Information on the thesis

This  thesis  presents  a  cognitive  approach  towards  the  description  of  semantic
relations expressed by prepositions. The analysis of the conceptual content of Ukrainian
primary prepositions and their correlates in Serbian and English has been conducted taking
into  account  the  empirical  basis  of  prepositions  semantics.  The  models  of  semantic
networks of prepositions have been built and motivational connections between individual
senses  have  been  studied.  The  research  has  revealed  basic  cognitive  structures  and
mechanisms  that  contribute  to  the  extension  of  the  semantic  networks  of  prepositions.
Prepositions have been compared in order to identify convergent and divergent semantic 20

features  within  the  opposition,  synonymous  pairs  and  in  terms  of  the  development  of
semantic networks of correlative prepositions in different languages. Providing examples
in English, Serbian and Ukrainian, this study describes how prepositional schematization
of space and time motivates the meaning of phraseological units.
The use of prepositions often seems random, however in most cases it is possible to
explain the basic and typical spatial relations expressed by the prepositions. The primary
prepositions in English, Ukrainian and Serbian are characterized by complex and extended
networks  of  senses.  They  are  developed  due  to  the  fact  that  prepositions  are  used  with
words  possessing  different  semantic  meanings.  They,  in  turn,  provide  such  cognitive
mechanisms  as  conceptual  integration,  metaphor  and  metonymy,  which  function  on  the
principle of mental spaces blending and analogies based on similarity or contiguity. Thus,
prepositions  develop  their  meanings  from  basic  to  peripheral:  there  is  a  motivational
relation based on similarity between the specific situations that language encodes, and the
situations that are defined as a prototype; if the similarity is noticeable and relevant for the
goal, the real situation is included in the category which defines the prototype. Thus, the
primary spatial meaning of localization is essential not only for relations between physical
objects located in a certain way in space, but also for the time, quantitative, procedural and
mental concepts involved by relevant contextual elements in prepositional constructions.
In  order  to  explain  the  semantics  of  prepositions,  besides  the  knowledge  of  language
structure, the pragmatic knowledge is important, including not only properties of animate
and  inanimate  entities,  but  also  the  various  social  conventions  that  determine  the
behaviours  of  people  with  each  other  and,  as  it  is  shaped  by  image  schemas  of  certain
spatial relations, create the basis for the development of abstract relations in the semantics
of prepositions.
The  use  of  prepositions  clearly  illustrates  the  connection  between  linguistic  and
encyclopedic knowledge.
The  findings  of  the  detailed  research  into  conceptualization  mechanisms  have
revealed  that  the  conceptual  content  of  a  basic  preposition  largely  determines  semantic
meaning of a word equivalent, a constituent part of which it is, and keeps active the image
scheme, which motivates the development of larger structures. Furthermore, prepositional
relations significantly affect the formation of phraseological semantics. The prepositional
schematization of space and time largely motivates the meaning of phraseological units in
Ukrainian, Serbian and English.
Keywords: preposition, semantic relations, semantic network, space, time, schema,
scene, trajector, landmark, conceptualization.