rammaticised use, prepositions have an identifiable meanin" on
their ownH
left the parcel by the back%door.
This is of little importance.
Ee;s with ?n"ela.
<Euddleston and +ullum, 2222H /2.=
The last "rammar to be mentioned here is 7!ford (odern *n"lish 8rammar written by
contemporary leadin" "rammarian Bas ?arts and published in 22... ?ccordin" to ?arts,
Qprepositions function as the Eeads of prepositional phrases <++s=. They are uninflected,
usually short words which often e!press spatial meanin"s which can be literal <in the bo!,
near the school, on the desk= or fi"urative <in love, beyond belief, beneath contempt=. 7ther
meanin"s are non%spatial and abstract, as in the phrases for your benefit, the first of OulyT
<?arts, 22..H94=. (orpholo"ically, ?arts accepts the traditional division into simple,
compound and comple! prepositions. Eowever, he offers a relatively new syntactic division
of prepositions into transitive and intransitive ones. Transitive prepositions take
a #oplement. They can be further subdivided into re"ular prepositions which take A+, ?d>+,
?dv+, or ++ as #omplement, and con>unctive prepositions which take a clause as
#omplement. 'or a "reater scrutiny, ?arts proposes to call those transitive prepositions
which follow their #omplement postpositions and transitive prepositions which take the
same form as %in" participles or %ed participles de)erbal prepositions.
*. / Co)%,sio
To sum up, all the definitions and approaches to *n"lish prepositions that appeared
throu"hout more than 422 years of *n"lish "rammatical tradition were relatively uniform.
Eowever, we can differentiate the followin" tendencies. *specially in the first decades of
*n"lish "rammar writin", there was a minority of "rammarias like Eume, Oonson, or 'isher,
who did not acknowled"e in their works that prepositions constitute a word class in its own
ri"ht. 7ther "rammarians acknowled"ed the traditional status of a preposition as a separate
word class, althou"h not everyone considered them important enou"h to deal with them in
their "rammars. 8enerally, the history of *n"lish "rammar writin" with re"ard to
20
prepositions can be seen as one of relative sta"nation, e!ceptionally interrupted by authors
like Bullokar, (ie"e, (aittaire, Bri"htland, 8reenwood or 1owth. The relative ne"li"ence
of prepositions culminated in the first half of the twentieth century, when most of the
"rammarians completely omitted sections on prepositions in their works. t was only in the
second half of the twentieth century, that the situation radically chan"ed and since then,
"rammarians like 3chibsbye, Luirk, 8reenbaum, 1eech, 3vartvik, Euddleston, +ullum or
?arts introduced scientifically precise definitions and developed detailed and elaborate
frameworks for their description, which in most cases reflect contemporary developments
in theoretical lin"uistics.
/. OLD ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS
/.1 INDO5EUROPEAN STRATUM
n chapter - of this thesis, we have already dealt with prepositions from a broader lin"uistic
perspective. n the succeedin" pa"es, individual prepositions will be studied under closer
scrutiny, with special reference to their etymolo"ical back"round and corpus findin"s.
:ith respect to the "enetic classification of lan"ua"es, *n"lish belon"s to the family of
ndo%*uropean lan"ua"es. The common ancestor of lan"ua"es belon"in" to this "roup is
+roto%ndo%*uropean. :e have no written record of this common ancestor, however, by
a comparison of its descandant lan"ua"es, lin"uists can reconstruct its hypothetical form.
The datin" and location of +roto%ndo%*uropean is in many respects controversial, but the
most widely held opinion dates the protolan"ua"e between -522 and 2522 B#* with the
centre in the area north of the Black and #aspian seas from which it be"an to spread and
diversify <Bau"h and #able, 2222H -9=. ?s far as prepositions are concerned, +roto%ndo%
*uropean stratum forms the oldest layer of prepositions that can be identified in the 7ld
*n"lish system. These most commonly include monosyllabic prepositions which, accordin"
to most historical lin"uists, developed in +roto%ndo%*uropean from adverbs. The followin"
lines present those ndo%*uropean prepositions, which survived in 7ld *n"lish. The survey
of co"nates is based on a paper by Blaek <Blaek, 222.=.
26
6.ter
The prepositions comes from the ndo%*uropean root ]apoter%oVi. The co"nates include 7ld
ndian apataram, 7ld +ersian apataram, ?rmenian vayr, 8reek ^_`abc`, #ornish ater,
8othic aftaro, 7ld ,unic after, 7ld Ei"h 8erman after, 7ld 3a!on aftar, 7ld 'risian efter,
7ld celandic eptir or 7ld Aorse eptir. The primary meanin" of this preposition overlaps
with the primary meanin" of +resent%day *n"lish after and 1atin post. The preposition
"overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
onne Ky ylcan d@"e Ke hi hine to K@m ade beran wyllaJ Konne tod@laJ hi his feoh K@t
K@r to lafe biJ @fter K@m "edrynce and K@m ple an on fif oJJe sy! hwylum on ma swa
swa K@s feos andefn biJ.
<Eistoria *cclesiastica 8entis ?n"lorum, Book V, #hapter ddV=
?ccusativeH
efter Jas uutedlice da"as acende WfvelfX "eb@r wif his and "ede"elde hia moneJum fifo
cuoeJ.
<?ldred % Aew Testament % 1indisfarne 8ospels=
The most freBuent ortho"raphic variant was %fter, other mar"inal variants include efter,
aftera, afterran and afterre. ?ccordin" to the corpus data, the use of this preposition has
risen 2.25 F after .252.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 292 /-- -2.
,ate 2.00 F 2.5. F 4.9/ F
6t
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]ad. The co"nates include
+hry"ian gh%hgija, (acedonian ^h%hgk clmno, 1atin ad, 7scan a3, 8aulish ad%, &mbrian
%a4, :elsh ag, 7ld rish ad%, 8othic at, 7ld celandic at, 7ld 3a!on at, 7ld Ei"h 8erman
a3, 7ld Aorse at and 7ld 'risian et. The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
-2
Ais nan winter swa stearc K@t ic dyrre @t ham lutian for e"e hlafordes mines.
<?elfric;s #olloBuy=
?ccusativeH
?nd i! scipu "efen"un, and Ka oKre "efliemdonC and h@Kne men @rest ofer winter s@tonC
and Ky ilcan "eare cuom feorJe healfhund scipa on TemesemuKan, and br@con
#ontwarabur", and 1undenbur", and "efliemdon Beorhtwulf (iercna cynin" mid his
fierde, and foron Ka suK ofer Temese on 3uKri"e, and him "efeaht wiK @Kelwulf cynin" and
@Kelbald his sunu @t ?clea mid :est 3ea!na fierde, and K@r K@t m@ste w@l "eslo"on on
h@tKnum heri"e Ke we sec"an hierdon oK Kisne ondweardan d@", and K@r si"e namon.
<#hronicle (3 ? *arly=
The ortho"raphy of this preposition was relatively stable and so was its rate of occurence
durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish at and 1atin ap"d.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 242 /.9 .6-
,ate 2.5/ F 2.45 F 2.0/ F
-e
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]ob i V]b i . The co"nates include
7ld ndian abh5, ?vestan aib6Vai7iVa)iVaoi, 7ld +ersian abiy, 3o"dian 7y8, )hotanese by8, I
1atin ob, 8othic bi, 7ld Ei"h 8erman biVb6, 7ld #hurch 3lavonic ob9Vob:. The preposition
"overned dativeH
?nd be suKan him and be eastan sindon B@"ware se d@l mon ,e"ensbur" h@ttC and ryhte
be eastan him sindon B@me and eastnorK sindon Kyrin"asC and be norKan him sindon
*aldsea!an and be norKanwestan him sindon 'risan.
<Eistoriarum adversum pa"anos libri V, The 8eo"raphy of #entral *urope=
-.
The rate of occurence of this preposition durin" the 7ld *n"lish period was relatively
stable. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish by and 1atin ab.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 225 5-0 2/9
,ate 2.-0 F 2..- F -.6/ F
.or!
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]prr;. The co"nates include 7ld
ndian p"r;, ?vestan par;Vpara, 7ld +ersian par;Vparanam, +ersian paran, Eittite
parranda, I?rmenian ar, 8reek _gc^V_^cg, 1atin proVprae, ?eolic _^cn, ?lbanian para,
8othic fa<ra, 7ld Ei"h 8erman fora, 7ld 3a!on fora, 7ld 'risian fara. The form for is
assumed to represent an apocopated form of fora. ts co"nates in 8ermanic lan"ua"es are
7'ris for, 73 for, 7E8 for, and 8oth fa"r. The preposition "overned dative, accusative
and instrumentalH
DativeH
Aelle ic nateshwon awyr"ean Ka eorKan heononforK for mannum.
<8enesis, The 'lood=
?ccusativeH
Nonne "ehyreJ hwylc, hw@t hyra hy"e seceJI ?nd Ju hi, drihten, dest deope to bysmreC
nafast Ku for awiht ealle Keoda. <The (etrical +salms of the +aris +salter=
nstrumentalH
?c mycel "eKolode Kurh his mildheortnesse #rist for ure Kearfe Ka he let hine sylfne bindan
and swin"an and on rode ahon and him @"Jer Kurhdrifan mid isenum n@"lum "e fet "e
handa and swa to deaJe acwellan.
<:ulfstan;s Eomilies=
The rate of occurence was relatively stable and the prototypical meanin" of this preposition
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish for and 1atin pro.
-2
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 554 .,245 -4-
,ate 5.09 F 4..5 F 5.26 F
i
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]enV]eniV]ni%. The co"nates
include 7ld ndian =n6(a%, ?vestan aini(a%, Poroastrian%+ahlavi ;n6(, +ersian pe>-;n6,
)hotanese 6?aV6?a(a, Eittite in%Vne%Vni%, 1ydian @n%, ?rmenian iVy, (acedonian AB, 8reek
CBVABVCBA, onian, ?ttic and 1esbian CAD, #retan CBD, ?lbanian n%, (essapian in, 7ld 1atin en
and 1atin in, 7scan en, &mbrian en%V%en, &mbrian %e&m', 8aulish en%Vin%, 7ld :elsh and
7ld Breton enVin, #ornish and Breton en, :elsh yn, 7ld rish in%, #eltic en&i', 8othic in,
7ld celandic 5, 7ld 3a!on in, 7ld Ei"h 8erman in, 7ld +russian en, 1ithuanian in&t'VE,
1atvian ie%, 7ld #hurch 3lavonic )pV):n%, Tocharian ?B y&n'%, Tocharian B in%. The
prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%Day *n"lish in or on
as well as 1atin in. The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
'orKon ic leofra "ehwone l@ran wille K@t he ne a"@le "@stes Kearfe, ne on "ylp "eote,
Kenden "od wille K@t he her in worulde wunian mote, somed siKian sawel in lice, in Kam
"@sthofe.
<#ynewulf % #hrist=
?ccusativeH
Ee "efor Ka he w@s on 1ddV "eara, ond he w@s @ryst bebyr"ed in Bethania ac his ban
w@ron eft al@ded Kanon on #onstantines da"um K@s caseres in Ka ceastre #onstantinopili.
<7ld *n"lish (artyrolo"y=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include in and inn. The rate of occurence
decreased steadily durin" the 7ld *n"lish period from .2.29 F to 2.4. F. This can be
e!plained by the fact that on started to replaced in in positions, where they were formerly
interchan"eable. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish in or on as well as 1atin in.
7ld *n"lish 7ld *n"lish 7ld *n"lish
--
<922 % 652= <652 % .252= <.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 6/0 2, .-4 ./4
,ate .2.29 F 0.40 F 2.4. F
#i"
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]med i . The co"nates include
7ld ndian m=dhya, ?vestan maidiia%VmaiFiia%VmaiFii;na, 3hu"ni m6F, 7ssetic m6d%Vmed%,
+ersian miy;n, +arthian md n yy , 3o"dian my n y , )hotanese may;na%, ?rmenian mGH, 8reek
mbqqnr, ?ttic mbqnr, 1atin medi"s, 7scan mefia5Vmessimas, 8aulish medio%, 7ld rish mid%,
(iddle rish mide, (iddle :elsh my$nVmei-ia", :elsh me$n, 8othic midHis, 7ld celandic
miIr, 7ld Ei"h 8erman mitti, 7ld +rusian median, 1atvian meJs, 1ithuanian m@dJias, 7ld
#hurch 3lavonic meJd", Tocharian ? mKcrim, Tocharian B omotr"n??aise. The preposition
"overned dative, accusative and instrumentalH
DativeH
Ee cw@JH 3ur"et "ens contra "entem, et reliBua. J@t is on *n"lisc, upp r@saJ Keoda, he
cw@J, Z wiJerr@de weorKaJ Z hetelice winnaJ Z sacaJ heom betweonan for Jam unrihte
Ke to wide wyrJ mid mannum on eorJan.
<:ulfstan;s Eomilies=
?ccusativeH
Au "e sweotule "eseoJ soJne dryhten on swe"l faranC si"ores a"end wile up heonan eard
"esti"an, @Kelin"a ord, mid Kas en"la "edryht, ealra folca fruma, f@der eKelstoll.
<#ynewulf % #hrist=
nstrumentalH
*ac we cweJaJ, K@t mon mote mid his hlaforde feohtan orwi"e, "if mon on Jone hlaford
fiohteC swa mot se hlaford mid Ky men feohtan.
<?lfred;s ntroduction to 1aws=
The rate of its occurence was relatively stable. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition
overlaps with +resent%day *n"lish $ith and 1atin c"m.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .,2-9 2,29/ /9.
,ate ...22 F 0.25 F 6.65 F
-4
o.
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]apo. #o"nates in other
lan"ua"es include 7ld ndian =pa, 7ld +ersian apa, )hotanese pa8Vpaiya, +ashto ba8,
Eittite appaVappan, 1uwian appa&n', Eiero"lyphic 1uwian apa<n=, 1ycian ep?Vep?te,
?rmenian )%, +hry"ian ap%, 8reek LMNVOMP, ?rcadian, #ypriote and 1esbian OMQ,
(acedonian OM%VO7%, ?lbanian prapR, (essapian apa, 1atin abVabs, 7ld ndian =)rn S orVapa,
&mbrian ap-ehrte, 8othic af, 7ld ,unic af%, 7ld celandic af, 7ld 3a!on af, 7ld Ei"h
8erman abaVab%, 7ld 'risian ofVafVofe, 7ld Aorse af. The preposition "overned dativeH
DativeH
?nd he ar@rde an weofod 8ode and "enam of eallum Kam cl@num nytenum and cl@num
fu elum and "eoffrode 8ode lac on Kam weofode.
<8enesis, The 'lood=
ts rate of occurence has risen -.96 F durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish of and 1atin de.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2./ .,.4- 4.2
,ate 2.26 F 4.54 F /.20 F
o.er
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]uper<i=V]upsr<i=. The co"nates
include 7ld ndian "p=ri, ?vestan "pairi, 7ld +ersian "pariy, )hotanese )6ra, Poroastrian%
+ahlavi apar, +ersian bar, ?rmenian i )erVi )eray, 8reek BMCT, 8aulish "er%, :elsh
g$ar%Vgor, #ornish gor%, Breton go"r%, 7ld rish forVfor%, 8othic "far, 7ld celandic yfir,
7ld Ei"h 8erman "bir, 7ld 'risian o)er, 7ld Aorse yfir. t "overned dative and accusativeH
Dative
:ite nu forJi "if hit w@re rihtlice emniht on (arian m@ssed@", K@t se d@" ne "elumpe
n@fre ofer Jam easterd@"e, swa swa he foroft deJ.
-5
<?elfric;s De Temporibus ?nni=
?ccusativeH
Z J@t w@ter w@s fyftyne f@Jma deop ofer Ja heahstan duna.
<?elfric;s Treatise on the 7ld and Aew Testament=
The only ortho"raphic variant found in the corpus is ofer. ts rate of occurence was
relatively stable and the prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of
+resent%Day *n"lish o)er and 1atin s"per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .66 /56 .20
,ate 2... F 2./. F ..06 F
o
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]an&U'. The co"nates include
7ld ndian =n", 7ld +ersian an"), ?vestan ana, 7ld +ersian an;, ?rmenian amin, 7ld
+hry"ian an%, onian%?ttic LBOVOBL, Doric, Boeotian, ?rcadian, #ypriote OB, 1esbian and
Thessalian NB, 1atin an-hGlU, &mbrian an-tent"Van-seriatoVanglar, 7ld rish an-dessVan-iar,
8othic ana, 7ld ,unic ana, 7ld celandic ;, 7ld 3a!on an&a', 7ld Ei"h 8erman an&a',
7ld 'risian anVon, 1ithuanian anVt&e', 1atvian nWo, 7ld +russian noVna, 7ld #hurch
3lavonic na, Tocharian ? es S K(, Tocharian B omS s S mem. t "overned dative, accusative and
instrumentalH
DativeH
Nonne hie swa beon be"rinode Konne ic ofslea hie on K@m ma!um.
