title: Well-Hidden Regularities: Abstract Uses of in and on Retain an Aspect of Their Spatial Meaning.
abstract: Prepositions name spatial relationships (e.g., book on a table). But they are also used to convey abstract, non-spatial relationships (e.g., Adrian is on a roll)-raising the question of how the abstract uses relate to the concrete spatial uses. Despite considerable success in delineating these relationships, no general account exists for the two most frequently extended prepositions: in and on. We test the proposal that what is preserved in abstract uses of these prepositions is the relative degree of control between the located object (the figure) and the reference object (the ground). Across four experiments, we find a continuum of greater figure control for on (e.g., Jordan is on a roll) and greater ground control for in (e.g., Casey is in a depression). These findings bear on accounts of semantic structure and language change, as well as on second language instruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jamrozik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Dedre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gentner
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Abstract language; Language understanding; Metaphor; Prepositions; Semantics; Spatial language