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<DIV><FONT size=2>I explain it as dealing iwth location-movement. Medical usage
is "Where does it hurt? In my...." Has to do with hit.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:dcoles@HOME.COM" title=dcoles@HOME.COM>dcoles</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
href="mailto:ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU"
title=ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 25, 2000 3:59
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> "hit in/on/to"</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<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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