<?elfric;s #olloBuy, The Eunter=
?ccusativeH
e"Jer he dyde, "e he e"esode Ja Je on unryht h@mdon, "e he liefde J@m Je hit forberan
ne meahton, forJ@m J@tte Ja Je "estondan ne meahton, "if hi afeallan scolden, J@t hi
afeollen on J@t hnesce bedd J@s "esinscipes, n@s on Ja heardan eorJan J@s
unryhth@mdes.
-/
<?lfred;s #ura +astoralis=
nstrumentalH
7n Ky ilcan d@"e sancte +eter "ehal"ode @rest cierecean on ,ome.
<(artyrolo"y=
The only ortho"raphic variant found in the corpus is on. The rate of occurence was,
contrary to that of in, on the increase since some of the interchan"eable functions of 7ld
*n"lish on and in were "radually adopted mainly by on. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps
with +resent%day *n"lish on and 1atin in.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words ., 045 5, //0 ., 92.
,ate .6.59 F 22.52 F 25.24 F
to
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]dGV]dU. The co"nates are I
8reek FX, (essapian de, 1atin dGVdU%, 'aliscan de, 7scan dat, 7ld rish d5VdoVd", 7ld
:elsh di, #ornish theVIe, Breton di, 8aulish di%, I7ld Ei"h 8erman 3;dalV3"o, 7ld 3a!on
tY, I8othic d", 1ithuanian do, 1atvian da, 7ld #hurch 3lavonic doVda. The preposition
"overned "enitive and dativeH
8enitiveH
ta ?pollonius K@t "ehyrde, he Kam "ehyrsumode and eode forJ mid Kam men oJ K@t he
becom to J@s cyn"es healle.
<?ppolonius of Tyre=
DativeH
tonne @rnaJ hy ealle toweard K@m feoC Jonne cymeJ se man se K@t swiftoste hors hafaJ
to K@m @restan d@le and to K@m m@stan, and swa @lc @fter oJrum, oK hit biJ eall
"enumenC and se nimJ Jonne l@stan d@l se nyhst J@m tune K@t feoh "e@rneJ.
<Eistoriarum adversum pa"anos libri V, The Voya"e of :ulfstan=
-9
ts rate of occurence has sli"htly increased after .252 what is a direct conseBuence of a drift
towards an analytic sta"e of *n"lish lin"uistic system. ?s a result, to started to be used as
an eBuivalent for dative case. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%Day
*n"lish to and 1atin ad.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words ., -56 -, 46/ ., ./4
,ate .4.42 F .-.06 F .9.29 F
7,r$
The preposition stems from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]ter%V]tr%. The co"nates include
7ld ndian tir=s, ?vestan tarZ%VtarU, 7ld +ersian ta[ra\, Poroastrian%+ahlavi tar, 7rmuri
tar, )hotanese tt6n", +ashto tar, ?rmenian )tar, 7ld rish tar, 7ld :elsh tr"i, (iddle
:elsh tr$yVdr$y, 7ld Breton tre, Breton and #ornish dre, 7ld Ei"ht 8erman d"rh, 8othic
a5rh, 7ld 'risian thr"ch, 1atin tr;ns, &mbrian trafVtrahaf, :elsh trosVtra%. t "overned
"enitive, dative and accusativeH
8enitiveH
8if he furJon Kurh Ka "ebedu "eh@led ne biJ, noti"e Konne se abbod cyrfes, and mid isene
Ka uncoJe aceorfe and fram K@re h@le ascyri"e, Kurh J@s apostoles mun"un"e, Ke Jus
cw@KH ?fyrraJ Kone yfelan fram eowC and eft he cwyJH 8if se "etreowleasa "ewite, he
"ewite, Kyl@s Ke an adli" sceap ealle heorde besmite.
<?ethelwold % The Benedictine ,ule=
DativeH
3eo is wea!ende Kurh acennedum cildum, Z wani"ende Kurh forJfarendum.
<?elfric;s De Temporibus ?nni=
-0
?ccusativeH
3eo ylce rod siJJan Ke 7swold K@r ar@rde on wurJmynte K@r stod, and wurdon fela
"eh@lde untrumra manna and eac swilce nytena Kurh Ja ylcan rode, swa swa us rehte Beda.
<?elfric;s 1ives of 3aints=
The ortho"raphic variants of this prepositions found in the corpus include "rh, "rh, "rg.
ts rate of occurence has sli"htly increased after 652 and its prototypical meanin" overlaps
with that of +resent%day *n"lish thro"gh and 1atin per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .-. /5/ .95
,ate ..-6 F 2./2 F 2.56
,"er
The preposition stems from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]nd eri . The co"nates include
?vestan aFairi, )hotanese d6ra%, 8othic "ndar, 7ld celandic "nder, 7ld 3a!on "ndar, 7ld
Ei"h 8erman "ntar&i', 7ld 'risian "nderVonder. t "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
Na hrymde J@t deoful in J@re f@mnan ond cw@@J to him, Ku me nedest to ut"on"e, ond ic
ne m@", buton me se "eon"a l@te se me under Jam Kerscwolde "eband.
<7ld *n"lish (artyrolo"y=
?ccusativeH
c ehte minra feonda, and ic hie "efen", and ic ne "eswac, @r hie forwurdonC ic hie "ebi"de
K@t hie ne mihton "estandan on"ean me, ac feollon under mine fet.
<The +aris +salter=
The only ortho"raphic variant of this preposion found in the corpus is "nder. The
preposition was on the rise until .252 when it started to decrase. This can be partially
e!plained by the fact that the preposition beneaan came to be used instead. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "nder and 1atin s"b.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 4- -2/ .-
,ate 2.45 F ..2. F 2..6 F
-6
'#-
The preposition comes from the +roto%ndo%*uropean root ]amb i V]mb i. The co"nates
include 7ld ndian abh5ta%, ?rmenian ambo H , 8reek ^muo, ?lbanian mbiVmbR, 1atin
ambi%Vam%Van%, 7ld 1atin am, &mbrian amb%Va%Van%, 7scan ampt, 8aulish ambi%, :elsh,
#ornish and Breton am%Vem%, 7ld rish imb%Vimm%, 7ld celandic "mb, 7ld 3a!on "mbi, 7ld
Ei"h 8erman "mbi, 7ld Aorse "mbV"m, Tocharian ? ;mpi, Tocharian B antapi. t "overned
dative and accusativeH
DativeH
'orJon we sittaJ ymb Kam we"e w@dli"ende mid Timeus sunu, uton biddan K@s @Jelan
Dauides sunu K@t he "eopeni"e ure "esyhJe, K@t we butan "edwylde K@t weorc ma"on
be"an, Ke we on"unnen habbaJ.
<Byrhtferth;s (anual=
?ccusativeH
s seo ea""ebyrd stearc ond hiwe stane "elicast, "ladum "imme, Konne in "oldfate smiKa
orKoncum biseted weorKeJ. s ymb Kone sweoran, swylce sunnan hrin", bea"a beorhtast
bro"den feJrum.
<+hoeni!, The *!eter Book=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include emb, embe, "mbe, "mmbe, ymb,
ymban and ymbe. The preposition was on the decrease throu"hout the 7ld *n"lish period
and finally dies out no later than .252. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish abo"t and aro"nd and 1atin circiter and circa.
7ld *n"lish 7ld *n"lish 7ld *n"lish (iddle *n"lish
Aumber of words .-0 .65 5. -/
,ate ..4/ F 2.99 F 2.95 F 2.-. F
/.2 GERMANIC STRATUM
The sub"roup within ndo%*uropean lan"ua"es to which *n"lish belon"s is
8ermanic. The common ancestor of this branch is known as +roto%8ermanic. 3imilarly as
+roto%ndo%*uropean, it is a hypthetical lan"ua"e, reconstructed on the basis of the
similarities in its descendant lan"ua"es. These fall into three "roupsH *ast 8ermanic, Aorth
42
8ermanic and :est 8ermanic. 7ld *n"lish, alon" with 7ld 3a!on, 7ld 1ow 'ranconian
and 7ld 'risian belon"ed to the :est 8ermanic branch. The followin" alphabetical list of
7ld *n"lish prepositions includes those, which does not stem directly from the +roto%ndo%
*uropean roots. nstead, they developed mainly by word%formative processes in the period
from the +roto%8ermanic up to the pre%historic era of 7ld *n"lish.
6r
The co"nates include 7ld 3a!on Gr, 7ld 'risian Gr, 7ld Ei"h 8erman Gr, 8othic air, and
7ld Aorse ;r. The preposition "overned dativeH
DativeH
Eeo hire andwyrde and cw@JH @r J@m d@"e minra brid"ifta ic eom mid manfulre scilde
besmiten.
<?ppolonius of Tyre=
ts rate of occurence was constantly decreasin" and the preposition beforan came to replace
it. ?ccordin" to (olencki, this was mainly for phonolo"ical reasons, since the preposition
beforan was perceived as more emphatic than short, monosyllabic %r. The homophony
with the weak forms of other two "rammatical words <the con>unction or and the copula
are= mi"ht have also contributed to the replacement <(olencki, 2229H 46=. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words -2. 590 ./2
,ate -.42 F 2.26 F 2.-9 F
!"%!&
The co"nates include 7ld 'risian andlinga and 7ld 3a!on antlang. (orpholo"ically, it is
a compound of and a"ainst M lang lon" . t "overned "enitiveH
?nd se cyn" h@fde "e"adrod sum hund scipa. ?nd w@s Ja on #ent, Z Ja scipu foran be
suJan east andlan" s@ to"enes him.
<#hronicle (3 ? *arly=
4.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include andlang and
ondlongne. ts rate of occurence was very low and relatively stable. The prototypical
meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish along and 1atin per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words / 4 5
,ate 2.2/ F 2.2. F 2.29 F
-e.or!
The co"nates include 7ld 3a!on biforan, 7ld Ei"h 8erman bifora, 7ld 'risian befara.
(orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M foran from the front . t "overned dative
and accusativeH
DativeH
@r ?lbanus ab@d @t 8ode K@t K@r f@rin"a com upp w@tres welle beforan his fotumC ond
K@m menn Ke hinn beheafdade, K@m sona afeollon Ka ea"an bu of K@m heafde.
<The 7ld *n"lish (artyrolo"y, 3t. ?lban=
?ccusativeH
8e sylfe me synd to "ewitnesse K@t ic s@de, ne eom ic #rist ac ic eom asend beforan hine.
<The :est 3a!on 8ospels, Aew Testament=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include befor, beforan,
beforon, biforan, before, befora and beforen. ts rate of occurence durin" the 7ld *n"lish
period was relatively stable. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that
of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 96 66 29
,ate 2.0- F 2.-6 F 2.42 F
-e&eo"!
(orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M geondan yonder . t "overned dative and
accusativeH
42
DativeH
Nonne be eastan #arendran londe, be"eondan K@m westenne, is +ul"ra landC ond be eastan
K@m is #reca land.
<Eistoriarum adversum pa"anos libri V, The 8eo"raphy of #entral *urope=
?ccusativeH
Nas Kin" w@ron "ewordene on Bethania be"eondan ordanen K@r ohannes fullode.
<Aew Testament, :est%3a!on 8ospels=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include begeondan,
begiondan, begeonda and begeondon. ts rate of occurence durin" the 7ld *n"lish period
was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish
beyond and 1atin "ltra.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 0 2
,ate 2.22 F 2.2- F 2.22 F
-e$io!
The preposition was very mar"inal and disappeared in the course of the 7ld *n"lish period.
t "overned dativeH
3w@ cl@ne hio w@s oKfeallenu on ?n"elcynne, K@t swiKe feawa w@ron behionan Eumbre,
Ke hiora Kenin"a cuKen understondan on en"lisc oKKe furKum an @rend"ewrit of l@dene on
en"lisc arecceanC ond ic wene, K@tte noht moni"e be"iondan Eumbre n@ren.
<?lfred;s +reface to +ope 8re"ory;s #ura +astoralis=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include behinon,
behionan and beheonan. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with +resent%day *n"lish on
this side of and 1atin cis.
4-
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 2 .
,ate 2.22 F 2F 2.2. F
-e$i"!
The co"nate is 7ld 3a!on bihindan. (orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M hindan
from behind . t "overned dativeH
*ac sint to manienne Ja Je un"efandod habbaJ Jissa fl@sclicena scylda, J@t hie ne wenen
for hira cl@nnesse J@t hie sien beforan J@m hirrum hadum, forJ@mJe hi nyton Jeah hi sin
behindan J@m Je l@ssan hades bioJ, and hie wenaJ J@t hie beforan bion scylenC forJ@mJe
on J@m dome J@s ryhtwisan Deman onwent sio "eearnun" Jone had and Ja "eJyncJo.
<?lfred;s translation of #ura +astoralis=
The only ortho"raphic variant found in the corpus is behindan. The preposition was
decreasin" throu"hout the 7ld *n"lish period and found no item after .252. Aevertheless,
it is reasonable to assume that it occured also in 7ld *n"lish period, since it continues to
occur in (iddle *n"lish as well. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish behind and 1atin post.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words - 4 2
,ate 2.2- F 2.2. F 2 F
-i!
The co"nates include 7ld 'risian binna and (iddle 1ow 8erman binnen. t is a compound
of be by M innan within . t "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
\lp is orm@te nyten mare Konne sum hus eall mid banum befan"en binnan Kam felle butan
@t Kam nafelan and he n@fre ne liK. <?elfric;s 1ives of 3aints, ddV. 5/4, The *lephant=
?ccusativeH
44
Na "yt ne com se E@lend binnan Ka ceastre ac w@s Ja "yt on J@re stowe Kar (artha hin
on"ean com.
<Aew Testament, :est%3a!on 8ospels=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include binnan and binnon. ts rate of
occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish $ithin and 1atin intra.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 25 49 2/
,ate 2.2/ F 2..0 F 2.-0 F
-eeo7!
The co"nate is 7ld 'risian binetha. (orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M neoan
below . t "overned dativeH
ta mid K@s modes tweonun"e Ka @teowde heo him swa swutole swa he his a"ene "eseon
mihteC and w@ron f@"ere fin"ras smale and lan"e, and K@ra n@"la toscead and se "reata
lira beneoJan K@m Kuman eall w@s "esyne and fram Kam littlan fin"re toweard Kas earmes,
and sumne d@l of K@re slyfe.
<Vision of 1eofric=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include beneoan and beneoan. ts rate of
occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish beneath and 1atin s"b.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 4 - 4
,ate 2.24 F 2.2. F 2.25 F
-et8eo,#
45
(orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M t$eon"m two each . The preposition
"overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
Na "eseah he betwu! Kam warum cype%cnihtas "esette, Ka w@ron hwites lichaman and
f@"eres andwlitan menn, and @Kellice "efe!ode.
<?elfric;s Eomilies, 8re"orius and the *n"lish 3laves=
?ccusativeH
BeoJ soJf@ste, ic bidde, and betweo! eow "etriwe.
<?elfric;s second letter to :ulfstan=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include bet"h, bet"x,
bet$eoh, bet$eohn, bet$eonan, bet$eon"m, bet$eox, bet$ih, bet$ihn, bet$in"m, bet$ioh,
bet$ix, bet$"h, bet$"x, bet$"xn, bet$yx, bit$ih, bet$eon, bet$eonon, bet$ion, bet$yh,
bet$ynan, bit"in, bit$eon"m, bit$ien, bet$enan, bet$eon, bet$eonan, bet$eonen and
bet$inan. ts rate of occurence was relatively stable durin" the 7ld *n"lish period and its
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish bet$een and 1atin inter. n
contrast with (odern *n"lish, there was no semantic difference between 7ld *n"lish
bet$eon"m and 7ld *n"lish ongemang, the predecessor of +resent%day *n"lish among.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words /- ../ 44
,ate 2.// F 2.4/ F 2./5 F
-,.!
(orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M "fan above, over . The second element is a
co"nate with 7ld 'risian ")a, 7ld 3a!on oban, 7ld Ei"h 8erman obana and 7ld Aorse
ofen. The preposition "overned dativeH
?nd Ka kynin"as and Ka odre heahdun"ene men swa micle lenc" swa hi maran speda
habbaJ hwilum healf "ear K@t hi beoJ unforb@rned and lic"aJ bufan eordan on hyra
husum.
4/
<Eistoriarum adversum pa"anos libri V, The Voya"e of :ulfstan=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include b"fa, b"fan and b"fon. ts rate of
occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish abo)e and 1atin s"per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words / .9 -
,ate 2.2/ F 2.2/ F 2.24 F
-,t!
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on bi"tan. (orpholo"ically, it is a compound of be by M "tan out .
t "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
c can butan nettum huntian.
<?elfric;s #olloBuy, Eunter=
?ccusativeH
Ewa m@" synna for%"yfan buton 8od anaI
<8ospel of (ark, #hrist Eeals a (an 3ick of +alsy=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include b"ton, b"t"n and
"tan. There is an increasin" freBuency of its occurence durin" 7ld *n"lish period. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish preposition b"t and 1atin
tamen.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 64 252 .-6
,ate 2.66 F ..22 F 2.2/ F

.or!
The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
49
*adsi"e arcebiscop hine hal"ode. Z foran eallum folce hine well l@rde.
