A Cognitive-Semantic Analysis of the English Preposition "In"

The thesis presents a lexico-semantic analysis of the English preposition in within the framework of Cognitive Grammar. Fifty-six uses of in are analysed, comprising spatial as well as abstract senses. The preposition is regarded as a unified concept whose meaning is manifested via a radial category of senses, involving various levels of abstraction. The category is organised according to the principles of mental imagery, metonymic and metaphorical processes. The role of image schemas in underlying the conceptual structure of the preposition in is experimentally demonstrated. The results indicate that the 56 uses of in are structured by the image schemas for CONTAINER, PART-WHOLE and PATH. The semantic analysis of the three senses comprises configurational as well as relational parameters of atemporal relations. The preposition in is defined on the basis of the three image-schematic gestalts