<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">It seems to me that the great majority of languages have „complex adpositions“ of the Japanese type, i.e. noun-like forms which combine with their complements in an adpossessive-like way (either genitive flagging on the complement, or indexing on the „adposition“, or both).<div><br></div><div>Peter Svenonius has coined the term „axial“ for such forms (as mentioned by Anders Holmberg), which seems a nice addition to our terminology - these axial nouns typically mean ‚in front/in back‘, ‚above/below‘, and ‚inside/outside‘ (true, only the first two are axes in the strict sense).</div><div><br></div><div>In European languages, one usually finds non-axials (i.e. non-noun-like prepositions) for such notions - including some „complex adverbial prepositions“ (e.g. French au dessus de ‚above‘), but I would venture the following claim:</div><div><br></div><div>Outside of Europe, spatial relations of the type ‚front/above/inside’ are almost always expressed by axial nouns. </div><div><br></div><div>There is surprisingly little systematic cross-linguistic research on axials, so this is just my impression (there was a 1993 book by Soteria Svorou, but it focused on semantic developments, not on morphosyntax).</div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div>Martin<br><div><br>Am 03.02.2019 um 14:20 schrieb Alice Vittrant- Villejuif <<a href="mailto:vittrant@vjf.cnrs.fr">vittrant@vjf.cnrs.fr</a>>:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Dear Nigel, <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This kind of complex appositions is related to the Relator Nouns issue (or 'Noms de Localisation Interne’ issue). See for instance Delancey 1997, Aurnague 1989, 1996, Aurnague & al 2000 and Borillo 1988 (in french).</div><div class="">They are quite frequent in Southeast Asian languages. See for instance Burmese and Thaï chapters in Vittrant & Watkins (eds)(2019).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Best, </div><div class="">Alice</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">-----</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height: 1.35; margin-left: 2em; text-indent:-2em;">
<div class="csl-entry"><br class=""></div><div class="csl-entry">DeLancey, Scott. « Grammaticalization and the Gradience of Categories : Relator Nouns and Postpositions in Tibetan and Burmese ». In <i class="">Essays on language function and language type: dedicated to T. Givón</i>, édité par Joan L. Bybee, John Haiman, et Sandra A. Thompson, Johns Benjamins., 51‑69. Amsterdam, 1997.</div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Borillo, Andrée. « Le lexique de l’espace : les noms et les adjectifs de localisation interne ». </span><i style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Cahiers de Grammaire</i><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""> 13 (1988): 1‑22.</span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Aurnague, Michel. 1989. Catégorisation des objets dans le langage: Les noms et les adjectifs </span><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">de localisation interne. Cahiers de Grammaire 14. 1–21. Toulouse: UTM.</span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Aurnague, Michel. « Les Noms de Localisation Interne: tentative de caractérisation sémantique à partir de données du basque et du français ». </span><i style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Cahiers de Lexicologie</i><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""> 69 (1996): 159‑92.</span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Aurnague, M., K. Boulanouar, J.-L. Nespoulous, A. Borillo & M. Borillo. 2000. Spatial semantics:</span><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">the processing of Internal Localization Nouns. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive/ </span><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Current Psychology of Cognition 19 (1). 69–110.</span></div><div class="csl-entry"><br class=""></div><div class="csl-entry"><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">Vittrant, Alice, et Justin Watkins, eds. </span><i style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">The Mainland Southeast Asia Linguistic Area</i><span style="text-indent: -2em;" class="">. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM] 314. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2019. </span></div><div class="csl-entry"><div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height: 1.35; margin-left: 2em; text-indent:-2em;"><div class="csl-entry"><br class=""></div>
<span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_id=urn%3Aisbn%3A978-3-11-040213-1&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The%20Mainland%20Southeast%20Asia%20Linguistic%20Area&rft.place=Berlin%2C%20Boston&rft.publisher=De%20Gruyter%20Mouton&rft.series=Trends%20in%20Linguistics.%20Studies%20and%20Monographs%20%5BTiLSM%5D&rft.aufirst=Alice&rft.aulast=Vittrant&rft.au=Alice%20Vittrant&rft.au=Justin%20Watkins&rft.date=2019&rft.isbn=978-3-11-040213-1&rft.language=ENGL"></span></div></div>
<span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fzotero.org%3A2&rft_id=urn%3Aisbn%3A978-1-55619-522-8&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Grammaticalization%20and%20the%20Gradience%20of%20Categories%20%3A%20Relator%20Nouns%20and%20Postpositions%20in%20Tibetan%20and%20Burmese&rft.place=Amsterdam&rft.edition=Johns%20Benjamins&rft.aufirst=Scott&rft.aulast=DeLancey&rft.au=Joan%20L.%20Bybee&rft.au=John%20Haiman&rft.au=Sandra%20A.%20Thompson&rft.au=Scott%20DeLancey&rft.date=1997&rft.pages=51-69&rft.spage=51&rft.epage=69&rft.isbn=978-1-55619-522-8&rft.language=anglais"></span></div></div><div class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Le 2 févr. 2019 à 21:57, Nigel Vincent <<a href="mailto:nigel.vincent@manchester.ac.uk" class="">nigel.vincent@MANCHESTER.AC.UK</a>> a écrit :</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;" class=""><div class="">There is a substantial literature on prepositions and postpositions. There is also a growing body of work on complex prepositions, i.e. things like English 'in front of', French 'au dessous de'. To complete the picture I'd be grateful for pointers to studies and/or examples of complex postpositions.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""></div><div class="">Thanks in advance</div><div class="">Nigel</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class="">Professor Nigel Vincent, FBA MAE<br class="">Professor Emeritus of General & Romance Linguistics<br class="">The University of Manchester</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Linguistics & English Language<br class="">School of Arts, Languages and Cultures<br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>The University of Manchester</div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""></div><a href="https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/researchers/nigel-vincent(f973a991-8ece-453e-abc5-3ca198c869dc).html" class="">https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/researchers/nigel-vincent(f973a991-8ece-453e-abc5-3ca198c869dc).html</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">_______________________________________________</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Lingtyp mailing list</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><a href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><a href="http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</a></div></blockquote></div><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">-------------------</span><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font face="Helvetica" style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Alice Vittrant<br class="">Université d'Aix-Marseille / CNRS-DDL (UMR 5596)</font></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font face="Helvetica" color="#3134ff" class=""><a href="mailto:alice.vittrant@univ-amu.fr" class="">alice.vittrant@univ-amu.fr</a></font></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font face="Helvetica" color="#3134ff" class=""><a href="mailto:alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr" class="">alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr</a></font></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font face="Helvetica" color="#3134ff" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><b style="font-family: Tahoma;" class="">Site personnel </b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;" class="">:</span></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/AliceVittrant" style="font-family: Helvetica; orphans: auto; widows: auto;" class="">http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/AliceVittrant</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; orphans: auto; widows: auto;" class=""> </span></div><div class=""><a href="https://univ-amu.academia.edu/AliceVittrant" class="">https://univ-amu.academia.edu/AliceVittrant</a></div></div></div></div>
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