English prepositions

From UNL Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

English prepositions are always represented by Universal Relations or by Universal Relations and Universal Attributes.

Contents

For

The preposition "for" may have, in English, several values, as follows:

Value UNL Examples
English UNL
Aim or purpose pur trained for the ministry, put the house up for sale pur(trained, ministry)
Destination to headed off for town to(headed off, town)
Object of a desire, intention or perception obj eager for success obj(eager, success)
Recipient (direction, addressee) of an action gol prepared lunch for us gol(prepared, us)
Beneficiary of an action ben He did it for us ben(did, us)
Duration dur stood in line for an hour dur(stood, hour)
On behalf of, in favor of, in place of man spoke for all members man(spoke, members.@for)
Amount, extent man a bill for five dollars; walked for miles; man(bill, dollars.@for)
As being man mistook me for the librarian man(mistook, librarian.@for)

In

The preposition "in" may have, in English, several values, as follows:

Value UNL Examples
English UNL
complement (necessary argument) obj interested in Math obj(interested, Math)
time (when?) tim work in 1973 tim(work, 1973)
physical place (where?) plc work in Switzerland plc(work, Switzerland)
logical place (in what?) scn work in the project scn(work, project)
affected place opl hit in the face opl(hit, face)
manner (how) man split in two man(split, 2.@in)
attribute (which) mod a man in overcoat mod(man, overcoat.@in)
final state (= into) gol throw in the basket gol(throw, basket)

Attribute @in

The attribute @in is the default for the relations "tim", "plc" and "scn" and may be omitted in these cases. It may also be omitted in "obj" relations, whose government is stated in the dictionary. For the other relations, its use is mandatory:

  • work in Switzerland = plc(work, Switzerland) = plc(work, Switzerland.@in)
  • work in 1973 = tim(work, 1973) = tim(work, 1973.@in)
  • split in two = man(split, 2.@in) man(split,2) = split as two
  • man in overcoat = mod(man, overcoat.@in) mod(man, overcoat) = man of overcoat

Of

The preposition "of" may have, in English, several values, as follows:

Value UNL Examples
English UNL
Part of pof day of the week pof(day, week)
By agt beloved of the family agt(beloved, family)
Caused by; resulting from: rsn a death of tuberculosis agt(death, tuberculosis)
Produced by agt products of the vine agt(products, vine)
Derived or coming from; originating at or from src customs of the South src(customs, South)
So as to be separated or relieved from src cured of distemper src(cured, distemper)
issuing from src products of the vine src(products, vine)
Away from; at a distance from plf a mile east of here plf(east, here)
Composed or made from mat a dress of silk mat(dress, silk)
named or called nam the Garden of Eden nam(Garden, Eden)
With reference to; about cnt will speak of it later cnt(speak, it)
Centering on; directed toward obj a love of horses obj(love, horses)
From the total or group comprising qua group of friends qua(friends, group)
Quantified as qua a depth of ten feet qua(depth, feet)
During or on a specified time tim problems of recent years tim(problems, years)
Set aside for pur a day of rest pur(day, rest)
Belonging or connected to mod the rungs of a ladder mod(rungs, ladder)
Possessing; having mod a person of honor mod(person, honor)
Containing or carrying mod a basket of groceries mod(basket, groceries)
Associated with or adhering to mod people of your religion mod(people, religion)
On one's part mod very nice of you mod(nice, you)
Characterized or identified by cnt a year of famine cnt(year, famine)
In respect to cnt slow of speech cnt(slow, speech)


Observations

Types
The expressions "a type of", "a kind of" and "a sort of", if not modified, are to be replaced by the relation icl (inclusion):
  • X is a type of energy = icl(X, energy)
  • X is a kind of behaviour = icl(X, behavior)
  • X is a sort of decision = icl(X, decision)
In case of modification, "type", "kind" and "sort" must be represented as UWs, according to the general case for specifiers indicated below:
  • X is a specific type of energy = aoj(energy.@entry, X) mod(type.@spec, energy.@entry) mod(type.@spec, specific)
  • X is a special kind of behaviour = aoj(behaviour.@entry, X) mod(kind.@spec, behaviour.@entry) mod(kind.@spec, special)
  • X is a new sort of decision = aoj(decision.@entry, X) mod(sort.@spec, decision.@entry) mod(sort.@spec, new)
Parts
The expression "a part of", if not modified, is to be replaced by the relation pof (part-of)
  • X is a part of the table = pof(X, table)
In case of modification, "part" must be represented as a UW, according to the general case for specifiers indicated below:
  • X is the front part of the table = aoj(table.@entry, X) mod(part.@spec, table.@entry) mod(part.@spec, front)
Units
Units of measurement are always to be indicated by the relation qua (quantifier):
  • a group of students = qua(students, group)
  • a drop of water = qua(water, drop)
  • a piece of fruit = qua(fruit, piece)
  • an article of clothing = qua(clothing, article)
  • a bowl of cereal = qua(cereal, bowl)
  • a grain of sand = qua(sand, grain)
  • a loaf of bread = qua(bread, loaf)
  • a crowd of spectators = qua(spectators, crowd)
  • a set of instructions = qua(instructions, set)
  • a flock of sheep = qua(sheep, flock)
  • a herd of cattle = qua(cattle, herd)
  • a pack of wolves = qua(wolves, pack)
  • a pride of lions = qua(lions, pride)
  • a gaggle of geese = qua(geese, gaggle)
  • a bolt of lightning = qua(lightning, bolt)
  • a game of tennis = qua(tennis, game)
  • a clap of thunder = qua(thunder, clap)
Spec
The preposition "of" is often used to introduce a specifier to the head of the noun phrase. If the specifier is to be represented as the source node of the relation (as in the case of "mod"), it should receive the attribute @spec, as follows:
  • a form of love = mod(form.@spec, love)
  • a symbol of love = mod(symbol.@spec, love)
  • a brand of shampoo = mod(brand.@spec, shampoo)
  • an act of kindness = mod(act.@spec, kindness)
  • the quality of being disloyal = mod(quality.@spec, 00)
  • etc.
Apposition
The preposition "of" may also be used to indicate an apposition. In such cases, the attribute @spec should also be used.
  • that idiot of a driver = mod(idiot.@spec, driver)

To

The preposition "to" may have, in English, several values, as follows:

Value UNL Examples
English UNL
complement (necessary argument) obj refer to a dictionary obj(refer, dictionary)
direction (towards) to go to the city to(go, city)
final place plt go to the bottom plt(go, bottom)
purpose pur go to discuss pur(go, discuss)
addressee gol answer to John gol(answer, John)
final state gol nursed her back to health gol(nurse, health)
final time tmt worked from nine to five tmt(work, 5)
comparison bas superior to the others bas(superior, others)
degree or extent man smooth to the touch man(smooth, touch.@to)
manner man parallel to the road man(parallel, road.@to)

Observations

The preposition "to" must be replaced by its equivalents in the following situations:

to = against
Their faces pressed to the windows = Their faces pressed against the windows
to = of
looked for the top to the jar = looked for the top of the jar
to = before
ten to five = ten before five
@to

The preposition "to" is the default for the relations "to", "plt", "gol", "pur", "tmt" and "bas" and may be omitted in these cases. It may also be omitted in case of the relation "obj", whose government is defined in the dictionary. For "man", the preposition should be explicitly indicated by the attribute "@to":

  • answer to John = gol(answer, John) = gol(answer, John.@to)
  • smooth to the touch = man(smooth, touch.@to) man(smooth, touch) = smooth as touch
Software