Mostovaia, Anna D. (1996). Spatial metaphor in grammar: Studies in semantics of selected Russian constructions. PhD thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)
The present study investigates how the abstract meanings of prepositional phrases, often treated as metaphorically motivated, can be accurately described. The semantics of a number of Russian constructions with the preposition в v ‘in, into’ is considered. The constructions fall into the following categories: (1) constructions where a noun after в v refers to a person’s internal state or an emotion; (2) constructions where a noun after в v refers to a category of property transfer (such as a gift or a reward); (3) constructions where a noun after в v refers to a social role (such as a teacher). For each construction, a number of semantic constraints (additional to the general semantic categories of emotions, transfers and roles) on nouns that can be used after в v ‘in, into’ are described, and a semantic formula in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage corresponding to the meaning of the given construction is proposed. A possible metaphorical motivation for each of the described semantic constraints is also discussed.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