<#hronicle (3 *arly=
?ccusativeH
Z foran K@t hie "edydon @t Bedanforda, Z Ka foran Ka men ut on"ean Ke K@r binnan
w@ron, Z him wiK "efuhton, Z hie "efliemdon, Z hira "odne d@l ofslo"on.
<#hronicle (3 *arly=
The only ortho"raphic variant of this preposition found in the corpus is foran. ?lthou"h this
preposition was mar"inal and it ceased to e!ist by the end of the 7ld *n"lish period, it "ave
rise to other derivatives like %tforan, beforan, onforan, toforan or $iforan. ?ll of them
were synonymous in their primary meanin", which overlaps with +resent%day *n"lish
before and 1atin ante. ?s far as the other prepositions from the foran%"roup are concerned,
it was only the preposition before that survived the (iddle *n"lish period. ts
predominance over other compound prepositions of the foran%"roup cannot be e!plained by
phonolo"ical reasons, since all of them were disyllabic. n order to understand the
unrivalled position of before, we need to look at other 7ld and (iddle *n"lish prepositions
that evolved from be%darivation, %t%derivation, on%derivation and to%derivation. 7f these,
prepositions formed by be%derivation were by far the most freBuent since hi"h freBuency
prepositions like bet$eon"m, be"tan or beinnan were formed by it. n analo"y with this
ma>ority, speakers of 7ld *n"lish preferred the freBuent be%derivation also in the case of
the foran%"roup. n this way, the form before was fostered while the other forms were
constantly decreasin". 7f these, onforan disappeared by .252, %tforan by .-52 and toforan
a century later.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2. 2 9
,ate 2.22 F 2 F 2.. F
.r!#
#o"nate with 7ld Aorse fra, 7ld 3a!on fram, 7ld Ei"h 8erman fram, 8othic fram.
n 7ld *n"lish and especially in (iddle *n"lish, there was also the preposition fra which
is, however, a borrowin" from 7ld Aorse fra. The preposition "overned dativeH
40
?nd"yt and "eKoht menniscre heortan syndon forKhealde to yfele fram iu oKe.
<8enesis, The 'lood=
The ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include fram and from. The rate of occurence
has sli"htly decreased after 652 and then started to increase a"ain. The prototypical
meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish from and 1atin ab
and ex.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 25/ -/2 ...
,ate 2.9. F ..4- F ../4 F
&eo"
#o"nate with 8othic Haind. t "overned accusativeH
Z com Ka *ustatius fram "eondan s@ sona @fter Kam biscop.
<#hronicle (3 *arly=
?ccordin" to Eall;s dictionary <Eall, .6//H.52=, it was also rarely used with dative. 7ther
dictionaries do not claim this and have not found evidence for this claim in the corpus
neither. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include geond,
giond, geondan, geond and eond . ts rate of occurence was relatively stable and the
prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish thro"gh
and 1atin per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
Aumber of words .6 .56 2- 2/
,ate 2.22 F 2./- F 2./- F 2.2- F
i!
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on innan, 7ld Ei"h 8erman innan, 7ld Aorse innan, 7ld 'risian
inna and 8othic innana. t "overned "enetive, dative and accusativeH
8enitiveH
46
Ei me on di"le deorce stowe settan sarlice samed anlice, swa Ku worulddeade wri"e mid
foldanC is me @n"e "ast innan hreKres, and me is heorte on hearde "edrefed.
<The (etrical +salms of the +aris +salter=
DativeH
3e biscop 7do mid Kam mannum Ke innan Kam castele w@ron ofer s@ ferdon.
<#hronicle * 1ate=
?ccusativeH
Aim Konne ny"on clufa "arleaces "ehal"odes, cnuca on wine, wrin" Kurh claJ, scaf on
myrran Ka wyrt Z fanthali" we! Z brynestor Z hwitne rycels, "eot Konne innan Ka sealfe,
swa micel K@t sy @"scylla "ewyrJe, nim Konne ealde sapan Z ealdes o!san mearh Z
earnes mearh, do Konne Ka tyrwan, ond m@n" Konne mid cwicbeamenum sticcan oJ heo
brun sy.
<1acnun"a, ?n"lo%3a!on (a"ic and (edicine=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition include innan and inne. Both of these were
emphatic forms of the preposition in. ?ccordin"ly, the prototypical meanin" of this
preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish in and 1atin in.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 22 .24 -6
,ate 2.2. F 2.4. F 2.59 F
e!$
#o"ante with 7ld 'risian nGi, 7ld 3a!on n;h, 7ld Ei"h 8erman n;h, 7ld Aorse n; and
8othic nGh$. t "overned dativeH
:itodlice he com on 3amarian cestre Ke is "enemned 3ichar neah Kam tune Ke acob sealde
osepe his suna K@r w@s acobes wyl.
<Aew Testament, :est%3a!on 8ospels=
52
The ortho"raphic variant of this preposition found in the corpus is neah. ts rate of
occurence durin" the 7ld *n"lish period was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin"
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish near and 1atin prope.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 6 56 4
,ate 2.26 F 2.2- F 2.25 F
o-,t!
#o"nate with 7ld 'risian ab]ta. t is a compound of on on M be by M "tan outside . t
"overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
3eo heofon beli"J on hyre bosme ealne middaneard, Z heo @fre tyrnJ onbutan us.
?ccusativeH
?n ea of Jam hatte 'isonC seo "@J onbutan J@t land Je is "ehaten *uilaJ, J@r J@r "old
wy!J.
<?elfric;s Treatise on the 7ld and Aew Testament=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include onb"tan, onb"ton
and ab"tan. ts rate of occurence increased especially after .252 and its prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish abo"t and 1atin de.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 .2 ./
,ate 2.22 F 2.24 F 2.2- F
o.or!
t is a compound of on on M foran before . t "overned accusativeH
5.
tis w@s swiJe "eswincfull "ear Z byrstfull on eorJw@stman. Nurh Ka orm@te reinas Ke
coman sona onforan ?u"ust.
<#hronicle (3 *arly=
The only ortho"raphic variant found in the corpus is onforan. ts rate of occurence was very
low durin" the 7ld *n"lish period and it completely disappeared by .252. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
Aumber of words - 2 2 .
,ate 2.2- F % 2.22 F 2.220 F
o&e#!&
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on angimang. t is a compound of on in M gemang crowd .
?ccordin" to (itchell <(itchell, .605H 460=, it "overned both dative and accusative.
Aevertheless, there is corpus evidence for accusative and therefore only e!ample sentence
with dative is providedH
?c ne forleos mine sawle on"eman" Kam arleasum, ne min lif betwuh Kam mansla"um,
K@ra handa and K@ra weorc syndon fulle unrihtwisnesse.
<The +aris +salter=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include ongemang,
ongemong, gemang, gemonge, onmang and amang. n contrast with (odern *n"lish, there
was no semantic difference between 7ld *n"lish ongemang and 7ld *n"lish bet$eon"m.
The prototypical meanin" of ongemang in 7ld *n"lish overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish among as well as bet$een and 1atin inter.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words - .2 .2
,ate 2.2- F 2.24 F 2..4 F
52
o,pp!
t is a compound of on on M uppan up . t "overned dativeH
1oth for ut of 3odoman to 3e"or, Z Jeah ne com he nauht hraJe onuppan J@m muntum.
<?lfred;s #ura +astoralis=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition include on"fan and on"ppan. The preposition
was mar"inal durin" the 7ld *n"lish period and constantly decreasin". t disappeared by
.252. The prototypical meanin" of this prepositions overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish "pon and 1atin s"per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 5 2
,ate 2.22 F 2.2. F 2 F
o7
The co"nates include 7ld 'risian "nd, 7ld 3a!on "nd, 7ld Ei"h 8erman "n3i and 8othic
"nd. t "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
Z "e beoK in fiun"e allum monnum for noma minum seKe Konne KurhwunaK oK his ende se
biJ hal. <,ushworth 8ospels=
?ccusativeH
Z mon "eseah swelce hit w@re an "ylden hrin" on heofonum br@dre Konne sunneC Z w@s
from K@m heofone bradiende niKer oK Ka eorKan, Z w@s eft farende wiJ K@s heofones.
<?lfred;s 7rosius=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include o and o. ts rate
of occurence has decrease at the end of the 7ld *n"lish period and it died out completely
after .-52. Beside phonolo"ical weakin", homophony with two other forms may have
contributed to the rapid loss of oth in (iddle *n"lish. 7ne of these forms was the
coordinatin" link oe or , which was fairly common in twelfth and thirteenth century
5-
te!ts and which became homophonous with oth until after havin" lost its unstressed final
W[X in *arly (iddle *n"lish pronunciation. The other form was the weak oe on the which
must have been common in alle"ro speech and appears even in writin" <,issanen, 2229H
9.=. 7ne further contributin" factor to the substitution of til for o may have been that til
V#V#V was phonetically wei"htier than o VV#V, particularly as the phonetic weakenin" of
o %t resulted in homophony with oe or and oe on the . The complete loss of o
and its replacement by til takes place remarkably early in (iddle *n"lish. This is, of
course, connected with the fact that til e!isted as a dialectal prepositional variant as early as
the 7ld *n"lish period <,issanen, 2229H 94=. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "ntil and 1atin "s^"e ad.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 v .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
Aumber of
words
56 4. /- .5 4
,ate 2./2 F 2../ F 2.6- F 2..- F 2.24 F
s!#o"
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on samad, 7ld Ei"h 8erman samit and 8othic sama. t "overned
dativeH
3amod @rd@"e eode eorla sum, @Kele cempa self mid "esiJum K@r se snotera bad, hw@Ker
him alwalda @fre wille @fter weaspelle wyrpe "efremman.
<Beowulf=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include samod, samed,
som"d, somod and samad. ?s far as the rate of occurence is concerned, it reached its peak
between 652 and .252 when it started do descrease and died out at the end of 7ld *n"lish
period. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish at and 1atin ap"d.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .2 45 4
,ate 2.. F 2..9 F 2.25 F
toe!)!
54
t is a compound of to to M eacan lar"e . The preposition "overned dativeH
Z of Jam timan, Je man @rest ereJ, oJ (artinus m@ssan he sceal @lcre wucan erian @cer
Z r@can sylf K@t s@d on hlafordes berneC toeacan Jam @ceras to bene Z to "@rsyrJeC
"yf he maran "@rses beJyrfe, Jonne earni"e J@s, swa him man Jafi"e.
<1aws by :illiam =
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include toeacan, te(en,
te(enn, toecan and toe(an. The preposition disappeared from *n"lish prepositional system
by .252. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish beside and 1atin ap"d.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
Aumber of words - 4 - 4
,ate 2.2- F 2.2. F 2.24 F 2.22- F
to.or!
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on teforan and 7ld 'risian tofora. t is a compound of to to M foran
before . The preposition "overned dativeH
7n K@re "esetnysse m@" sceawian se Ke wyle, hu holdlice "od spr@c Kurh Kone hal"an
wite"an be his cl@num Ke"enum and his cl@num Kinenum, hu he hi "earwurJaJ toforan
oJrum mannum on Kam ecan wurJmynte and on wuldre mid him.
<?elfric;s letter to 3i"efyrth=
The ortho"raphic variants of this prepositions found in the corpus include tofor, toforan and
toforen. ts rate of occurence was sli"htly increasin" durin" the 7ld *n"lish period and its
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
55
Aumber of words . 6 22
,ate 2.2. F 2.2- F 2.26 F
to&e!
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on tegegnes. t is a compound of to to M gean strai"ht . The
preposition "overned dativeH
Z forKi Ke he to"eanes rihte Z to"eanes Kam arcestole on #antwarabyri".
<#hronicle (3 *arly=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include togenes, togeanes,
tog%gnes and tog%nes. The rate of occurence of this preposition was steadily risin" durin"
the 7ld *n"lish period, but suddenly dropped at the be"innin" of (iddle *n"lish period
from 2.2- F after .252 to 2.29 F after ..52 and after .252 finally completely
disappeared. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish against and 1atin contra.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
Aumber of words 2 -4 ./ 0
,ate 2.22 F 2..- F 2.2- F 2.29 F
to8e!r"
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on tU$ard. t is a compound of to to M $eard in the direction of .
The preposition "overned "enitive and dativeH
8enitive
ta mid K@s modes tweonun"e Ka @teowde heo him swa swutole swa he his a"ene "eseon
mihteC Z w@ron f@"ere fin"ras smale Z lan"e, Z K@ra n@"la toscead Z se "reata lira
beneoJan Kam Kuman eall w@s "esyne Z fram Kam littlan fin"re toweard K@s earmes, Z
sumne d@l of K@re slyfe.
<Vision of 1eofric=
DativeH
?c reowlic Kin" K@r "elamp on d@". N@t Ka 'rencisce men br@cen Kone chor Z torfedon
tow@rd Kam weofode K@r Ja munecas w@ron. Z sume of Jam cnihtan ferdon uppon Kone
uppflore. Z scotedon adunweard mid arewan toweard Kam hali"dome.
5/
<#hronicle (3 * *arly=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition include to$eard, to$earda, to$eardan,
to$eardena, to$eardne, to$eardra, to$%rd, to$ard, to$earde, to$erd, to$erdre and
to$erd"m. ts rate of occurence sli"htly increased after .252. ts prototypical meanin"
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish to$ard and 1atin erga.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .2 26 --
,ate 2..2 F 2... F 2.40 F

,pp!
#o"nate with 7ld 3a!on "ppan, 7ld 'risian "ppa, 7ld Ei"h 8erman ]fen, 7ld Aorse "pp;.
t is a compound of "p up M on on . The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
osue Ja dyde swa swa Drihten him bebead, Z srahela bearn ealle ymbsnaJ uppan Jam
beor"e Je is "ehaten +reputiorum.
<The 7ld *n"lish Version of the Eeptateuch=
?ccusativeH
Z hi comon into capitulan on uppon Ka munecas full "ewepnede.
<#hronicle * 1ate=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include "ppe, yppe, "ppan
and "ppon. ts rate of occurence sli"htly increased durin" the 7ld *n"lish period and its
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "pon and 1atin s"per.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words / 0 .6
,ate 2.2/ F 2.2- F 2.20 F
8i9
59
#o"nate with 7ld Aorse )i, 7ld 3a!on $i, 7ld 'risian $ith and 8othic $i. The
preposition "overned "enitive, dative and accusativeH
8enitiveH
N@t biK stran" sealf Z "od wiJ swelcre ablawun"e Z bruneKan Z wiK Kara ceacna "eswelle
oJJe asmorun"e. <1aeceboc=
DativeH
t@t is wyrse "et, K@t he winnan nyle wiJ J@m anwalde @ni"e stundeC K@r he wolde a
winnan on"innan, and Konne on J@m "ewinne Kurhwunian forJ, Konne n@fde he nane
scylde, Jeah he oferwunnen weorJan sceolde.
<?lfred;s The (eters of Boethius=
?ccusativeH
Ew@t, Ku meht "esion hu K@t treow biJ utan "escerped Z bew@fed mid K@re rinde wiJ
Jone winter Z wiJ Ja stearcan stormas Z eac wiJ K@re sunnan h@to on sumera.
<?lfred;s translation of Boethius=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include $i, $i and $y.
ts rate of occurence increased 2./0 F durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. The prototypical
meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish against and 1atin
contra.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 4-9 /.- .-2
,ate 4./- F 2.4- F ..65 F
/.3 OLD ENGLISH +ORD5FORMATION
There is a small number of 7ld *n"lish prepositions, which does not form the ndo%
*uropean nor the 8ermanic stratum of 7ld *n"lish prepositional system. nstead, they
developed by means of word%formative processes durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. These
includeH
6t.or!
t is a compound of %t at M foran before . The preposition "overned dativeH
50
Na 3odomitiscan men w@ron forcuJostan and swyJe synfulle @tforan 8ode.
<?elfric;s translation of 7ld Testament=
The only ortho"raphic variant found in the corpus is %tforan. The rate of occurence of this
preposition was constantly decreasin" and it finally died out in the course of the (iddle
*n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 -9 9
,ate 2 F 2..4 F 2.. F
&e$e"e
t is a compound of ge with M hende hand . The preposition "overned dativeH
Eit stent on oJrum bocum, K@t Balaam swa Jeah K@hte K@m cynin"ce hu he cuman mihte
K@t he hi beswice C Z he eac swa dydeC he beswac hi swa, K@t he sette wifmen @t his
h@Jen"ylde "ehende Jam folce, K@r hi on locodonC Z hi eodon Ja to mane"a of Jam folce
to Jam myltystrum Z wiJ hi h@mdonC Z to Jam h@Jen"ylde bu"on.
<?elfric;s 7ld Testament=
The ortho"raphic variants of this prepositions include gehende and gehend"m. The rate of
its occurence was sli"htly increasin", however, it was a mar"inal preposition with low
occurence. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with the of +resent%day
*n"lish near and 1atin prope.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 .. /
,ate 2 F 2.24 F 2.20 F
ito
t is a compound of in in M to to . The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
56
3oKlice Ka Ja tun"el%wite"an Kone steorran "esawon f@"enodon swyJe myclum "efean and
"an"ende into Kam huse hi "emetton K@t cild mid (arian hys meder and hi aJenedon hi
and hi to him "eb@don.
