In Cognitive Linguistics, a conceptual metaphor is a systematic set of correspondences between two domains of experience (Kövecses 2020: 2). In order to have an extensive understanding of metaphors, metaphoricity (Müller and Tag 2010; Dunn 2011; Jensen and Cuffari 2014; Nacey and Jensen 2017) has been emphasized to address one of the properties of metaphors in language usage: gradience (Hanks 2006; Dunn 2011, 2014), which indicates that metaphorical expressions can be measured. Despite many noteworthy contributions, studies of metaphoricity are often accused of subjectivity (Müller 2008; Jensen and Cuffari 2014; Jensen 2017), this is why this study uses a big corpus as a database. Therefore, the main aim of this dissertation is to measure the gradient senses of the preposition in in an objective way, thus mapping the highly systematic semantic extension. Based on these gradient senses, the semantic and syntactic features of the preposition in produced by advanced Chinese English-major learners are investigated, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. A quantitative analysis of the literal and other ten metaphorical senses of the preposition in is made at first. In accounting for the five factors influencing image schemata of each sense: “scale of Landmark”, “visibility”, “path”, “inclusion” and “boundary”, the formula of measuring the gradability of metaphorical degree is deduced: Metaphoricity=[[#Visibility] +[#Path] +[#Inclusion] +[#Boundary]]*[#Scale of Landmark]. The result is that the primary sense has the highest value:12, and all other extended senses have values down to zero. The more shared features with proto-scene, the higher the value of the metaphorical sense, and the less metaphorical the sense. EVENT and PERSON are the “least metaphoric” (value = 9-11); SITUATION, NUMBER, CONTENT and FIELD are “weak metaphoric” (value = 6-8); Also included are SEGMENTATION, TIME and MANNER (value = 3-5), and they are “strong metaphoric”; PURPOSE shares the least feature with proto-scene, and it has the lowest value, so it is “most metaphoric” (value = 0-2). Then, a corpus-based approach is employed, which offers a model for employing a corpus-based approach in Cognitive Linguistics. It compares two compiled sub-corpora: Chinese Master Academic Writing Corpus and Chinese Doctorate Academic Writing Corpus. The findings show that, on the semantic level, Chinese English-major students overuse in with a low level of metaphoricity, even advanced learners use the most metaphorical in rarely. In terms of syntactic behaviours, the most frequent nouns in [in+noun] construction are weakly metaphoric, whilst the nouns in the construction [in the noun of] are EVENT sense, which is least metaphorical. Moreover, action verbs tend to be used in the construction [verb+in] and [in doing sth.] in both master and doctorate groups. In the qualitative study, the divergent usages of the preposition in are explored. The preposition in is often substituted with other prepositions, such as on and at. The fundamental reason for the Chinese learners’ weakness is the negative transfer from their mother tongue (Wang 2001; Gong 2007; Zhang 2010). Although in and its Chinese equivalence zai...li (在...里) share the same proto-scene, there are discrepancies: the metaphorical senses of the preposition in are TIME, PURPOSE, NUMBER, CONTENT, FIELD, EVENT, SITUATION, SEGMENTATION, MANNER, PERSON, while those of zai...li (在...里) are only five: TIME, CONTENT, EVENT, SITUATION and PERSON. Thus the image schemata of each sense cannot be correspondingly mapped onto each other in different languages. This study also provides evidence for the universality and variation of spatial metaphors on the ground of cultural models. Philosophically, it supports the standpoint of Embodiment philosophy that abstract concepts are constructed on the basis of spatial metaphors that are grounded in the physical and cultural experience.

