'On' and 'on': Verbal explications for a polysemic network

Abstract

The semantics of spatial prepositions has been much studied in cognitive linguistics, but not previously in terms of verbal explication. This article analyses prepositional "on"-constructions which concern the location of one physical object in relation to another (e.g., cup on the table, pendant on a chain, handle on the door, fins on its back), using the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) framework originated by Anna Wierzbicka. Four semantically discrete categories are identified and each is assigned a verbal paraphrase (explication) framed in the metalanguage of semantic primes. The semantic interrelationships between these meanings are briefly explored.