ABSTRACT The title of this study is Simple Prepositional Phrases In The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). It is aimed at describing syntactic functions and analyzing simple prepositional meanings of simple prepositional phrases in, on, and at which are followed by the determiner the. COCA was used as data source on http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/, especially fiction texts in order to limit and analyze the data precisely. Documentation method was applied in conducting this study such as, creating an account to log in to the website, typing the patterns of prepositions on searching column, choosing the type of text, choosing the data frequency, and inputting the data into microsoft word in a computer program. The main theory of this study is proposed by Quirk, et. al. Besides, there is a supporting theory proposed by Hewings. The data were analyzing based on the respective theories descriptively and qualitatively. The syntactic functions and meanings of simple prepositional phrases in, on, and at were determined by using the main theory of Quirk, et al. The results of analysis show that the simple prepositional phrases in, on, and at which is followed by determiner the functioning as adverbial is most frequently occur, especially adjunct. However, simple prepositional phrase at is most frequently occur as the complementation of verb and adjective. In addition, the simple prepositional meanings are analyzed in terms of spatial relation, time, cause or purpose spectrum, and means or agentive spectrum. In this case, simple prepositional phrases in, on, and at are most commonly used to denote place and time in sentences. Key words: prepositions, corpus, functions, and meanings iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... i ABSTRACT... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS... iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Backgroud of Study... 1 1.2 Problem of Study... 4 1.3 Aims of Study... 4 1.4 Scope of discussion... 5 1.5 Research Method... 5 1.5.1 Data Source... 6 1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data... 6 1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data... 7 1.5.4 Technique of Presenting the Result... 8 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS 2.1 Literature Review... 9 2.2 Concepts... 13 2.3 Theoretical Frameworks... 19 iv
2.3.1 Syntactic Functions of Simple Prepositional Phrases... 20 2.3.1.1 Postmodifier in a Noun Phrase... 20 2.3.1.2 Adverbial... 22 2.3.1.3 Complementation... 23 2.3.2 Simple Prepositional Meanings... 24 2.3.2.1 Prepositions Denoting Spatial Relations... 24 2.3.2.2 Prepositions Denoting Time... 27 2.3.2.3 The Cause/Purpose Spectrum... 29 2.3.2.4 The Means/Agentive Spectrum... 30 2.3.3 On, In, and At: preposition of place and time... 31 CHAPTER III SIMPLE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES IN THE CORPUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (COCA) 3.1 The Syntactic Function of Simple Prepositional Phrases... 34 3.1.1 Post Modifier in a Noun Phrase... 34 3.1.2 Adverbial... 42 3.1.3 Complementation... 49 3.2 The Meaning of Simple Prepositional Phrases... 55 3.2.1 Simple Prepositional Phrases Denoting Spatial Relation... 55 3.2.2 Simple Prepositions Denoting Time... 60 3.2.3 Denoting Cause of Purpose Spectrum... 62 v
3.2.4 Denoting Means of Agentive Spectrum... 63 CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION... 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY vi
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of Study There are some lexical items that can be classified based on some categories in English, such as noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc. A preposition is one of the sentence elements, which functions to indicate certain relation among other words in one sentence and make the sentence complete and understandable. The prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement which functions to indicate time, position, space, location, etc. There are simple and complex prepositions. Simple prepositions only consist of one word. The prepositional phrase is referred to as preposition followed by a prepositional complement. According to Quirk, et al (1985:673), a preposition emphasizes the relation between two entities, that one being represented by the prepositional complement. In this case, time and place are easier to be identified, however in terms of labels; preposition in systematic meaning is difficult to be described. Quirk, et al (1985:659) state that there are several points of similarity between prepositions and other word classes and constructions in English grammar, in particular conjunctions and adverbs, as well as participles and adjectives. Both of prepositions and conjunctions have a relating or connecting function. For instance, the use of when and of in the day when she arrived and the day of her arrival, the use of when in the first sentence is functioning as a conjunction, however, the use of of in the 1
2 second sentence is functioning as the preposition. In certain cases, the same items can function both as prepositions and conjunctions, e.g. after, as, before, since, and until. The criterion between the two-word classes can be distinguished by the phrases which follow them. Prepositions usually introduce complements which are nominal or nominalized, whereas the corresponding conjunctions usually introduce a subordinate clause. For instance, the use of before both as a conjunction and preposition in the day before she arrived and the day before her arrival shows that in the first sentence before is used as a conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause before she arrived. In the second sentence, before is used as a preposition to introduce complements which are nominal or nominalized before her arrival. The point of similarity between preposition, participle, and conjunction is the same item especially for some ing and ed participial forms, for instance: a word of considering. In considering his age, he has made excellent progress in his studies, the word considering is a preposition because it is followed or introduced noun phrase. In considering the conditions in the office, she thought it wise not to apply for the job, the word considering is as a participle because it is a word from the verb of a nonfinite verb, which is ended by ing. A participle is an adverb or preposition that can combine with a verb to make a phrasal verb. A phrasal verb is a verb combined with an adverb and/or preposition, to give a new meaning (Oxford dictionary 4 th edition). In considering that he is rather young, his parents have advised him not to apply, the word considering is as a conjunction because it is introduced or followed by a
3 subordinate clause. In conclusion, the point of similarity of relating or connecting function can occur between preposition and conjunction. The point of the similarity of the same item can occur between preposition, conjunction and participle in English sentences. The use of prepositions is very high either in spoken and written to make the sentence complete. Preposition has very crucial and distinct rule in English grammar. People cannot speak or write in English properly without prepositions which make sentences related to each other and more understandable. The analysis is exemplified to find the syntactic functions and meaning of simple prepositional phrases with on, in, and at. These prepositions are highly used both in spoken and written. The reason for choosing corpus texts as the object of analysis because they usually consist of thousands or millions of words and are not made up of the linguist s or a native speaker s invented examples but on authentic or naturally occurring spoken and written language. Corpus linguistics purposes that reliable language analysis is more feasible with corpora collected in the field, natural contexts, and minimal experimental-interference. The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is the largest freely-available corpus of English and the only large and balanced corpus of American English. It contains more than 520 million words of text (20 million words each year 1990-2015) and it is equally divided among spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts.