<8ospel of (atthew, The ?doration of (a"i=
?ccusativeH
:@s Kara manna eallra Ke K@r ofsle"ene w@ron Z hun"re swultan, mid wifmannum Z
w@pnedmannum, endleofan siKum hund teonti" KusendaC Z Ka hi "yt "enaman K@s folces
Ke K@r to lafe w@s, Z him selost licodan, hund teonti" Kusenda, and mid him l@ddon on
h@ftnedC Z ehtatyne syKum hund teonti" Kusenda hi tosendon, Z wiJ feo sealdon wide into
leodscipas.
<The Blicklin" Eomilies=
The only ortho"raphic variant of this preposition found in the corpus is into. There was
a constant increase in the rate of its occurence durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. 8enerally, we
can claim that the reason for appearance of this preposition was the be"innin" of the loss of
distinction between accusative and dative forms. The overt indication of motion or non%
motion in connection with some prepositions could no lon"er be e!pressed
morpholo"ically. This was the main stimulus for the emer"ence of into at precisely this
time, as it helped to disambi"uate otherwise potentially identical constructions <1undsk@r%
Aielsen, .66-H22=. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish into and 1atin in.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words .2 .24 .2-
,ate 2.. F 2.4. F ..02 F
o&e&
t is a compound of on on M gegn a"ain . The preposition "overned dative and accusativeH
DativeH
/2
Na het ic sona Ka hors "erwan Z eoredmen hleapan up, Z het "eniman swina micelne wr@d
Z drifan on horsum on"ean K@m elpendum, forKon ic wiste K@t swin w@ron J@m deorum
laJe, Z hiora ryin" hie meahte afyrhton.
<?le!ander;s 1etter=
?ccusativeH
'eower sinoJes w@ron for Kam soJan "eleafan on"ean Ka "edwolmen, Ke dyslice spr@con
be K@re hal"an Krynnysse and K@s h@lendes menniscnysse.
<?elfric;s letter to :ulfsi"e=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include ongean, ong%n,
ongan, ongann and ongen. ts rate of occurence rose 2.96 F durin" the 7ld *n"lish period.
The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish
against and 1atin contra.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 2 62 99
,ate 2 F 2.-5 F ...4 F
'#-,t!
t is a compound of ymb about M "tan outside, without . The preposition "overned dative
and accusativeH
DativeH
8if nu h@leJa hwone hlisan lyste, unnytne "elp a"an wille, Konne ic hine wolde wordum
biddan K@t he hine @"hwonon utan ymbeKohte, sweotole ymbsawe, suJ, east and west, hu
wid"il sint wolcnum ymbutan heofones hwealfe.
<?lfred;s (eters of Boethius=
?ccusativeH
3eo bur" w@s "etimbred an fildum lande Z on swiKe emnum, Z heo w@s swiKe f@"er an
to locianneC Z heo is swiKe ryhte feowerscyteC Z K@s wealles micelness Z f@stness is
un"eliefedlic to sec"enneH K@t is, K@t he is 1 elna brad, Z hund elna heah, Z his
/.
ymb"on" is hundseofonti" mila Z seofeJa d@l anre mile, Z he is "eworht of ti"elan Z of
eorJtyrewan, Z ymbutan Kone weall is se m@sta dic, on K@m is iernende se un"efo"lecesta
streamC Z wiJutan K@m dice is "eworht twe"ea elna heah weall, Z bufan J@m maran
wealle ofer ealne Kone ymb"on" he is mid st@nenum wi"husum beworht.
<?lfred;s 7rosius=
The only ortho"raphic variant of this preposition found in the corpus is ymb"tan. The
preposition disappeared durin" the 7ld *n"lish period. ?ccordin" to the corpus data, it was
before .252. t was also very mar"inal preposition with very low rate of occurence. The
prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish abo"t or
aro"nd and 1atin circ"m.
7ld *n"lish
<922 % 652=
7ld *n"lish
<652 % .252=
7ld *n"lish
<.252 % ..52=
Aumber of words 0 6 2
,ate 2.20 F 2.2- F 2 F
1. MIDDLE ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS
?s can be seen from the charts under the respective prepositions, their number
inscreased considerably durin" the (iddle *n"lish period. 3ome 7ld *n"lish forms
disappeared alto"ether, e.". mid, ymb, o. This was mainly a result of the fact that other
synonymous competin" prepositions functioned in lan"ua"e, i.e. $i, abo"t, till. 7ther
prepositions were lost in the course of the (iddle *n"lish period. These include %tforen,
baeftan, binnan, b"tan, ymb"tan, tomiddes, toforen etc. ?dded in (iddle *n"lish were
aro"nd, beside<s=, not$ithstanding, "ntil, "pon, $ithin, $itho"t etc_ #ompoundin" in
(iddle *n"lish resulted in amid, amidst, bi"ten, in$ith, "nto, "t$ith etc. t is commonly
assumed that (iddle *n"lish morpholo"y "ets poorer, i.e. a "reat number of fle!ions tend
to be blurred, or dropped, leavin" the words bare. There are two main reasons for this
process. 'irstly, it is the result of chan"es on phonolo"ical level which "o back to the
chan"es of stress pattern in +roto%8ermanic. #onseBuently, in the course of 7ld *n"lish
period, final syllables were becomin" "radually unstressed a result of which was that the
vowels they contained were fallin" to"ether and all were ultimately reduced to V[V. This led
/2
to neutrali$ation of different inflectional endin"s. The process, however, did not stop here
and durin" the (iddle *n"lish period, schwa was "radually lost as well, leadin" to a drastic
reduction of the remnants of inflectional endin"s. But phonolo"ical factors did not have to
be the sole stimulus for the levellin" of these sounds. ?fter 909, when the 3candinavian
tribes started to settle in much of eastern and northern *n"land, they, as well as the native
?n"lo%3a!on population, had to ad>ust their speech in order to communicate effectively.
7ld *n"lish and 7ld Aorse were similar lan"ua"es with many identical words and
"rammatical patterns. mportantly, the inflectional endin"s were often a bit different.
Therefore, for a smoother communication, in their interactions, the ?n"lo%3a!on speakers
mi"ht have started to pronounce endin"s of their lan"ua"e a bit less clearly and in this way
contributed to the mer"in" of the final vowels into V[V. :hat is clear, however, is that
because of this morpholo"ical impoverishment, "rammar had to read>ust. The standard
theory then claims, that the prepositions filled the functional "ap left by the disappearance
of case inflections. Eowever, there is also a competin" theory which holds that it was Buite
the opposite. The old case%forms be"an to disappear because more widespread use of
prepositions "radually made them redundant. n a word, it was not a dra"%chain but a push%
chain mechanism. This view is also supported by (itchell <(itchell, .605H465= who claims
that certain prepositions "overnin" more than one case even in the same sentence
presumably played a part in the breakdown of the inflectional system. The word order of
(iddle *n"lish, therefore, became increasin"ly fi!ed.
1.1 OLD ENGLISH STRATUM
(ost of the (iddle *n"lish prepositions form the 7ld *n"lish stratum, i.e. they are
direct descendants of their 7ld *n"lish counterparts, usually with minor ortho"raphic
chan"es. These includeH
!-,te
?nd Jat oKer dei Ka he lai an slep in scip Ka Kestrede Ke d@i over al landes and ward Ke
sunne swilc als it ware thre niht ald mone and sterres abuten him at midd@i.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
/-
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish onb"tan and is the predecessor of (odern *n"lish
abo"t. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include onb"tan,
ab"tan, onb"ton, ab"t%n, ab"tan, ab"te, ab"ten, ab"tenn, ab"ton, onb"ten, abo"te,
abo"ten, abo"t, abo$te, abo)te, abo)t and obo"t. ts rate of occurence was relatively stable
throu"hout the (iddle *n"lish period. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish abo"t and 1atin de.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
4/ 5/ .2- 94
,ate 2.4 F 2.59 F 2.55 F 2.-4 F
!-o:e
But am beknowe and confesse, and that ry"ht di"nely, that 8od is ry"ht worthy aboven
alle thin"es. <8eoffrey #haucer % Boethius=
The preposition comes from the 7ld *n"lish b"fan and is a direct predecessor of (odern
*n"lish abo)e. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
ab"fen, abo"e, abo"en, abo)e, abo)en, obo"en, abo""en, abo)yn, abo$e, abo$en and
abo$n. The preposition was sli"htly increasin" durin" the (iddle *n"lish period and its
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of (odern *n"lish abo)e and 1atin s"per.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
. 2. 45 .-/
,ate 2.220 F 2.2. F 2.24 F 2./- F
6t.ore
?nd Kis wes idon @tforen vre isworene redesmen, Boneface ?rchebischop on )anterburi,
:alter of #antelow, Bischop on :irechestre, 3imon of (untfort, *orl on 1eirchestre,
,ichard of #lare, *orl on 8lowchestre and on Eurtford, ,o"er Bi"od, *orl on Aorthfolke
and (arescal on *n"leneloande, +erres of 3auueye, :illelm of 'ort, *orl on ?ubemarle,
/4
ohan of +lessei$, *orl on :arewik, ohan 8effrees sune, +erres of (untfort, ,ichard of
8rey, ,o"er of (ortemer, ames of ?ldithele, and @tforen oKre ino e.
<The +roclamation of Eenry =
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish %tforan and has no successor in (odern *n"lish.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include %tforen and
atforen. The rate of its occurence was very low in the first half of the (iddle *n"lish
period, and it died out before .-52. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
- 4 2 2
,ate 2.22 F 2.24 F % %
!.ore
?t Ke fyrste alle Ke bretheren and systeren thus han behoten, Kat Key every yer, on Ke
3unday ne!t aftyr Ke fest of 3eynt +eter and +owel, in worschipe of Ke Trinite and of oure
1evedy and 3eynt :illiam and alle halwen, schullen offeren to floured candelys aforn
3eynt :illyams toumbe in Ke mynstre of Ke Trinite, and everi of hem offeren an halpeny at
Ke messe and heren al Ke messe.
<8ild of 3t. :illiam of Aorwich=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish onforan and has no (odern *n"lish successor.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include affore, afor, afore
and aforn. :hat is interestin" is the fact that have not found any evidence of this
preposition in the period between .252 and .422. Aevertheless, it occurs in the corpus after
.422 what supports the view that it did not die out. nstead, it functioned in certain
mar"inal cases throu"ht the (iddle *n"lish period. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with
that of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of 2 2 2 -5
/5
words
,ate % % % 2../ F
!.ter
Ka com Eenri abbot and wreide Ke muneces of Burch to Ke kin" forKi Jat he wolde
underKeden Jat mynstre to #lunie, swa Jat te kin" was wel neh bepaht and sende efter Ke
muneces.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish %fter and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
after. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include %fter, after,
efter, hafte, ofter, aft"r, aftar, aftir, aftre, aftyr, aftere, aftrn, eftere, eftir, eftire, eftyr and
eftyre. The preposition was increasin" until .422 when it sli"htly decreased. The
prototypical meanin" of this prepositon overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish after and
1atin post.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
45 .2. 442 2-5
,ate 2.-6 F ..24 F 2.-6 F ..26 F
!&!i
7n Kis kin"es time wes al unfriJ and yfel and r@flac, for a"enes him risen sona Ka rice men
Ke w@ron swikes, alrefyst Baldwin de ,edvers, and held *!ecestre a"enes him.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish ongegn and is a direct predecessor of (odern
*n"lish against. The modern *n"lish Mst in against comes from the "enitive endin" Mes
followed by a definite article. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the
corpus include ag%nes, agen, agene, agenes, ogen, on ean , ongann, ongean, ongeanes,
//
a enes , agaist, agains, agayns, ogaines, ogains and ogayne. ts rate of occurence was very
low and the prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish against and 1atin contra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
20 / 22 2
,ate 2.24 F 2.2/ F 2.. F 2.226 F
!"%o&
*8\+T is a lon" contree but it is streyt Kat is to seye narow for Kei may not enlar"en it
toward the desert for defaute of water and the contree is sett alon" vpon the ryuere of Ayle
be als moche as Kat ryuere may serue be flodes or oKerwise Kat whanne it floweth it may
spreden abrood Kor"h the contree, so is the contree lar"e of len"the.
<(andeville;s Travels=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish andlang and its direct successor is (odern
*n"lish along. The ortho"raphical variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
along, alonge and endlonges. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with
that of +resent%day *n"lish along and 1atin per. ?s noted by (ustano>a <(ustano>a,
.6/2H-/2=, the meanin" of this preposition was influenced by the parallel 7ld 'rench a"
long de.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 4 -
,ate % 2.22 F 2.22 F 2.2. F
!#!&
Ae deme e no"t wurdi Jat tu dure loken
&p to Je hevene wardC oc walke wiJ Je erJe,
(ildlike amon" men.
<The Bestiary=
/9
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish ongemang and is a predecessor of (odern
*n"lish among. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
amang, among, enmang, amanges, amonge, amonges, amongs, among"s, omang, omanges,
amange and amongis. The rate of its occurence was relatively stable and low and its
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish among and before and 1atin
inter. t has to be stressed that even in the (iddle *n"lish period, there was not semantic
distinction between bet$ixt and among as these were more or less interchan"eable. Their
meanin"s differentiated only in (odern *n"lish.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
./ -9 .24 5-
,ate 2..4 F 2.-9 F 2.5/ F 2.24 F
!t
Ka Ke )in" 3tephne to *n"laland com, Ka makod he his "aderin" @t 7!eneford and Kar he
nam Ke biscop ,o"er of 3ereberi, and ?le!ander Biscop of 1incol and te #anceler ,o"er,
hise neves, and dide @lle in prisun til hi iafen up here castles.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish %t and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish at.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition include %t, at, att and atte. ts rate of
occurence increased considerably durin" the (iddle *n"lish period from 2.00 F up to -.02
F. This was a result of the fact that at started to be used in many phrases. ?ccordin" to
3ykes, the development of meanin" of at and the e!tension of its phrasal power are the
direct result of 'rench influence upon *n"lish <3ykes, .066H54=. Eowever, as noted by
#orisco, other lan"ua"es such as 1atin ad or 7ld Aorse at also served as a basis for
different calBues with at <#orisco, .669H -9=. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish at and 1atin ap"d.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of .22 244 40. 0.6
/0
words
,ate 2.00 F 2.5 F 2./. F -.02 F
-e.ore
ta he to *n"leland com, Ka was he underfan"en mid micel wurtscipe, Z to kin" bletc@d in
undene on e 3unnend@i beforen (idwintre D@i, Z held K@re micel curt.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish beforan and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
before. The ortho"raphic variants of this prepositions found in the corpus include beforan,
before, beofren, bifor%n, bifore, biforen, biforenn, biforren, bi"ore, bi"oren, be"ore, bifor,
biforen, biforn, befor, beforn, bifoore, biforne, byfor, byfore, byforn and beffore. ts rate of
occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
0- 4. ./2 .40
,ate 2.9- F 2.42 F 2.0/ F 2./6 F
-i
Ka namen hi Ka men Ke hi wenden Jat ani "od hefden, bath be nihtes and be d@ies, carlmen
and wimmen, and diden heom in prisun efter "old and sylver, and pined heom untellendlice
pinin".
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish be and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish by.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include bi, be and by. The
rate of its occurence has increased sharply after .252 and then started to fall down after
.-52. ts new hi"her freBuency may be due to the influence e!erted by the 'rench
/6
preposition par <#orisco, .669H -/=. This view is also held by (ustano>a <(ustano>a,
.6/2H-9.=. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish by and 1atin
ab.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.94 99. .226 665
,ate ..5- F 9.6 F 5.49 F 4./5 F
-iet$e
Ee let adun Ke cloKes caste
BineKen here bresteC
Bi here breste he knew anon
Nat on was maide and Kat oKer mon.
<'loris and Blauncheflur=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish beneoan and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lsih
beneath. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
bineoen, binee, benee, benethe, binethe, bynee and bynethe. ts rate of occurence
durin" the (iddle *n"lish period was very low and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with
that of +resent%day *n"lish beneath and 1atin s"b.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
. 5 .5 2
,ate 2.220 F 2.25 F 2.20 F %
-et8i(
?nd thanne shal al this "old departed be,
my deere freend, bitwi!en me and thee.
<#haucer;s #anterbury Tales=
92
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish bet$eonan and is a direct predecessor of (odern
*n"lish bet$een. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
bet"yx, bet$en, bet$eon%n, bet$eonan, bet$eonon, bet$eox, bet$eoxan, bet$ex, bet$oex,
bet$onen, bet$yx, bit"he, bit"hen, bit"hhe, bit"hhen, bit"nd, bit"nde, bit"non, bit$enen,
bit$enenn, bit$eon%n, bit$eone, bit$eonen, bit$eonon, bet"ene, bit"ene, bit$eies, bit$en,
bit$ene, bit$ex, bit$exe, bit$ixen, bet"en, bet$e, bet$ene, bet$ix, bit"ene, bit"ix,
bit"ixand, bit$ix, bit$ixe, bit$yxe, byt$ene, bet"yx, bet$ene, bet$ixe, bet$ixt, bet$yne,
bet$yx, bet$yxen, bet$yxte, bit$ene and byt$ene. ts rate of occurence was relatively
stable durin" the (iddle *n"lish period and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish bet$een and among and 1atin inter. t has to be stressed that even in
(iddle *n"lish period, there was not semantic distinction between bet$ixt and among as
these were more or less interchan"eable. Their meanin"s differentiated only in (odern
*n"lish.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
/2 -9 09 5/
,ate 2.5- F 2.-9 F 2.49 F 2.2/ F


-i eo"e (odred bad #hildriche, Kene stron"e and Kene riche,
:ide senden sonde a feouwer half 3e!londe,
?nd beoden Ka cnihtes alle Kat heo bi eten mihte,
Nat heo comen sone to Kissen kinedome,
?nd he wolde #hildriche eoven of his riche
?l bi eonde Kere Eumbre, for he him scolde helpe
To fihten wiJ his @me, ?rJure Kan kin"e.
