TIP OF THE DAY 154: Postpositions

MJ. Smith

I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day (when it doesn't time out)

POST ISSUE: Postpositions of time

In the post on prepositions just before this post, I accidentally included a postposition. This post covers postpositions and finding Biblical examples of prepositions and postpositions in the Bible for practice.

QUESTION: What is the difference between adpositions, prepositions, and postpositions?

SOFTWARE: A quick smart all search convinced me that it was best to go to the International Linguistics Department. Glossary of Linguistic Terms. SIL International, 1996–. (also available online) for a more general set of definitions.

ANSWER: Note that in Hebrew prepositions are often inseparable prefixes added to nouns. In Koine Greek prepositions may be prefixes added to verbs to change their meaning. A smart book search on grammars with the search argument prepositions as prefixes will provide details.

from International Linguistics Department. Glossary of Linguistic Terms. SIL International, 1996–:

Adposition:

Definition

An adposition is a cover term for prepositions and postpositions. It is a member of a closed set of items that

•occur before or after a complement composed of a noun phrase, noun, pronoun, or clause that functions as a noun phrase, and

•form a single structure with the complement to express its grammatical and semantic relation to another unit within a clause.

Examples (English)

•He went to the races.

•He promised to help with whatever was the matter.

Kinds

Here are some kinds of adpositions:

•postposition

•preposition[1]

Postposition:

Definition

A postposition is an adposition that occurs after its complement .

Examples (Japanese)

In the following sentence, the words and oga, ni, are postpositions: John ga Mary ni hon o yatta John NOMINATIVE Mary DATIVE book ACCUSATIVE gave ‘John gave Mary a book.’ Source: Kuno 1973: :4–5

Generic

A postposition is a kind of

•adposition[2]

Preposition:

Definition

A preposition is an adposition that occurs before its complement .

Examples (English)

•to

•with

•from

Generic

A preposition is a kind of

•adposition[3]

QUESTION: List common postpositions in English.

SOFTWARE: A smart all search gave primarily references for Hittite.

ANSWER: I relied on my personal library.

Postpositions occur after the noun phrase they modify. English uses postpositions less frequently than prepositions. Despite what you learned in diagramming sentence, while English relies heavily on prepositions, it does have a few postpositions, for example, "five years ago".

• Ago: While primarily used as a preposition, it can function as a postposition in certain time-related expressions: "A decade on, the effects were still visible."
• Through: While commonly a preposition, it can function as a postposition in certain time expressions: "They worked the night through."
• On:Indicates the amount of time that has passed since an event: "Five years on, she's still keen on the keto diet."
• Away: Can be used as a postposition in certain contexts: "The concert was still months away."
• Hence: Sometimes used as a postposition, especially in formal or literary contexts: "From this day hence, we shall be free."
• Over: When used as a postposition, it can indicate a span of time: "This trend has been growing the year over."
• Short: While not strictly a time postposition, it can be used in time-related contexts: "We arrived ten minutes short of midnight."

QUESTION: Give 5 examples of temporal expressions using prepositions or postpositions in Biblical Hebrew.

SOFTWARE: A smart Bible search on temporal prepositional phrase gives examples to analyze.

ANSWER: From Perplexity: While the modified forum rules prohibit AI posts, I don’t believe they exclude the inclusion of portion of the answer. My excuse is that the time required to search commentaries for each explanation in languages that I am not fluent in is prohibitive.

QUESTION: Give 5 examples of temporal expressions using prepositions or postpositions in Koine Greek.

SOFTWARE: A smart Bible search on temporal prepositional phrase gives examples to analyze.

ANSWER: From Perplexity:

1. ἀπό (apo) – "from"Example: ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ("from the day")This preposition indicates a starting point in time. For instance, in Luke 1:22, it is used to mark the beginning of a period.
2. ἐκ (ek) – "out of" or "since"Example: ἐκ τῆς τρίτης ὥρας ("since the third hour")Often used to indicate the source or starting point of a time span, as in Matthew 20:5.
3. μέχρι (mechri) – "until"Example: μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ("until the day")This preposition expresses an endpoint in time, as seen in Galatians 3:19.
4. ἐν (en) – "in" or "during"Example: ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ("in the day")Used to denote a specific point or period in time, such as in Matthew 24:36.
5. μετά (meta) – "after"Example: μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ("after three days")Indicates a subsequent point in time, as seen in Mark 8:31.

[1] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).

[2] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).

[3] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).