過去許多研究著眼於探討英文介系詞的語意，其中許多學者專注在單一介系詞的探討（e.g., Boers, 1996; Lindstromberg, 2010），其它學者則分析由動詞與介系詞組成之動詞片語、由介系詞與名詞組成之介系詞片語的語意（e.g. Larsen-Freeman & Celce-Murcia, 1999; Lindner, 1983; Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartik, 1985）。過去這些研究大多在單一介系詞的框架下進行，鮮少有包含雙介系詞的句構的研究。本論文所研究之句構為：一個由動詞及UP/DOWN組成之動詞片語加上一個由IN與名詞組成之介系詞片語，在本句構中包含兩個連用之介系詞，本研究的分析包含雙介系詞的語意、動詞片語以及介系詞片語的語意，另外還包含此句構中所有語意的語意關連。 本研究採納並調整前人對介系詞、動詞片語以及介系詞片語的語意類別，以調整過的語意類別分析句構。研究結果發現在此句構中，雙介系詞大多含有隱喻概念，而大多的動詞片語則用來表達完成的動作語意，介系詞片語則多描繪空間概念或狀態。除此之外，我們發現此句構中的語意間有所關連，另外我們更發現UP和DOWN在本句構中並沒有完全對比的語意。 在本研究中，我們不同於以往研究只專注於一個介系詞或一個片語的分析，而是由三個角度切入探討一個含有雙介系詞的句構，未來期望能將本研究的結果運用在對比學習者對此句構的語言表現，並對介系詞的教學有更多貢獻。

The ways in which someone’s first language (L1) influences his or her second language (L2) to create errors, that is negative transfer, is a topic that has received much attention in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Previous research has suggested that negative transfer is responsible for many errors. The primary aim of this study is to investigate article and preposition errors in the production of Swedish learners of English and to discuss these errors in relation to negative transfer. The secondary aim is to compare transfer errors by L1 Swedish and L1 Portuguese learners of English.   The first and main part of the study is a corpus investigation of the written production of 80 students in upper secondary school (high school). The second part is a multiple-choice test constructed to provoke transfer errors. It was distributed to students in upper secondary school in Sweden and in Brazil. The results from the corpus analysis are largely in line with those of previous research, for example with regards to how definite article errors are more common than indefinite article errors, and how contexts with definite articles and generic noun phrases seem prone to create transfer errors. The corpus study also shows that substitution was the most common preposition error and that many transfer preposition errors supposedly were caused by direct translations. Through the multiple-choice test, the degree to which the first language had an impact on individual errors could be revealed. All in all, the study reveals several aspects of negative transfer that perhaps a single-language investigation could not, because it is in the comparison of English-learners with different L1s that the most interesting results occur. / De sätt som någons första språk påverkar hans eller hennes andra språk så att fel uppstår, det vill säga negativ språköverföring (negative transfer), är ett ämne som har fått mycket uppmärksamhet inom forskning kring språkinlärning. Tidigare studier har visat på hur negativ språköverföring orsakar många fel. Det primära syftet i denna uppsats är att undersöka artikel- och prepositionsfel i skrift hos svenska elever som lär sig engelska och att diskutera dessa fel i relation till negativ språköverföring. Det sekundära målet är att jämföra hur negativ språköverföring yttrar sig hos svenska och portugisiska elever som lär sig engelska. Den första delen av denna uppsats, som även är huvuddelen, är en korpusundersökning av 80 uppsatser skrivna av högstadieelever. Den andra delen är ett flervalstest som konstruerats för att provocera fram språköverföringsfel. Deltagarna var högstadie- och gymnasieelever från Sverige och Brasilien. Resultaten från korpusundersökningen stämmer i stor utsträckning överens med vad tidigare forskning visat, till exempel att det är vanligare att fel uppstår med bestämda artiklar än med obestämda artiklar och hur bestämda artiklar och tillsammans med generiska nominalfraser tenderar att generera negativ språköverföring. Korpusstudien visar också på hur felaktigt utbyte (substitution) var det vanligaste prepositionsfelet och att många språköverföringsfel förmodligen orsakats av direkta översättningar från svenska. I analysen av resultateten från flervalstestet kunde graden av inflytande från första språket på enskilda fel påvisas. Sammantaget avslöjar undersökningen i denna uppsats på flera aspekter av negativ språköverföring som troligen ej uppenbarats om enkom elever med ett förstaspråk inkluderats, detta eftersom det är i jämförelsen mellan engelska-elever med olika förstaspråk som de mest intressanta resultaten framkommer.