4 1.2 Problems of Study follows: Based on the background, the problems of this study can be formulated as 1. What syntactic functions of simple prepositional phrases are found in The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)? 2. What meanings do simple prepositional phrases express in the structures? 1.3 Aims of Study Based on the formulation of problems above, this study is investigated in order to meet the following purposes: 1. To identify and describe the syntactic functions of simple prepositional phrases found in The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) 2. To analyze the expressed meanings of simple prepositional phrases in the structures.
5 1.4 Scope of Discussion The limitation is very important to make the discussion about something more specific and the discussion will be easier to understand. The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is equally divided among spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts. This study focuses on the corpus of fiction texts and the number of the data is also limited to 100 for each preposition. The simple prepositional phrases that are analyzed in this study is limited to simple prepositions followed by determiner the and nouns in order to limit and analyze the data precisely. To make the discussion more detailed, this study is only limited to analyze the syntactic functions and meanings of simple prepositions in, on, and at followed by determiner the to be simple prepositional phrases in sentence level based on collected data which were chosen randomly. The syntactic functions and meanings of simple prepositional phrases, on, in, and at are discussed based on the theory proposed by Quirk, et.al (1985) related to prepositional phrases in their book entitled A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. 1.5 Research Method Method is necessary in conducting a research to give some guidance to achieve the objective writing. The method used in this study consists of four points, they are: data source, method and technique of collecting data, method and technique of analyzing data, and technique of presenting the result.
6 1.5.1 Data Source The data were taken from The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) on http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/. It was chosen as a data source because it is the largest freely-available corpus of English, and the only large and balanced corpus of American English. It is probably the most widely-used corpus of English which contains more than 520 million words of text (20 million words each year 1990-2015) and it is equally divided among spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts. The corpus is concerning on actual language use so that it can show the authentic or naturally occurring use of simple prepositional phrases with in, on, and at both in spoken and written language. 1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data Documentation method was applied in conducting this study. The data were taken from the website of The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) on http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/. First, an account for signing into this website was created. Second, click SEARCH menu and type the prepositions in, on, and at one by one in POS LIST with these patterns; In the [nn*], On the [nn*], and At the [nn*]. Third, click SECTION and choose fiction. Fourth, click the OPTION and choose 100 for the number of #HITS and #KWIC of corpus texts that would be displayed; each data of simple prepositional phrases with in, on, and at would be limited to 100. Fifth, press ENTER on the keyboard to show the data. Sixth, the data were input into Microsoft word of computer program. Finally, the collecting
7 data were classified and analyzed to find their syntactic functions and meanings. The examples of data in COCA can be displayed as below: 1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data Data analysis is a process of gathering, modeling, and transforming data with the goal of highlighting the useful information, suggesting the conclusion, and supporting the decision making. The data of this study descriptively and qualitatively analyzed based on the main theory of Quirk, et.al. The syntactic functions and aspect of meanings of simple prepositional phrases with in, on, and at were analyzed qualitatively.
8 1.5.4 Technique of Presenting Data According to Hancock, et al. (2007), all research must involve an explicit, disciplined, systematic approach to finding things out, using the method most appropriate to the question being asked. They also stated that qualitative research focuses on reports of experience or on data which cannot be adequately expressed numerically. The data of this study was presented qualitatively and descriptively. First, the main theory proposed by Quirk, et al. (1985) was used to determine the functions and meanings of simple prepositions in, on, and at followed by determiner the found in COCA. Second, the data were analyzed descriptively by giving some description to convey their functions and meaning in sentences.