Criteria for defining individual members of the preposition word class are set forth. Arguments are presented against calling prepositions meaningless, yet it is conceded and explained that those which occur in wider contexts are vaguer due to their greater variability. The unitary, polysemous, and/or homonymous nature of prepositions are…

Conversion, the deliberate transfer of a word from one part of speech to another without any change in its form, is a typically English phenomenon, conditioned but not caused by the extensive wearing-off of word endings and weakening of inflections. It has typically been treated as a syntactic matter, since no new words are produced, and its…

Departing from the prescriptive approach to teaching advanced Spanish composition and stylistics, this manual is based on the analysis of constructions and style in contemporary Spanish literature--particularly the drama. The 20 sections emphasize linguistic difficulties of a conceptual nature rather than factual information. Topics include: (1)…