<1ayamon;s Brut=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish begeondan and is a direct predecessor of (odern
*n"lish beyond. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
9.
bi eonde , bi ende , bi onde , bi ondis and beyond. t was a mar"inal preposition with very
low freBuency of occurence. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish beyond and 1atin "ltra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 / 2
,ate 2.2. F % 2.2- F 2.226 F
-i$i"e
Ee is ord abuten orde, and ende abuten endeC
Ee ane is @vre en elche stede, wende Ker Ku wendeC
Ee is buven us and bineoJen, biforen and bihindeC
Ne Je 8odes wille deJ, eiJer he mei him finde.
<The +oema (orale=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish behindan and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
behind. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include behinden,
bihinde, bihinden, bihinndenn, byhynde, byhynden, behynd and behynde. ts rate of
occurence very low and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish
behind and 1atin post.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
6 5 9 6
,ate 2.29 F 2.25 F 2.2- F 2.24 F
-i!
*ac is to wytene, Kt se kin" elfred mane"a bec Kurh 8odes "ast "edyhteC Z binnen twam
Z twenti" "earen his cynerices Kiss eorJlice lif forlet, Z to Kan ecen "ewende, swa him
8od "euJe for his rihtwisnysse.
<Vespasian Eomilies=
92
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish binnan and has no successor in (odern *n"lish.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include binnen, binnon
and binne. t was a mar"inal preposition with very low rate of occurence which died out
before .-52. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish $ithin and
1atin intra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.5 . 2 2
,ate 2..- F 2.2. F % %
.or
:urKen men swiJe ofwundred and ofdred, and s@den Jat micel Kin" sculde cumen
herefter, swa dideC for Kat ilc "@r warth Ke kin" ded, Jat oKer d@i efter 3anct ?ndreas
massed@i on Aormandi.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish fora and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish for.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include for, fora, forr, f"r,
"or, and "ore. ts rate of occurence increase especially after .252. This mi"ht have to
possible reasons. 'irstly, it becomes more freBuent in (iddle *n"lish due to the influence
of 'rench po"r <(ustano>a, .6/2H -02=. 3econdly, it becomes more freuBuent since it
started to function as an eBuivalent of the dative case. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps
with that of +resent%day *n"lish for and 1atin pro.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
660 ..22 2.-2 2-56
,ate 0.0- F ...5. F ...5/ F ...2- F
.r!#
?nd he for to ,ome and K@r w@s w@l underfan"en fram Ke +ape *u"enie, and be"@t thare
privile"ies, an of alle Ke landes of Ke abbotrice and anoKer of Ke landes Ke lien to Ke
circewicanC and, "if he len" moste liven, alse he mint to don of Ke horderwycan.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
9-
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish fram and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
from. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include fram and
from. There was also compound form from$ard <from 7ld *n"lish from$eard= in the sense
away from . ts rate of occurence sli"htly decreased after .-52 and its prototypcal meanin"
overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish from and 1atin ab and ex.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.62 .92 90 .--
,ate ../0 F ..9/ F 2.42 FF 2./2 F
i
n worlde vnwisely wrou"ht haue wee,
This erthe it trembelys for this tree
?nd dyns ilke delew
?lle Kis worlde is wrothe with mee,
Kis wote wele. <\ork +lays % The *!pulsion=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish in and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish in. The
ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include in, ine, inn, hin, Hn, yn,
and yne. There also rarely occurs the form inward with the meanin" within . ts rate of
occurence increased ./.60 F durin" the (iddle *n"lish period what makes it the second
"reatest increase in preposition use ri"ht after the preposition of. ?ccordin" to #orisco, it is
very likely that the 'rench en and 1atin in have e!erted an influence on the *n"lish in,
helpin" to stren"then its position and "ain some of the "round formerly occupied by on
<#orisco, .669H -0=. This is also confirmed by (ustano>a <(ustano>a, .6/2H -0/%-09=. n
"eneral, in and on were no more interchan"eable in the (iddle *n"lish period and the
numbers show that it was in which was predominantly used even in positions formerly
occupied by on. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish in and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
94
Aumber of
words
50- .9-/ -922 49--
,ate 5..5 F .9.0 F 22.20 F 22..- F
ie
But wo is me Kou art so nakedH
7f mi seyl \ wolde Ke were maked
? cloth Kou mithest inne "on"en,
3one, no cold Kat Ku ne fon"e.
<Eavelok=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish innan and has no direct successor in (odern
*n"lish. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include innan,
inna, inne, Hnne and ynne. t functioned as an emphatic form of in and has very low rate of
occurence which was constantly decreasin" durin" the (iddle *n"lish period. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish $ithin and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
9/ 26 .6 -4
,ate 2./9 F 2.26 F 2.. F 2..5 F
ito
7n al Kis yvele time heold (artin abbot his abbotrice twenti wintre and half "@r and ehte
d@is mid micel swine, and fand Ke munekes and te "estes al Kat heom behovedC and heold
mycel carited in the hus, and KoKwethere wrohte on Ke circe and sette Karto landes and
rentes, and "oded it swythe and l@t it refen, and brohte heom into Ke new@ mynstre on
3anct +etres m@ssed@i mid micel wurtcipe.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish into and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish into.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include into, inte, intoo
and ynto. ts rate of occurence dropped sharply at the end of 7ld *n"lish period from ..02
95
F before ..52 to 2.-9 F after ..52 and then started to increase a"ain. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish into and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
42 5- ./2 .9.
,ate 2.-9 F 2.54 F 2.0/ F 2.96 F
#i"
:anne he is ikindled stille liJ Je leun, ne stireJ he nout of slepe,
Til Je sunne haveJ sinen Jries him abutenC
tanne reiseJ his fader him mit te rem JJet he makeJ.
<The Bestiary=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish mid and has no direct successor in (odern
*n"lish. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include mid, mit,
myd and mi. The preposition sharply decreased after .252 and finally died out in the
second kalf of the (iddle *n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" of the preposition $i
was that of +resent%Day *n"lish against. This, however, chan"ed durin" the (iddle
*n"lish period, when $i "radually broadened its meanin" which started to overlap with
the of 7ld *n"lish mid. n the course of (iddle *n"lish mid was "radually displaced by
$ith which became near synonym with mid in the (iddle *n"lish period. The prepositions
were therefore competin" and the Buestion mi"ht arise, why mid and not $i disappeared
durin" the (iddle *n"lish period. ?ccordin" to Dekeyser <Dekeyser, .662H44=, there are
two main reasons for this. 'irstly, $i retained since it was the dynamic member, in other
words, it was the semantic structure of this preposition that was on the move. t would be
unlikely for such an element to suffer le!ical loss. #onseBuently, mid was eventually
ousted. 3econdly, in (iddle *n"lish, under the influence of $i, mid was sometimes
spelled with thorn % mi. This phonolo"ical similarity must have promoted the semantic
osmosis of $i and mid, to the e!tent that, in spite of its freBuency, the latter was eventually
lost.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of /56 .45 2 2
9/
words
,ate 5.0- F ..40 F % %
i&$
?nd aftur Kat we hadde wonne our sayd toun of 1ouiers, we cam afore pount%de%larche, and
bisie"ed it on Kat oon syde of Ke riuer of seyne, and vpon munday Ke iii> day of Ke moneK
of Ouill we "ate vpon our enemys Ke passa"e ouer the sayd riuer, and "od of his mercy
shewed so for vs and for our ri"ht that it was withouten Ke deK of any mannes persone of
oures, albehit that our enemys, with "rete power, assembled ni"h the same riuer, for to haue
let and defended vs the same passa"e.
<Eenry V % 1etter to (ayor=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish neah and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
near. The superlative form next+nexte has occured as a preposition with the meanin"
nearest since 7ld *n"lish. The comparative form near has been used as a preposition
since later (iddle *n"lish period <cf. (ustano>a, .6/2H-64=. The ortho"raphic variants of
this preposition found in the corpus include neh, nigh. The preposition had very low rate of
occurence and have not found any token after .422. Aevertheless, we must assume that
this preposition occured in (iddle *n"lish V period, since it is in (odern *n"lish
prepositional system as well. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish near and 1atin prope.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
22 . 4 2
,ate 2..9 F 2.2. F 2.22 F %
o.
Ka com Eenri abbot and wreide Ke muneces of Burch to Ke kin" forKi Jat he wolde
underKeden Jat mynstre to #lunie, swa Jat te kin" was wel neh bepaht and sende efter Ke
muneces.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
99
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish of and is a direct predecessor of (odern *n"lish
of. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include of, off and offe.
The form off was used as na ortho"raphic variant for of until ./22 <cf. (ustano>a,
.6/2H-65= when its meanin"s became differentiated. The form offe was an emphatic form
analo"ous to in vs. inne. ?ccordin" to :illiams <.695=, from .252 onwards, the number of
of%phrases increased from /G in .222 up to -2G of all "enitive constructions and by .-22
nearly 05G was achieved. ?s we can see also from our corpus data, there is a very sharp
increase in its use durin" the (iddle *n"lish period due to its semantic erosion when of
took over many of the roles previously held by other prepositions, in particular by on. t
also became eBuivalent of "enitive. Durin" the (iddle *n"lish period, moreover, of is
interchan"eable with on and at in many constructions <cf. (ustano>a, .6/2H-52%-52=.
?ccordin" to (ustano>a, the interchan"eability of of and on, in particular, may have been
furthered by the rather common reduction of both prepositions to o and a. 'rom the late 7ld
*n"lish period to ./22, when by becomes more common, of is by far the most freBuently
used preposition to indicate the a"ent of a passive action <#orisco, .669H 4.=. ?mon" the
reasons for the rapid development of periphrastic "enitive the "rowin" importance of
prepositional phrases could be counted. But also the 'rench "enitive construction de could
have been a model to imitate <#orisco, .669H 42=. Eowever, when it comes to 'rench, some
lin"uists are reluctant to acknowled"e its early influence, especially in the early (iddle
*n"lish period, only a hundread years after the Aorman #onBuest when of was already on
the increase <cf. (itchell, .605H 520=. 'or instance, #urme <#urme, .6-., 94%95= does not
mention this possiblity and ar"ues for the "raphemic force of the preposition as well as for
the lack of clear "enitive forms in the later period of the decay of the old declensions. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish of and 1atin de.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 v .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.045 2/26 9420 9094
,ate ./.-2 F 2/.9/ F 42.-. F -/.02 F
o
?nd on thy wombe Kan shall Kou "lyde,
90
?nd be ay full of enmyte
To al mankynde on ilke a side,
?nd erthe it shalle thy sustynaunce be
To ete and drynke.
<The \ork +lays % The 'all of (an=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish on and is a direct predecessor of (odern *n"lish
on. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include on, onn and
onne. The form onne is an emphatic variant formed by the analo"y with inne. The rate of its
occurence decreased durin" the (iddle *n"lish period especially due to the fact that in
started to replace on in many position where they were no lon"er interchan"eable. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish on and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.-26 5.5 505 /-4
,ate ...50 F 5.20 F -..9 F 2.6/ F
o:er
7n Kis "@re for se )in" Eenri over s@ te 1ammasse.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish ofer and is a direct predecessor of (odern
*n"lish o)er. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include ofer,
offr, o"er, o$er, o"ere, o)er, o$er and o)ir. ts rate of occurence has decreased after .252
but then became relatively stable. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish o)er and 1atin s"per.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
./- 52 02 .2-
96
,ate ..44 F 2.5. F 2.44 F 2.59 F
sit$e
?lso the forsaide 3ir ,ichard toke ,obert atte (ere, +etre atte (ere, and enprisoned hem
and stokkid hem withinne the forsaid lordship, forto haue had hem his bonde men, there Kat
thei and alle tenant of the same lordship aren fre, and euere haue be, and all hire auncestrie
sithen tyme oute of mynde. <? +etition of the )in";s Tennants at Banstead, 3urrey=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish sian and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
since. The ortho"raphic variants of this prepositions found in the corpus include sian,
sien, sian, sienn, sithen, sithon, sye, syen, sie, sies, sye, si, sien, sith,
sithe, sithis, siththe, syth, sythe, sythen, sythes, sithene, sithenes, sithenesse, sithenys, sithyn,
sythyn. ts rate of occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps
with that of +resent%day *n"lish since and 1atin aVab.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
42 .0 .26 4.
,ate 2.-5 F 2..0 F 2.56 F 2..6 F
to
'or bittirly Kan may banne
The way in Ke temple wente,
tt was to me a bad bar"anne,
'or reuthe may it ay repente.
<The \ork +lays % Ooseph;s Trouble about (ary=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish to and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish to. The
ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus include to, te, t, t$o, t" and tho. The rate of its
occurence increased in the (iddle *n"lish period what can be partially e!plained by the
fact that to became an eBuivalent of the dative case. t also established itself as an infinitive
02
marker in (iddle *n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps
with that of +resent%day *n"lish to and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2.66 2.22 4-9- 5-62
,ate .6.45 F 2..94 F 2-.9- F 25.2. F
to.ore
Ket ilke ver dredeK Ko Ket by hare my te ham lokeK vram dyadlich $enne, and lokeK
holyliche hare herten and hare bodyes and hare mouKes and Ke irf wyttes vram alle $enne,
and $uo libbeK ase hi ssolden eche daye to dome come tovore 8od.
<The ?yenbite of nwit=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish toforan and has no successor in (odern *n"lish.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include toforen, tofor,
tofore, tofore and toforn. t was a mar"inal preposition with very low rate of occurence. The
prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish before
and 1atin ante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
. .2 .4 0
,ate 2.220 F 2.222. F 2.29 F 2.2- F
to8!r"
Ee com and mette wiK ous tway
?s we eten in Ke way,
?nd went toward +aradysC
Nus he bot him in Ke viis.
<?dam and *ve=
0.
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish to$eard and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
to$ard and to$ards. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus
include to"$ard, to$ard, to$ardan, to$arrd, to$art, to$eard, to$earden, to$arde,
to$ardes and to$ardis. The %s of to$ardes comes from the "enitive sin"ular endin" %es. ?s
noted by (ustano>a <(ustano>a, .6/2H4.-=, since 7ld *n"lish period, the elements of the
preposition have not infreBuently been separated by a nounH to M no"n M $ard. ts rate of
occurence was relatively low and was constantly decreasin" durin" the (iddle *n"lish
period. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish to$ard and 1atin erga.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
99 -9 4. -5
,ate 2./0 F 2.-9 F 2.22 F 2../ F
t$ro,&$
?nd Kurh 8odes milce and Kurh Ke Biscop of 3eresberi and te Biscop of 1incol and te oKre
rice men Ke Ker w@ron, Ka wiste Ke kin" Jat he feorde mid swicdom.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish "rh and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
thro"gh. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include "rh,
"r, "rg, "rh, oro", or", or", or" h , "r, "re, oro", oro$, "rgh, "rghe,
thorogh, thoro", thro"gh, th"rgh, "rgh, thoro"gh, thoro"ghe and thoro$. ts rate of
occurence started to decrease after .252. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish thro"gh and 1atin per.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
-2- 06 0. .26
,ate 2.05 F 2.6. F 2.4- F 2.5 F
,"er
02
:itt shulenn tredenn unnderr fot annd all Kwerrtut forrwerrpenn Ke dom off all Katt laKe
flocc Katt niK forrblendedd, Katt t@leKK Katt to lofenn iss Kurrh niKfull modi nesse.
<The Dedication to the 7rmulum=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish "ndyr and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
"nder. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include "nder,
"nderr, onder, onderne, o"nder, "ndir, "ndre and "ndyr. The rate of its occurence was low
and it sli"htly decreased after .252. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish "nder and 1atin s"b.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
/2 .4 -2 26
,ate 2.54 F 2..4 F 2..9 F 2..- F
,p
Kou spren"est me, 1ord, wyK Ky mercy, and shal be made cleneC
Kou shalt purifie me, and shal be made whyte up snowe.
<The :est (idland +rose +salter, +salm 1=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish "ppe and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish "p.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include "p, "pe, "pp,
"ppa, "ppe and )ppe. ts rate of occurence was sli"htly decreasin" throu"hout the (iddle
*n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish "p and 1atin s"pra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.-6 /2 5- -9
,ate ..2- F 2./- F 2.20 F 2..9 F
,po
?nnd te bit@che icc off Kiss boc, heh wikenn alls itt semeKK,
?ll to Kurrhsekenn illc an ferrs, annd to Kurrhlokenn offte,
0-
Natt upponn all Kiss boc ne be nan word n #ristess lare,
Aan word tatt swiKe wel ne be to trowwenn annd to foll henn.