Mandarin Chinese has long been known to possess a category of words known as ‘coverbs’ in the literature, which sit in the gray area between verb and preposition. Li and Thompson (1974) describe the historical origins of Mandarin coverbs to be full transitive verbs, despite their modern state being decidedly less verbal. They also note that coverbs are a non-homogenous class. This thesis works to establish categories of coverbs in Mandarin Chinese and their distance from true verbhood in order to understand the diachronic shift that coverbs are currently undergoing before our very eyes. I will draw on the work of scholars of Atlantic-Congo languages, Oceanic languages, and other languages of mainland Southeast Asia, to create semantic, syntactic, and morphological testing for Mandarin coverbs. Using the results of this three-pronged testing approach, I will map the results on a six-pointed verb-preposition matrix in order to visualize the space between verb and preposition and how Mandarin coverbs inhabit it. I will then use these diagrams to create a numerical score for each category of coverb and place them on a linear progression between verbhood and prepositionhood. Lastly, this work will analyze the theta roles assigned by Mandarin coverbs in each category and propose stages of diachronic development for Mandarin coverbs.

[pt] O oitavo capítulo da Carta aos Romanos é, aparentemente, o seu centro: um tratado sobre o espírito sob vários aspectos – humano, divino e outros. A unidade literária Rm 8,14-17 é considerada o núcleo deste capítulo. A perícope desenvolve as causas e os efeitos da adoção filial divina com uma terminologia igual e distinta alhures (e.g., Gl 4,4-7); o texto contém expressões vinculadas à tradição judaica (vv. 14-15) e também uma segunda feição mais ecumênica/helênica (vv. 16-17), configurando uma estrutura retórica dual e, concomitantemente, convergente, devido aos elementos da semântica de uma e de outra cultura: yiothesίas (v. 15) e herdeiro (v. 17). Isto, de certa maneira, elucida e confirma a formação cultural e intelectual do Apóstolo: judaica e helênica à luz do cristianismo. Na primeira dimensão do texto destaca-se a fórmula aramaico-grega, tida como litúrgica; na segunda, o texto atrai por sua quantidade e qualidade de co-construtos: symmartyrei, herdeiros, compaixão syndoxasthomen (neologismos paulinos ou de uso ímpar). A singularidade da combinação destoa do convencional sugerindo um Sitz im Leben e/ou contexto específico: estratos de paternidade idolátrica (Zeύs-patnr) e reminiscências de sincretismo salvífico das religiões de mistério em virtude dos compostos co-, comuns nas fórmulas destes ritos greco-romanos. O presente trabalho entende que o acumulo de dados e a análise componencial dos mesmos em Rm 8,14-17 proporcionou aos seus sintagmas uma compreensão semântica colidente à idolatria e ao sincretismo. / [en] The eighth chapter of Romans is apparently its center: a treaty about spirit on various aspects – human, divine and others. The literary unit Romans 8:14-17 is considered the core of this chapter. The pericope develops the causes and effects of the divine filial adoption [yiothesίas, children of God / god tékna] with an equal and distinct terminology elsewhere (eg, Gal 4:4-7); the text contains linked expressions to the Jewish tradition (vv. 14-15) and also a second more ecumenical/Hellenic feature (vv. 16-17), setting up a dual rhetorical structure and, concomitantly, convergent, due to the semantic elements of one and another culture:yiothesίas (v. 15) and hereditary (v. 17) . This, in a way, elucidates and confirms the cultural and intellectual formation of the Apostle: Jewish and Hellenistic in the light of Christianity. The first dimension of the text highlights the formula Aramaic-Greek ABBA patnr, regarded as liturgical; in the second, the text draws on its quantity and quality of co-constructs: symmartyrei, heirs, compassion, syndoxasthomen(Pauline neologisms or a singular use). The uniqueness of the combination deviates from its conventional, suggesting Sitz im Leben and/or a specific context: strata of an idolatrous paternity (Zeύs-patnr) and reminiscences of salvific syncretism of mystery religions because of co-compounds, common in these Greco-Roman rites formulas. This work considers both the accumulation of data and the componential analysis of these in Romans 8:14-17 provided its syntagmas a semantic understanding colliding over idolatry and syncretism.

