English Prepositions: A Non-Specific Contrastive Perspective

Sa？etak Most English today is used in communication not involving native speakers. This English is learned as a foreign language, but it differs significantly from Standard English in many areas, including prepositions. This paper is a step towards an incipient theory of prepositions as used by non-native speakers of English. The approach used is non-specific contrastive analysis, which is a methodology interested in predicting areas where learning English would prove difficult for speakers of any language. In this paper, existing research on the topic is surveyed and evaluated. The paper shows why a semasiological organization of prepositions is not an appropriate method of organization for a sublanguage, which English as an auxiliary language certainly is. A brief overview of the history of non-specific contrastive analysis of English is given, including but not limited to Charles Ogden’s Basic English and the latest program, English as a Lingua Franca. The paper makes use of the findings of cognitive linguistics, especially the prototype theory and proto scenes, to create a better theoretical outline than the ones reviewed. A theoretical approach based on cognition and the onomasiological method of organization is put forth. The paper finishes with a discussion of several possible objections to the proposed methodology, as well as a critique of the misguided fusion of politics and linguistics typical of some proponents of non-specific contrastive analysis