<The Dedication to the 7rmulum=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish "ppan and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish
"pon. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include oppan,
"pen, "pon, "ppan, "ppen, "ppeon, "ponn, oppon, o"pon, "po, )pon, opon, "ppon and
)ppon. ts rate of occurence was increasin" but then, after .422, suddenly sli"htly
decreased. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "pon and
1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
52 5. 222 .09
,ate 2.44 F 2.52 F ..26 F 2.09 F
8i9
Kerefter Ke biscop of :incestre, Eenri Ke kin"es brother 3tephnes, spac wid ,obert *orl
and wid Ke emperice, and swor heam athas Jat he nevre ma mid te kin" his brother wolde
halden, and cursede alle Ke men Ke mid him heolden, and s@de heom J@t he wolde uven
heom up :incestre, and did heom cumen Kider.
<The +eterborou"h #hronicle=
The preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish $i and is a predecessor of (odern *n"lish $ith.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include $i, $i, $y,
$y, $ith and $yth. ts rate of occurence firstly sli"htly increased, what can be e!plained
by that fact that it became an eBuivalent for instrumental case. Aevertheless, after .-52, it
has sharply decreased as a result of semantic chan"es that it suffered. The prototypical
meanin" of the preposition $i was that of +resent%Day *n"lish against. This, however,
chan"ed durin" the (iddle *n"lish period, when $i "radually broadened its meanin"
which started to overlap with the of 7ld *n"lish mid. This started about the be"innin" of
the .-th century <cf. (ustano>a, .6/2H4.0=. ?ccordin" to Dekeyser <Dekeyser, .662=, this
chan"e was tri""ered by the fu$$iness of its core meanin"s as contrasted with ongean and
04
mid and the fact that another preposition, i.e. ongean, was available to take over. 3econdly,
as noted by Dekeyser, one could ar"ue that it was due to the pressure of unambi"uous
ongean that $i lost its oppositional salience. 1ast but not least, an influence of 7ld Aorse
)i, whose prototypical meanin" was identical with (odern%*n"lish $ith, mi"ht have been
influential. 3ome lin"uists ar"ue also for the influence of 1atin c"m <cf. (ustano>a,
.6/2H4.6=. Eowever, as stressed by Dekeyser <Dekeyser, .662H45=, 7ld Aorse )i could not
have tri""ered this semantic shift, since, there are numerous instances of $i in Beowulf or
)in" ?lfred, from which we can infer that this meanin" can be traced back to the earliest
7ld *n"lish records. .
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
5/2 5-6 -.5 .526
,ate 4.65 F 5.52 F ..9 F 9 F
8it$ie
'or he is as Ke wiJin Ke spruteJ ut Ke betere Kt me hine croppeJ ofte.
<?ncrene :isse=
?ccordin" to most sources, the preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish $iinnan and is
a predecessor of (odern *n"lish $ithin. ?ccordin" to our corpus data, the preposition did
not occur before ..52 and is therefore a newcomer in (iddle *n"lish. The ortho"raphic
variants of this preposition found in the corpus include $iin, $iinnen, $itten, $iinne,
$yinne, $yten, $iin, $ithin, $ithine, $ithinne, $ithHnne, $ithyn, $ithynne, $yten,
$ithinen, $ythin, $ythinne and $ythyn. t served as an emphatic eBuivalent of in. ts rate of
occurence was low and relatively stable. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish $ithin and 1atin in.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
5 -. 46 64
,ate 2.24 F 2.-. F 2.2/ F 2.4- F
05
8i7,te
?waym #laris, BuaK Blauncheflur,
Eo Kat luveK paramur,
?nd haK Kerof >oye mai luve fluresC
?c ich libbe in sore e in Kis tures,
'or ich wene, wiKute "abbe,
NatKe ?dmiral me wile habbe.
<'loris and Blauncheflur=
?ccordin" to most sources, the preposition comes from 7ld *n"lish $i"tan and is
a predecessor of (odern *n"lish $itho"t. ?ccordin" to our corpus data, the preposition did
not occur before ..52 and is therefore a newcomer in (iddle *n"lish. The ortho"raphic
variants of this preposition found in the corpus include $i"te, $i"ten, $io"te, $io"ten,
$i"te, $i"ten, $itho"te, $ith"ten, $yo"te, $yo"ten, $itho"t, $itho"ten, $itho"tyn,
$itho$ten, $itho"tten, $itho$tten, $itho$tyn, $ytho"t, $ytho"te, $ytho"ten, $ytho)t,
$ytho)te and $ytto"t. ts rate of occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish $itho"t and 1atin sine.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
.2 /5 09 .46
,ate 2.. F 2.// F 2.49 F 2./6 F
1. 2 MIDDLE ENGLISH +ORD5FORMATION
There is a small number of preposition which have no predecessor in 7ld *n"lish
since they arose by means of word%formative processes durin" the (iddle *n"lish period.
These includeH
!"o8
te wolf bey adoun his brest, and "on to siken harde and stron"e.
0/
<The 'o! and :olf in the :ell=
?ccordin" to (ustano>a, it comes from 7ld *n"lish of d"ne <(ustano>a, .6/2H-5/=.
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include ad"n, ad"ne,
ado"n, ado"ne, ado)ne and ado$ne. t was a mar"inal preposition with low rate of
occurence which started to decrease after .-52. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that
of +resent%day *n"lish ado$n and 1atin infra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
29 -4 5 2
,ate 2.2- F 2.-4 F 2.22 F 2.226 F
!#i"
Ewa se is ifallen amid te bearninde fur.
<?ncrene :isse=
The preposition is a compound of 7ld *n"lish on middan, where middan is ori"inally an
inflected ad>ective. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus
include amid, amidde, amiddes, amyd, amydde and amyddes. ts rate of occurence was very
low and there is no corpus evidence after .422. Aevertheless, assume that the preposition
occured also in (iddle *n"lish V period, since it occurs in (odern *n"lish as well. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish amidst and 1atin in
medi"m.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 .. 0 2
,ate 2.2. F 2... F 2.24 F %
-isi"e
tat cete was sett biside Ke felde Kat Oacob sumtyme had in welde.
<The Aorthern Eomily #ycle=
09
The preposition is a compound of 7ld *n"lish bi sidan. The ortho"raphic variants of this
preposition found in the corpus include bisiden, bisides, biside, bysyde, bisid and bisidis. ts
rate of occurence was relatively stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish beside and 1atin ap"d.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
- .5 .0 /
,ate 2.22 F 2..5 F 2.26 F 2.22 F
.or-'
Eaue no merueile whi sette Kees wordes forby alle oKer.
<The #loud of &nknowin"=
The preposition is a compound of 7ld *n"lish for bi. ?ccordin" to (ustano>a <(ustano>a,
.6/2H-04=, its occurence in (iddle *n"lish may owe somethin" to forei"n, probably 7ld
Aorse influence. The only ortho"raphic variant of this preposition found in the corpus is
forby. The preposition was mar"inal and did not occur before .252. The prototypical
meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish past and 1atin
praeter.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 . 2 .
,ate % 2.2. F 2.2. F 2.224 F
.ort$8it$
n Kis mater Ke kyn" mad Ke duke to take dayes and be bound, and forthwith Ke duke ded
homa"e to Ke emperour.
<Oohn #ap"rave;s #hronicle=
The preposition is a compound of forth M $ith. The only ortho"raphic variant of this
preposition found in the corpus is forth$ith. ts tokens can be found in the corpus since
00
.-52. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish $ith and 1atin
c"m.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 v .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 . -
,ate % % 2.225 F 2.2. F
.or8it$
Ee kneu him Buen he him beheild, bi takens was him forwit teld.
<#ursor (undi=
The preposition is a compound of for M $ith. The only ortho"raphic variant of this
preposition found in the corpus is for$it. have found only three tokens of this type in the
corpus all of which belon" to (iddle *n"lish period. The prototypical meanin" of this
preposition overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish before and 1atin ante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 - 2
,ate % % 2.2. F %
.orto
...afterward Ke 3a!ons come and made Kat contray lon"e to Brenicia, Ke norK party of
AorKumberlon, forto Kat )ynadius, ?lpinus hys sone, kyn" of 3cotlond, put out Ke +ictes
and made Kat contray Kat ys bytwene Twede and Ke 3cottysch se lon"e to hys kyn"dom.
<Trevisa;s Translation of Ei"den;s +olychronicon=
The preposition is a compound of 7ld *n"lish for to. The ortho"raphic variants of this
preposition found in the corpus include fore, forte, forto, )ort, )orto and forthe. t firstly
appears in the corpus after .252. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish "ntil and 1atin "s^"e.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
06
Aumber of
words
2 /. 4/ 56
,ate % 2./2 F 2.24 F 2.29 F
i8it$
'or which this Oanuarie, of whom tolde,
#onsidered hath, inwith his dayes olde,
The lusty lyf, the vertuous Buyete,
That is in maria"e hony%sweete,
?nd for his freendes on a day he sente,
To tellen hem thxeffect of his entente.
<8eoffrey #haucer % The (erchant;s Tale=
The preposition is a compound of in M $ith. The only ortho"raphic variant found in the
corpus is in$ith. ?ccordin" to (ustano>a <(ustano>a, .6/2H-62=, this preposition occurs
from the .-th century down to the ./th century. n our corpus, have found only one
occurence in (iddle *n"lish period. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish $ithin and 1atin intra.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 . 2
,ate % % 2.225 F %
o,&$t8it$sto"'&
7f which oon was, where the eleccion of mairaltee is to be to the fremen of the citee bi
"ode and paisible avys of the wysest and trewest, at o day in the yere frelich, % there,
nou"htwithstondy" the same fredam or fraunchise, Aicholus Brembre wyth his upberers
proposed hym, the yere ne!t after Oohn Aorthampton mair of the same citee with stron"e
62
honde as it is ful knowen, and thorou"h debate and stren"er partye ayeins the pees bifore
purveyde was chosen mair, in destruccion of many ry"ht.
<The 'irst +etition to +arliament in *n"lish=
The preposition is a compound of 7ld *n"lish na$iht M $istonding. ts form is motivated
by parallel 7ld 'rench non obstant. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in
the corpus include not$ithstanding, not$ithstandinge, not$ithstandyng, not$ithstondyng,
not$ythstonding and not$yttstondyng. t did not occur before .422 when it ousted the
synonymous 'rench loan ma"gre. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%
day *n"lish not$ithstanding and 1atin non obstante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 2 .2
,ate % % % 2.25 F

t$ro,&$o,t
That ye make serche thur"hout alle my re"ion % withoute ony tarien", my wille may be seen
and sle alle tho children, without e!cepcion, of to yeeres of a"e Kat within sraelle benew
<Di"by +lays=
The preposition is a compound from 7ld *n"lish "rh M "t. t was an emphatic form of
thro"gh. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include
th"rgho"t, th"rgheo"t and th"rgho"te. ?ccordin" to the corpus data, the preposition was
mar"inal and did not occur before .-52. Eowever, in most of the dictionaries, "rh"t is also
mentioned as an 7ld *n"lish preposition. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish thro"gho"t and 1atin per.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 2 -
,ate % % 2.2. F 2.2. F
,to
6.
#ateryn and Eue 'enne recomaund them unto you, and they praye fore you as they can.
<1etter of *li$abeth 3tonor to her husband=
?ccordin" to (ustano>a, the preposition is formed after the analo"y of "ntil <(ustano>a,
.6/2H4.5=. This claim is not supported by our corpus data, since instances of "nto are
already found before .-52, while "ntil only after .-52. :hat is however undeniable is the
fact that the first element "n is a 3candinavian loan from 7ld Aorse "nd until . The
ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include "nto and onto. ts
prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "nto and 1atin ad.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 .- 59 .02
,ate % 2..- F 2.- F 2.04 F
1. 3 FOREIGN INGLUENCES
?s we have already mentioned in chapter -, prepositons are a relatively closed class
that is not prone to Buick chan"es. This is of course not >ust the case of prepositions, but
also other words with mainly "rammatical function. 1ass su""ested the followin"
borrowability hierarchyH Aoun U ?d>ective U Verb U ?dverb U +reposition <1ass,
.669H.62=. Durin" the 7ld *n"lish period, only one preposition of forei"n ori"in occured,
i.e. til. This, however, was very mar"inal at that time and occured mainly in Aorthern
re"ions of the Dane 1aw. n order to e!plain the relative influ! of loan prepositions into
(iddle *n"lish, one must take a closer look at the history of the *n"lish nation. n .2//,
:illiam of Aormandy won the Battle of Eastin"s and was in the same year crowned kin"
of *n"land. ?s a result, there was a close connection between *n"land and Aormandy.
(oreover, there was a dramatic chan"e in the lin"uistic situation, since Aorman 'rench
became the lan"ua"e upper classes and ,oyal #ourt whereas *n"lish retained the role of
the lan"ua"e of lower classes. The process of borrowin" 'rench prepositions, a word class
on the lowest level of 1ass;s borrowability hierarchy, must therefore be viewed as
indicative of very intimate lan"ua"e contacts between the *n"lish and the 'rench
population. *!cept for the ma>ority of 'rench loanwords, the prepositions penetrated into
62
*n"lish also from another lan"ua"e, namely, 7ld Aorse. The speakers of this lan"ua"e
occupied part of *n"land already durin" the late 7ld *n"lish period, nevertheless, people
outside the Dane 1aw mi"ht have been reluctant to use the words that they associated with
their 3candinavian a"ressor. ?s a result, 3candinavian lan"ua"e had had very low presti"e
in areas outside the Dane 1aw. 3till, after the Vikin"s relinBuished power, these ne"ative
connotations mi"ht have "radually disappeared. This made it possible for words of
3candinavian derivation to spread to all dialects of *n"lish. #onseBuently, there is an
increase in the use of the preposition til and formation of another compound preposition
"ntil which are both of 3candinavian ori"in. The list of loan prepositions which entered the
(iddle *n"lish prepositional system includes
-
H
)osi"eri&
The whiche by reasons holde torne theyr face from the worlde, consideryn" the ende of
theyr lyfe
<n Die nnocencium=
The preposition comes from 'rench. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in
the corpus include consederyng, considering, consideryng, considerynge and considryng.
ts rate of occurence was very low and it did not occur before .-52. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish considering.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 / .2
,ate % % 2.2- F 2.24 F
",ri&
?nd yf eny nede be to repaire, to stande opyn duryn" the tyme of repeiryn" as yn the said
composicion more openly and pleynly aperith.
-
*!cept for the above mentioned prepositions, there is an array of other loanwords from this period like
aro"nd, ato"r, concerning, co"ntre, excepting, sans, sa)e or sa)ing, however, there is no corpus evidence for
their e!istence in the Eelsinki #orpus.
6-
<1etters and +apers of Oohn 3hillin"ford=
The preposition is a calBue on 7ld 'rench d"rant <(ustano>a, .6/2H-9/=. The ortho"raphic
variants of this preposition found in the corpus include d"rre, d"rren, d"ryng, d"rynge and
d"ring. ts rate of occurence was low but stable and its prototypical meanin" overlaps with
that of +resent%day *n"lish d"ring and 1atin per.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
- 2 4 2-
,ate 2.22 F % 2.22 F 2.. F

e()ept
The whiche Kin"es forsoKe iseyne, he may caste away all e!cepte Ke stomak <if Ke
anothomye schal be made of Ke ouer membres= and Ke reynes, to see Ke anothomye of Ke
lower membres.
<The #yrur"ie of 8uy de #hauliac=
The preposition comes from 7ld 'rench excepte. ?ccordin" to (ustano>a <.6/2, -99=. The
ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include except and excepte.
The only attestations are found in the corpus after .422. The prototypical meanin" of this
preposition found in the corpus include +resent%day *n"lish except and 1atin praeter.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 2 .5
,ate % % % 2.29 F
.r!
'orKi blisce Kat paramour
Luen have ne dme dos socureC
Nat saves me first in erth fra syn
64
?nd hevenblys me helps to wyn.
<The #ursor (undi=
The preposition comes from 7ld Aorse fra and is a co"nate with 7ld *n"lish fram. The
ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include fro and fra. ts rate of
occurence reached its peak after .-52 and it started to decrease after .422. ts prototypical
meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish from and 1atin ab and ex.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
59 4-- 200
,ate 2.50 F 2.-5 F ..-4 F

#!,&re
(au"re his Kai "un him spill,
Eow proves Kou Kan it was his willI
<The Death of 3aint ?ndrew=
The preposition comes from 7ld 'rench m"gre. The ortho"raphic variants of this
preposition found in the corpus include ma"gree, ma"gree, magre and ma)gre. ts rate of
occurence was very low and it completely died out after .522 when it was replaced by the
preposition not$ithstanding. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day
*n"lish not$ithstanding and 1atin non obstante.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 4 . 2
,ate % 2.24 F 2.225 F 2.226 F
p,r
Ko he sa"h +ers come Ker wyKal,
Ke pore Ko"ht, now aske shalH
aske Ke sum "ode pur charyte,
+ers, yf Ky wylle be.