La thèse concerne les composés nominaux à premier membre prépositionnel en grec ancien, en particulier le cas du premier membre ἐν°. Elle est constituée par l’analyse morphologique et sémantique d’un large corpus de données, dont le but est de relever les différents procédés de formation des mots, ainsi que leurs évolutions. Les composés à premier membre prépositionnel se distinguent des autres composés par deux caractéristiques : premièrement, ils ne sont pas constitués par deux lexèmes, étant donné qu’une préposition n’est pas un lexème véritable ; deuxièmement, la structure interne n’est pas toujours reconnaissable.Les questions ayant guidé cette recherche sont donc les suivantes : la nature spéciale de ces composés change-t-elle selon les différentes variétés diachroniques et diaphasiques ? Quelles sont les différentes valeurs du premier membre ἐν° dans les différentes catégories des composés ? On examine, avec une grande attention philologique aux contextes d’emploi, les composés attestés dans trois phases synchroniques successives : en premier lieu, dans la poésie épique archaïque ; en deuxième lieu, dans la prose classique du V-IVe siècle (notamment dans les œuvres de Platon et d’Aristote) ; la troisième partie examine les néo-formations de la période qui va de l’époque de Théophraste jusqu’à celle de Nonnos. Dans une quatrième partie on trouve les composés attestés dans les inscriptions arcadiennes, ainsi que quelques anthroponymes. En conclusion, cette étude montre les changements de la valeur du premier membre ἐν° dans les différentes catégories : ἐν° remplit plusieurs fonctions, qui, pourtant, partagent les signes d’une perte progressive de signification. / This thesis deals with ancient Greek nominal compounds with a prepositional first member (FM), and in particular the case of the FM ἐν°. I analyse a great amount of words from a morphological and semantical point of view. The pool of words is based on a formal criterion; the goal of the analysis is to outline different processes of compound formation, as well as their evolution. As compared to other compounds, those with a prepositional FM present two special characteristics: first, they are not formed by two lexemes, since prepositions/adverbs are not real lexemes; secondly, their internal structure is not often recognizable. The guide-questions of this research are: does the special nature of prepositional FM compounds change over different diachronic and diaphasic varieties? Moreover, which are the values of the FM ἐν° in the different compound categories? Most of the thesis consists in a thorough analysis of compounds attested in three consecutive synchronic phases: first, in archaic epic poetry, then in classical prose of V-IV century (in particular Plato’s and Aristotle’s works); the third part examines all neo-formations appearing in the long period starting from the age of Theophrastus till the age of Nonnus of Panopolis. A brief fourth part presents compounds attested in Arcadian inscriptions, as well as some anthroponyms. In the conclusions, I point out the changes in the value of the FM ἐν° in the different categories: ἐν° takes on several functions, that, however, share the signs of a progressive loss of meaning. / La tesi riguarda i composti nominali a primo membro preposizionale in greco antico, il particolare quelli a primo membro ἐν°. Essa è costituita dall’analisi morfologica e semantica di un vaso corpus di parole; lo scopo dell’analisi è di far emergere i diversi processi di formazione delle parole composto e la loro evoluzione.I composti a primo membro preposizionale si differenziano dagli altri composti per due caratteristiche: in primo luogo, essi non sono costituiti da due lessemi, dato che una preposizione non è un vero e proprio lessema; in secondo luogo, la loro struttura interna non è sempre facilmente riconoscibile.Le domande che guidano la ricerca sono dunque le seguenti: la natura speciale di questi composti cambia a seconda delle varietà diacroniche e diafasiche? Quali sono i valori del primo membro ἐν° nelle diverse categorie di composti?Con attenzione filologica ai contesti d’uso, si esaminano i composti attestati in tre fasi sincroniche successive: in primo luogo, nella poesia epica arcaica; in secondo luogo, nella prosa classica del V-IV secolo a. C. (in particolare, nelle opere di Platone e Aristotele); la terza parte riguarda le neoformazioni apparse nel periodo che va dall’epoca di Teofrasto a quella di Nonno di Panopoli. In una quarta sezione si trovano i composti attestati nelle iscrizioni arcadiche, oltre a qualche antroponimo.In conclusione, la ricerca mostra i mutamenti del valore del primo membro ἐν° nelle diverse categorie: ἐν° assume diverse funzioni, che però condividono i segni di una progressiva perdita di significato.