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<DIV><FONT size=2>Dear Listers</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Teaching English to non-native speakers, I came up empty in
response to a student's query. Perhaps you can help.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In a news report regarding a hockey player taken to court
for excessive roughness, the announcer included details of a previous case in
which the defendent had "hit his opponent in the head with a hockey
stick."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The student asked why "in" - not "on the head." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Certainly a different mental image is conjured when I say "he
was hit on the head" and "he was hit in the head," but that's hardly a helpful
answer for a non-native speaker. </FONT><FONT size=2>We can be hit "in the gut"
but it would sound odd to say we've been hit "on the gut." And in boxing, we
hear a hit "to" the shoulder or head.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I thought about the need for a human mechanism as opposed to a
falling rock or other inanimate object, but that didn't go very far. (He was hit
on the head by a falling rock, Joe hit him in the head . . . the wind blew
in his face . . . etc.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I also thought about the site of impact - yes, the gut is
sometimes soft and squishy but most heads are pretty solid.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>So, aside from slang and idiom ("hit on" meaning to chat up or
make a pass at, or "hit on an idea" meaning to gain inspiration in thought) I
haven't been able to make a suitable rule to sort out these prepositional
Shiboleths that mark the speaker. If this has been discussed before, will you
let me know where I can find it? If not, will you take a crack at it? I need a
ready explanation that will be accessible to advanced ESL learners.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Thanks . . .</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Devon Coles</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> </FONT></DIV>
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