65
<,obert (annin";s Eandlyn"e 3ynne, The Tale of +ers the &surer=
The preposition comes from 7ld 'rench p"r. The ortho"raphic forms of this preposition
found in the corpus include par, per and p"r. t did not occur before .252 and its rate of
occurence was very low. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish
by and 1atin ab.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 0 5 4
,ate % 2.29 F 2.22 F 2.2. F
ti%
+ers lestned, and herd hem spekyn",
?nd Kat Key had of hym knowyn"C
?nd pryvyly awey hen am
Tyl he to Ke porter cam.
<,obert (annin";s Eandlyn"e 3ynne, The Tale of +ers the &surer=
The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in the corpus include til, till, tille, tyl,
tile and tylle. The ori"in of the preposition til is especially challen"in". t already appeared
in non%:est 3a!on dialects of 7ld *n"lish <especially 7ld Aorthumbrian and 7ld
(ercian=, however, since the evidence is very low, have decided to classify it as a (iddle
*n"lish preposition. ?ccordin" to 7!ford *n"lish Dictionary and (ustano>a <(ustano>a,
.6/2H420=, it resulted from a mer"er of the homophonous 7ld *n"lish til and 7ld Aorse til.
,issanen <2229H /6= is silent on this issue, claimin" that the 7ld Aorse etymolo"y cannot
be disputed, but at the same time stresses the fact that the earliest occurence is found in an
early ei"hth%century manuscript what would be Buite early for a borrowed "rammatical
item. \et, accordin" to recent findin"s by )ry"ier <)ry"ier, 22..=, it is rather a direct
borrowin" from 7ld Aorse. )ry"ier analysed the use of 7ld *n"lish til as attested in the
D7* corpus <#ameron et al. <ed.=, .60.=. Ee comes to the conclusion that out of .4
instances of the preposition in the corpus, only four instances <one from a Aorthumbrian
6/
version of #@dmon;s Eymn, one from the ,uthwell #ross inscription and two from the
!indisfarne ospels= are crucial for the ?n"lo%3a!on interpretation of the preposition as the
others may be easily e!plained as 3candinavian borrowin"s due to the time of their
attestation. Eowever, )ry"ier points out that the early two instances of til from the 0th
century should be seen as the only survivals of an otherwise unattested poetic 7ld *n"lish
til, since it is not possible to show any functional continuity between the early and the late
e!amples of til. The early e!amples are used as an e!pression of purpose in #@dmon;s
Eymn and in local sense in ,uthwell #ross while in the 1indisfarne 8ospels, til introduces
an inflected infinitive in the first instance or follows a verb of speakin" in a Buasi%phrasal
construction in the second instance. (oreover, at the time of writin" the respective
passa"es of the 1indisfarne 8ospels, the Danes had been livin" in Aorthumbria for
appro!imately a century. The prototypical meanin" of this preposition overlaps with that of
+resent%day *n"lish "ntil and 1atin "s^"e ad
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
/2 92 262 -49
,ate 2.5 F 2.9. F ..50 F ../2 F
to,)$i& ;to,)$!t<
1yte 1owys my sone, aperceyve wel by certeyne evydences thyn abilite to lerne sciences
touchin" nombres and proporciounsC and as wel considre thy besy praier in special to
lerne the tretys of the ?strelabie.
<8eoffrey #haucer v ? Treatise on the ?strolabe=
The preposition comes from 'rench to"chant. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition
found in the corpus include to"chende, to"cheng, to"ching, to"chyng, to"chynge and
69
to"chyngge. The seventeen instances found in the corpus all come from the (iddle *n"lish
period.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 .9 2
,ate % % 2.26 F %
,ti%
1eft in Braband ful mekill deleC
?nd all Kat land untill Kis day
'ars Ke better, for Kat >ornay.
<The 3on"s of 1awrence (inot=
The preposition is a compound from "n M til. ?ccordin" to 1undsk@r%Aielsen <.66-H..4=
"ntil comes from 7ld Aorse "ndMtil. 7ld Aorse "nd was a co"nate with 7ld *n"lish o
whose meanin" was synonymous with til . :e can then conclude that the semantics of
"ntil contains the same meanin" in the first as well as in the second element and therefore
functioned as an emphatic form of til. The ortho"raphic variants of this preposition found in
the corpus include "ntil and "ntyll. The preposition was mar"inal and did not occur before
.-52. ts prototypical meanin" overlaps with that of +resent%day *n"lish "ntil and 1atin
"s^"e.
(iddle *n"lish
<..52 % .252=
(iddle *n"lish
<.252 % .-52=
(iddle *n"lish
<.-52 % .422=
(iddle *n"lish V
<.422 % .522=
Aumber of
words
2 2 6 .
,ate % % 2.24 F 2.224 F
=. FROM MIDDLE ENGLISH TO MODERN ENGLISH
The most considerable chan"es after .522 that affected prepositions are
ortho"raphic chan"es. These are closely related to the process of standardi$ation which
60
took place durin" this period. 3tandard lan"ua"es are often the by%products of burreaucracy
and arise from practical administrative needs. *n"lish was not a e!ception. t became
standardi$ed firstly due to the need of the central "overnment for re"ular procedures by
which to conduct its business, to keep its records, and to communicate with the citi$ens of
the land. ?mon" other influences that stron"ly fostered the standardi$ation process was the
invetion of the printin" press. ? few decades after the invention, in .494, :illiam #a!ton
printed the first *n"lish book in Bel"ium. Two years later, #a!ton brou"ht the printin"
press into *n"land where he published about ei"hty other titles. n doin" so, #a!ton
contributed to the stabili$ation of the new standard based on 1ondon dialect, since he
concentrated on makin" the lan"ua"e understandable to the broad masses of population that
read his books. n the si!teenth and the seventeenth century, there were other spellin"
reformers like Oohn #heke, Thoms 3mith, Oohn Eart, :illiam Bullokar. ?le!ander 8il or
#harles Butler, but the proposals of none of them met success. 'inally, it was not until the
ei"hteenth century that *n"lish had reached the sta"e with a fully standardi$ed spellin". ?s
far as the standardi$ation of prepositions is concerned, usually the short forms became
standardi$ed <e.". behinden % behind, bet$eenen % bet$een, $ithinen % $ithin, $itho"ten %
$itho"t=. Aevertheless, in certain cases, the lon"er form was "enerali$ed <e.". again&st' %
against, fro&m' % from, to$ard&s' % to$ards=. n a few cases both forms have survived as
independent prepositions, sometimes with a clear difference in meanin" <e.". beside vs.
besides=, sometimes as little more than stylistic alternatives <e.". among vs. amongst=.
*!cept for the simple and compound prepositions that survived from the 7ld and (iddle
*n"lish times, new prepositions arose durin" the (odern *n"lish period. These fall into the
new morpholo"ical cate"ory of comple! prepositions. ,elyin" on the data presented by
Eoffmann <Eoffmann, 2225H /.%/2= who draw from the 7!ford *n"lish Dictionary and the
8uthenber" #orpus, the followin" three "roups of comple! prepositions can be identified.
The first "roup comprises early comple! prepositions which have already acBuired comple!
prepositional status by the end of the (iddle *n"lish period. These include the prepositions
by means of, by )irt"e of, by $ay of, in place of, in spite of and in respect of. The second
"roup consists of constructions with "rammaticali$ation into fi!ed units which can be
placed within the time%span from rou"hly .522 to .922. These include in common $ith, in
conH"nction $ith, in fa)o"r of, in need of, in relation to, in search of, on behalf of, on top of,
66
$ith regard to and $ith respect to. The third "roup contains those items, which were added
within the last three centuriesH by reference to, in accordance $ith, in addition to, in charge
of, in connection $ith, in contrast to, in excess of, in front of, in line $ith, in response to, in
ret"rn for, in s"pport of, in terms of and in )ie$ of. These became the lar"est "roup of
prepositions durin" the (odern *n"lish period and contributed si"nificantly to the
e!pansion of the word class.
0. CONCLUSION
The present thesis aimed to shed some li"ht on *n"lish prepositions from
a historical perspective. t tried to do so on both theoretical and empirical level. 7n
theoretical level, e!amined four hundred years of the history of *n"lish "rammar writin"
with special reference to *n"lish prepositions. 3ome of the most influential definitions and
treatements of prepositions were e!amined. :e have seen that especially in the first
decades of *n"lish "rammar writin", there was a minority of "rammarias like Eume,
Oonson, or 'isher, who did not acknowled"e in their works that prepositions constitute
a word class in its own ri"ht. 7ther "rammarians acknowled"ed the traditional status of
a preposition as a separate word class, althou"h not everyone considered them important
enou"h to deal with them in their "rammars. 8enerally, the history of *n"lish "rammar
writin" with re"ard to prepositions can be seen as one of relative sta"nation, e!ceptionally
.22
interrupted by authors like Bullokar, (ie"e, (aittaire, Bri"htland, 8reenwood or 1owth.
The relative ne"li"ence of prepositions culminated in the first half of the twentieth century,
when most of the "rammarians completely omitted sections on prepositions in their works.
t was only in the second half of the twentieth century, that the situation radically chan"ed
and since then, "rammarians like 3chibsbye, Luirk, 8reenbaum, 1eech, 3vartvik,
Euddleston, +ullum or ?arts introduced scientifically precise definitions and developed
detailed and elaborate frameworks for their description, which, in most cases, reflect
contemporary developments in theoretical lin"uistics.
:hen it comes to the results of my empirical research, these are scattered
throu"hout the thesis. ? chart with fi"ures e!pressin" rate of occurence of each preposition
is provided, as well as the list of all ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus. The primary
meanin" of each preposition is always illustrated on +resent%day *n"lish as well as 1atin.
Besides these findin"s, the corpus allows us for the followin", more "eneral, conclusions.
+repositions have always been hi"h freBuency words in *n"lish. 7ut of fifty most freBuent
words, at least nine have always been prepositions. n the 7ld *n"lish period, prepositional
system was entirely ndo%*uropean or 8ermanic in its ori"in. (orpholo"ically, it consisted
of simple and compound prepositions. Ao comple! prepositions occured durin" the 7ld
*n"lish period. The corpus has shown that the number of prepositions was constantly
increasin". t was increasin" already durin" the 7ld *n"lish period due to word%formative
processes. This trend continued in the (iddle *n"lish period. The prepositions increased as
both tokens and types. The increase in preposition tokens was part of the movement of the
lan"ua"e from a more synthetic to a more analytic stateH as the old case%systems decayed,
their function was often taken over by prepositions. The increase of prepositions as types is
a direct conseBuence of further word%formative processes and new loans. (ost of the new
prepositions came from 'rench. n fact, the ma>ority of forei"n prepositions that penetrated
into *n"lish lin"uistic system throu"hout its .522 years history are of 'rench ori"in.
Besides, two prepositions are of 7ld Aorse ori"in. The history of loan prepositions
therefore mirrors the lon" lastin" intimate relation between ?n"lo%3a!ons and
3candinavians and ?n"lo%3a!ons and Aormans. The relation of the *n"lish people with
other nations durin" the (odern *n"lish period was never close and lon" enou"h to affect
the prepositional system of *n"lish. n other words, *n"lish simple prepositions never saw
.2.
"reater influ! of forei"n items than in the (iddle *n"lish period. (iddle *n"lish period
can be therefore classified as a period of borrowin"s, whereas (odern *n"lish period can
be classified as a period of the "rammaticali$ation of comple! prepositions. Their number
has increased considerably durin" (odern *n"lish period and the whole class was therefore
a"ain substantially e!tended. 8enerally, then, we can claim that the number of prepositions
is constantly risin". +repositions can be therefore defined as a relatively open and
e!pandin" class althou"h, when studied from a short%term perspective, it appears to be a
closed class which is not prone to Buick chan"es. ?nother conclusion may be made on
semantic level.
:hen comparin" the Buantitative development of those 7ld and (iddle *n"lish
prepositions, whose primary, prototypical meanin"s overlapped, there was a "eneral
tendency of one preposition to oust the other<s= from the lin"uistic system. n other words,
there was a shift durin" the 7ld and (iddle *n"lish periods, which resulted in the
reduction of synonymous simple prepositions, e.". toeacan vs. beside, be%%ftan vs. behind,
ma"gre vs. not$ithstanding, mid vs. $ith, or even lar"er synonymous sets, e.". %r vs.
%tforan vs. beforan vs. foran vs. onforan vs. toforan, or forto vs. o vs. til vs. "ntil. 7f
these "roups, usually only one <underlined= item survived in (odern *n"lish. This is
especially strikin" due to the fact that *n"lish is known as a lan"ua"e full of numerous
synonyms, which were formed throu"hout the historical development of *n"lish.
nterestin"ly, then, when it comes to the synonymy of simple prepositions, there was
a reduction durin" the (iddle ?"es and not an e!tension, as was the case of nouns and
verbs in the same period.
There are further issues which have not been Buestioned in the present thesis, e.".
the role of "rammaticali$ation in the development of particular prepositions, especially
comple! prepositions, or the dialectal variations of particular prepositions, especially as far
as the particular ortho"rapic variants are concerned. These, however, should remain for
a topic of separate research. Aevertheless, believe that the present work provided the
reader with a brief overview of the history of *n"lish prepositions and can modestly fill the
"ap in the diachronic studies of *n"lish prepositions.
.22
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pri#!r' so,r)es
Eelsinki #orpus of *n"lish Te!ts <.66.= EelsinkiH Department of *n"lish. nH #?(*
#ollection of *n"lish 1an"ua"e #orpora <#D%,7(=.
Se)o"!r' so,r)es
?ickin, Ooseph <./6-= *he English rammar` or- *he English *ong"e aed"ced to
rammatical a"les` Containing *he 2o"r Parts of rammar- )i3_Orthography-
Etymology- Syntax- Prosody or Poetry_ ,eing *he Easiest- b"ic(est- and most
A"thentic( Method of *eaching it by a"les and Pict"resc adapted to the Capacities
of Children- do"th- and those of riper dears` en !earning $hereof the English
Scholar may no$ obtain the Perfection of his Mother *ong"e- $itho"t the
.2-
Assistance of !atin` Composed for the "se of all English-Schools_ ,y 1oseph Aic(in
M_A_ and lately one of the Masters of the 2ree-School of !ondon-Derry. 1ondon
?nonym <.92/= *he English Scholar Compleat` Containing e_ An English rammar- or
rather Accidence- treating of the Parts of English Speech- and $hat belongs to
them- $hich is the meaning of the $ord Accidence_ ee_ A Catalog"e of all the chief
!atin roots from $hence English-!atin $ords are deri)ed_ eee_ An Explanation of
s"ch fordsc e)ery Deri)ati)e being set "nder its respecti)e aoot or Primiti)ec
$hereby is seen not only $hat the ford signifies- b"t $hy it signifies so and so- or
the aeason of its Significationc $ith 0elps to prono"nce them right- by Mar(s on the
so"nding Syllables_ eg_ Se)eral select !atin Sentences- met oft-times in English
friters "nexplain/d- made English_ g_ An 0istory of select Proper hames_ ge_ An
English rhetoric(_ gee_ A Catalog"e of all s"ch ree( aoots- as ree(-English
fords are deri)ed from- $ith the Explanation of themc as also of all significant
fords of common ise in o"r !ang"age- deri)/d from other *ong"es- as Saxon-
2rench- etalian- Spanish- jc_ Compos/d for the ise of an English School- at the
Coc( and S$an in Cannon-Street` And )ery isef"l for most People "nder
Academics_ fith a !etter in !atin to all !atin-Masters- aecommending it to
the "se of se)eral in their Schools_ 1ondon...
?nonym <.9-/= A he$ English Accidence- ,y $ay of Short b"estion and Ans$er- ,"ilt
"pon the Plano f the !atin rammar- so far as it agrees $ith- and is consistent $ith
the hat"re and eni"s of the English *on"ge_ Designed for the ise and ,enefit-
and Adapted to the Capacity of do"ng !ads at the English school_ en Order to teach
them the ro"nds of their Mother *ong"e- and fit them for the more easy and
expeditio"s attaining the rammar of the !atin- or any other lang"age_ ,y
a School-Master in the Co"ntry___ 1ondon...
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English !ang"age- en its present State_ fith Some general Obser)ations and
Directions relating to the Spelling- Prono"ncing- and friting of it_ ,y essac ,ar(er_
\ork...
.24
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examples for parsing- ^"estions for examination- false syntax for correction-
exercises for $riting- obser)ations for the ad)anced st"dent- and a (ey to the oral
exercises` to $hich are added fo"r appendixes_ Designed for the "se of schools-
academies- and pri)ate learners_ ,y oold ,ro$n- principal of an English and
classical academy, Aew \orkH 3amuel 3. Z :illiam :ood.
Bullokar, :illiam <.50/= ,ref rammar for English. 1ondonH *dmund Bollifant.
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dictionary of Old English corp"s in electronic form. TorontoH D7* +ro>ect.
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#ollyer, Oohn <.9-5= *he eneral Principles of rammarc Especially Adapted to the
English *ong"e_ fith a Method of Parsing and Examination_ 2or the ise of
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#orisco, ?na (a Eornero <.669= 'rench influence on *n"lish prepositionsH a study of
?ncrene :isse. nH St"dia Anglica Posnaniensia, Vol. -2, pp. --%45.
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.25
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Dik, 3imon #. <.669b= *he theory of 2"nctional rammar. gol q` Complex and deri)ed
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Eight Parts of Speech- and their Constr"ction is explain/d_ ,y Daniel D"ncan- M_D_
Master of eslington-School_ 1ondon...
*ntick, Oohn <.920= Spec"l"m !atin"m` or- !atin Made easy to Scholars- ,y an English
rammar onlyc heither *edio"s- nor obsc"rec composed on hat"ral Principles- and
instr"cting the yo"ng ,eginner in !atin- by English a"les- adapted to the meanest
Capacities- for the ise and ,enefit of Schools and 2amilies_ ,y 1ohn Entic(_
1ondon...
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ini)ersals in !ing"istic *heory. 1ondonH Eolt, ,inehart Z :inston.
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A he$ Prosodiac or- *he Art of English h"mbers_ All adapted to the ise of
entlemen and !adies- As $ell as of the Schools of reat ,ritain_ 1ondon
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beginnings to the end of the nineteenth cent"ry. Bin"hamton, A\H #enter for
(edieval and *arly ,enaissance 3tudies.
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.2/
the eni"s and hat"re of the English *ong"e` i)ing !i(e$ise a aational and Plain
Acco"nt of rammar in eneral- $ith a 2amiliar Explanation of its *erms_ ,y
1ames reen$ood. 1ondon
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English !ang"age. #ambrid"eH #ambrid"e &niversity +ress.
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"lesias%,bade, 1uis <222-= ? semantic study of on%phrases in (iddle *n"lish. nH St"dia
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Oackendoff, ,ay <.69-= The base rule of prepositional phrases. nH 3. ,. ?nderson and +.
)iparsky <*ds.=H A 2estchrift for Morris 0alle. Aew \orkH Eolt, ,inehart and
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2"nctions of !ang"age, Vol. .5, ssue 2, pp. 2./%25/.
)ry"ier, (arcin <22..= 7n the 3candinavian ori"in of the 7ld *n"lish preposition til till .
nH Oacek 'isiak and (a"dalena Bator <*ds.= 2oreign enfl"ences on Medie)al
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)urath, Eans and )uhn, 3herman (. <.65/ % 222.= Middle English Dictionary. ?nn ?rborH
The &niversity of (ichi"an +ress.
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&niversity +ress.
.29
1eech, 8eoffrey, +aul ,ayson and ?ndrew :ilson <222.= ford 2re^"encies in fritten
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1inn, ?ndrew <222/= *n"lish "rammar writin". nH Bas ?arts and ?pril (c(ahon <*ds=H
*he 0andboo( of English !ing"istics. 7!fordH Blackwell +ublishin".
1undsk@r%Aielsen, Tom <.66-= Prepositions in Old and Middle English. 7denseH 7dense
&niversity +ress.
1owth, ,obert <.9/2=H A Short entrod"ction to English rammar` $ith critical notes.
1ondon
(acken$ie, 1achlan <222.= ?dverbs and prepositionsH the #inderella cate"ories of
'unctional 8rammar. nH (. O. +sre$ Luintero <*d.= Challenges and de)elopments
in 2"nctional rammar. <(ono"raphic section of ,evista #anaria de *studios
n"leses 42.=, pp. ..6%.-5.
(aittaire, (ichael <.9.2= *he English rammar` Or- An Essay on the Art of rammar-
Applied to and Exemplified in the English *ong"e_ ,y Michael Maittaire_ 1ondon...
(alak, Oanus$ <22.2= +reposition strandin" in 7ld *n"lish. nH (arcin )ry"ier and 1iliana
3ikorska <*ds.= e como"n peplis lang"age. 'rankfurt am (ainH +eter 1an"
(ichael, an <.66.= (ore Than *nou"h *n"lish 8rammars. nH 8erhard 1eitner <*d.=
*n"lish Traditional 8rammars. ?msterdam and +hiladelphiaH Oohn Ben>amins
+ublishin" #ompany.
(iY"e, 8uy <./00= *he English rammar- or- *he ro"nds- and eni"s of the English
*ong"e_ fith a Prefatory Disco"rse- Concerning ets Original- and Excellencyc And-
at the End- a Collection of the English Monosyllables- ,eing the aadical Part of the
!ang"age_ fherein *r"e Spelling and Pointing- the "s"al Abbre)iations- the se)eral
0ands- "sed in friting- and Characters in Printing- the gariety of Styles- and the
Method of ,oo(s- jc_ are Explained_ ,y "y Miuge- A"thor of the reat 2rench
Dictionary. 1ondon
(itchell, Bruce <.605= Old English Syntax_ gol"me e. 7!fordH #larendon +ress.
(olencki, ,afaD <2225= 7n the 3yntactic and 3emantic Development of after in (edieval
*n"lish. nH (arcin )ry"ier and 1iliana 3ikorska <*ds.=H ha(ed fordes in Englissh.
'rankfurt am (ainH +eter 1an". pp. 49%//.
(olencki, ,afaD <2229a= 7n the rise of the temporal con>unction before in (edieval
.20
*n"lish. nH (arcin )ry"ier and 1iliana 3ikorska <*ds.=H *o Ma(e his Englissh
S$eete "pon his *onge. 'rankfurt am (ainH +eter 1an". pp. -9%54.
(olencki, ,afaD <2229b= The *volution of since in (edieval *n"lish. nH &rsula 1enker
and ?nneli (eurman%3olin <*ds.=H Connecti)es in the 0istory of English.
?msterdam and +hiladelphiaH Oohn Ben>amins +ublishin" #ompany. pp. 69%..-.
(olencki, ,afaD <22..= Aew prepositions and subordinatin" con>unctions of ,omance
ori"in in (iddle *n"lish. nH Oacek 'isiak and (a"dalena Bator <*ds.=H 'oreign
enfl"ences on Medie)al English. 'rankfurt am (ainH +eter 1an".
(urray, 1indley <.965= English rammar- adapted to the different classes of learners_
fith in apendix- containing r"les and obser)ations for promoting perspic"ity in
spea(ing and $riting_ ,y !_ M"rrey_ \orkH :ilson, 3pence, and (awman.
(ustano>a, Tauno '. <.6/2= A Middle English Syntax. EelsinkiH 3ociete Aeophilolo"iBue.
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#o.
Aevalainen, Terttu <.666= *arly (odern *n"lish 1e!is and 3emantics. nH ,o"er 1ass
<*d.=H *he Cambridge 0istory of the English !ang"age. #ambrid"eH #ambrid"e
&niversity +ress.
Aewton Oohn <.//6= School Pastime 2or do"ng Children` Or the a"diments of rammar-
in an easie and delightf"l Method- for teaching of Children to read English
distinctly- and $rite it tr"ly_ en $hich- by $ay of Preface- a he$ Method is
propo"nded- for the fitting of Children first for *rades- and then for the !atin- and
other !ang"ages_ ,y 1ohn he$ton Doctor in Di)inity- and one of his MaHesties
Chaplains___ 1ondon...
+almer, Earold *. <.624= A rammar of Spo(en English` On a Strictly Phonetic ,asis.
#ambrid"eH Eeffer.
+ollard, #arl Oesse and 3a", van ?. <.604= 0ead-dri)en Phrase Str"ct"re rammar.
#hica"oH #hica"o &niversity +ress.
+oole, Ooshua <./4/= *he English Accidence` or- A Short- Plaine- and Easie $ay- for the
.26
more speedy attaining to the !atine tong"e- by the help of English_ Set o"t 2or the
"se and profit of yo"ng Children- j framed so- as they may bee exercised in it- as
soon as they can b"t indiferrently read English_ ,y 1osh"a Poole_ 1ondon.
+riestley, Ooseph <.9/.= *he a"diments of English rammarc Adapted to the "se of
schools $ith obser)ations on style_ By Ooseph +riestley. 1ondon.
Luirk, ,andolph et al. <.605= A Comprehensi)e rammar of the English lang"gage.
1ondonH 1on"man.
,issanen, (atti <2225= The development of till and "ntil in *n"lish. nH Oacek 'isiak and
Eye%)yun" )an" <*ds.=H aecent *rends in Medie)al English !ang"age and
!iterat"re in 0ono"r of do"ng-,ae Par(, Vol. . 3eoulH Thaehaksa +ublishin"
#ompany.
,issanen, (atti <2229= 'rom o to tillH *arly 1oss of an ?dverbial 3ubordinator. nH &rsula
1enker and ?nneli (eurman%3olin <*ds.=H Connecti)es in the 0istory of English.
?msterdam and +hiladelphiaH Oohn Ben>amins. pp. /.%9/.
3a!on, 3amuel <.9-9= *he English Schollar/s Assistant` Or- *he a"diments of the English
*ong"e_ en 2o"rs Parts_ Part e_ *reats of !etters in general- their Origin- their
Di)ision into go$els- Consonants- Diphthongs- *riphthongs- and their )ario"s ise-
jc_ Part ee_ *reats of Syllables and their Di)ision in Spelling- jc_ Of hotes and
Mar(s belonging to Syllables- $ith their isec and of Points and Stops_ Part eee_
*reats of fords- or Parts of Speech- $ith the Accidents of each Part- in a practical
and "sef"l Method_ Part eg_ *reats of Sentences or Syntax- $ith proper Examples to
each a"le in Concord and o)ernment- explaining f"lly the ise of both- and
aemar(s "pon each a"le for the 0elp of the !earner_ And for a f"rther Assitance to
*eachers- jc fit enterrogatories are annex/d "nder each 0ead to examine Children
by_ fith an Appendix of the !ord/s Prayer by $ay of b"estion and Ans$er for
Exercise_ ,y Sam"el Saxon_ Sloth sits and cens"res $hat the end"strio"s teach`
2oxes despise the rapes they cannot reach_ *he Second Edition_ ,eadin"...
3chibsbye, )nud <.6/5= A Modern English rammar $ith an Appendix on Semantically
aelated Prepositions. 1ondonH 7!ford &niversity +ress
3chibsbye, )nud <.694= Origin and De)elopment of the English !ang"age ee. #openha"enH
Aordisk 3pro"% o" )ulturforla".
..2
3ykes, '. E. <.066= 2rench Elements in Middle English. 7!fordH Eart.
Turner, :illiam <.9.2= A Short rammar for the English *ong"e` 2or the ise of English
Schools_ Dedicated to the 0ono"rable Society for Propagating Christian
vno$ledge_ ,y filliam *"rner- M_A_ Master of the 2ree-School at Stamford in
!incolnshire. 1ondon...
Vortlat, *mma <.695= *he De)elopment of English rammatical *heory nwox-nysy- $ith
Special aeference to the *heory of Party of Speech, 1uevenH 1ueven &niversity
+ress.
(urray, 1indley <.965= English rammar- adapted to the different classes of learners_
fith an apendix- containing r"les and obser)ations for promoting perspic"ity in
spea(ing and $riting_ ,y !_ M"rrey_ \orkH :ilson, 3pence, and (awman
:aters, #athleen <2226= *he preposition cycle in English. nH van 8elderen, *lly <ed.=H
#yclical #han"e. ?msterdam and +hiladelphiaH Oohn Ben>amins +ublishin"
#ompany.
:ebster, Aoah <.904= A rammatical enstit"te of the English !ang"age- comprising- An
easy-concise- and systematic Method of Ed"cation- Designed for the ise of English
Schools en America_ en *hree Parts_ Part ee_ Containing- A plain and comprehensi)e
rammar- gro"nded on the tr"e Principles and edioms of the !ang"agec $ith an
analytical Differtation- in $hich the )ario"s ises of the A"xiliary Signs are
"nfolded and explained` And an Essay to$ards in)estigating the a"les of English
gerse_ ,y hoah febster- 1"n_ Ef^_ EartfordH Eudson Z 8oodwin.
:harton, Oeremiah <./54=H *he English rammar` or- *he enstit"tion of !etters- Syllables-
and fords in the English-*ong"e_ Conteining all a"les and Directions necessary to
bee (no$n for the H"dicio"s aeading- aight-spea(ing- and friting thereof_ gery
"sef"l for all- that desire to bee expert in the foresaid properties_ More especially
profitable for Scholars- immediately before their entrance into the a"diments of the
!atine-tong"e_ !i(e$ise to strangers that desire to learn o"r !ang"age- it $ill bee
the most certain "ide- that e)er yet $as exstant_ Composed by 1er_ fharton- Mr of
Arts. 1ondon
:illiams, Ooseph (. <.695= Origins of the English lang"age. Aew \orkH 'ree +ress.
Pelinsky%:ibbelt, #ornelia <.66-= *he Semantics of Prepositions` from mental processing
...
to nat"ral lang"age processing. BerlinH (outon de 8ruyter.
S,##!r'
The present thesis studies *n"lish prepositions from a historical perspective. t
intends to do so on both, theoretical and empirical level. ?fter a "eneral introduction,
chapter two deals with basic methodolo"ical problems. t briefly describes the Eelsinki
#orpus which is the source of the analysed data and e!plains that the author adopts a new,
broader notion of preposition than the one which can be found in traditional "rammars.
3ubseBuently, chapter three analyses the relation of prepositions to morpholo"ical,
syntactic, le!ical and semantic plane of *n"lish lin"uistic system. #hapter four intends to
..2
trace the four hundred year history of *n"lish "rammar writin" with special reference to
*n"lish prepositions. t provides the reader with some of the most influential definitions of
prepositions and scrutini$es the approaches to their study adopted in these "rammars.
#hapter five is the first chapter of the empirical part of the thesis. The empirical part is
essentially Buantitative and is based on the diachronic part of the Eelsinki #orpus. t firstly
introduces those 7ld *n"lish prepositions, which come directly from the +roto%ndo%
*uropean lan"ua"e. 3ubseBuently, prepositions of "ermanic ori"in are listed and finally,
new 7ld *n"lish prepositions which arose in the course of the 7ld *n"lish period. #hapter
si! continues in the (iddle *n"lish period. ?"ain, prepositions are listed historically.
'irstly, the prepositions which come directly from 7ld *n"lish are analysed, subseBuently
those which arose durin" the (iddle *n"lish period by word%formative processes and
finally new loan prepositions are e!amined. *very preposition is decribed in terms of its
ortho"raphic variants found in the corpus and its Buantitative development throu"hout the
respective period. The final chapter deals with the main chan"es that influenced *n"lish
prepositions in (odern *n"lish period.
RESUM>
Diplomov prce se $abyv studiem an"lickych pzedloek $ historicksho hlediska.
+zedloky >sou analy$ovny na rovin{ teoreticks i empiricks. +o obecnsm |vodu nsledu>e
kapitola 2, kter po>ednv o $kladn}ch metodolo"ickych problsmech. Oe v n} stru~n{
charakteri$ovn Eelsinsky korpus, >en >e $dro>em pro autorovu analy$u, >akoto taks $cela
novs, pon{kud ir} po>et} po>mu pzedloky ne to, kters meme na>}t ve tradi~n}ch
mluvnic}ch. )apitola - p}e o v$tahu pzedloek k ostatn}m rovinm >a$ykovsho systsmu,
$e>msna k rovin{ morfolo"icks, syntakticks, le!ikln} a ssmanticks. tvrt kapitola se
sna} sledovat an"licks pzedloky v$hledem k ~tyzi sta let trva>}c} historii psn} an"lickych
..-
mluvnic. tenzi nab}$} ne>vy$namn{>} definice pzedloek, pzi~em taks pe~liv{ analy$u>e
r$ns pz}stupy t{chto mluvnic k >e>ich studiu. +t kapitola >e prvn} v rmci empiricks ~sti
diplomovs prce. Ta >e $am{zena pzevn{ kvantitativn{ a soustzeu>e se na korpusovou
analy$u >ednotlivych pzedloek. Ae>dz}v{ uvd} ty staroan"licks pzedloky, kters poch$}
pz}mo $ protoindoevropsksho >a$yka. Asledn{ >sou >menovny pzedloky "ermnsksho
pvodu, a kone~n{ novs, staroan"licks pzedloky, kters v$nikly v prb{hu doby
staroan"licks. est kapitola pokra~u>e v dob{ stzedoan"licks. +zedloky >sou op{t za$eny
historicky. Ae>dz}v{ >sou uvedeny ty, kters pokra~u>} pz}mo $e stars an"li~tiny. Asledu>}
pzedloky v$nikls v prb{hu doby stzedoan"licks b{hem slovotvorn}ch proces a na $v{r
>sou uvedeny pzedloky ci$}ho pvodu. )ad pzedloka >e analy$ovna v$hledem k >e>}m
orto"rafickym variantm, >e >e mons nals$t v korpusu a taky v$hledem k >e>}mu
kvantitativn}mu vyvo>i v rmci pz}slunych obdob} staroan"lickych a stzedoan"lickych.
Pv{re~n kapitola se soustzedu>e na hlavn} $m{ny, ke kterym dolo od doby stzedn}
an"li~tiny po modern} an"li~tinu.
..4