Advances in Role and Reference Grammar

276 JULIA A. JOLLY

from. The base form will be predicative from, listed in the lexicon, with a
specified LS. Verbs with which from occurs as a case-marker will have LSs
which include an LS component matching that of the preposition, thus pre­
dicting its occurrence in that context. The analysis will operate within the
theoretical framework of Role and Reference Grammar (hereafter RRG),
as presented in Foley & Van Valin (1984) [henceforth FVV] and sub­
sequent work, in which functional roles are based on the interaction of
three concepts: (1) the layered structure of the clause; (2) case roles as
determined by the macroroles of actor and undergoer; and (3) the LSs of
verbs, (see "Synopsis".) LSs will include primitive predicates, abstract
operators and sentential connectors, as specified in RRG. This study will
analyze prepositions interactively, in terms of their functions within the
clause, and componentially, in terms of their semantic structure.

1. Prepositional assignment to functional roles

Prepositional case-marking has rarely been treated as a phenomenon acces­

sible to analysis. Foley & Van Valin describe the treatment by some

approaches as "notational fiat," (FVV, 81) in that prepositional arguments

are simply listed in the lexical entry of the verb with which they occur. This

includes Jackendoffs approach (1976), as well as that of Fillmore (1968,

1977), where prepositions are similarly specified in the lexicon. Even

Dowty (1979), in his analysis of locatives, does not break down the prepos­

itional element beyond a minimal level. For example, to = [BECOME be­

at' (x,y)], onto = [BECOME be-on' (x,y)], and out of = [BECOME NOT

be-in' (x,y)]. He does note, however:

We could adopt a richer model in which positions are assigned to individu­

als by a function LOC for each index in each model, and that be-at' etc.

would be given an explicit standard interpretation in such a model with the

aid of supplementary notions like adjacency of one region to space to

another (for at), containment of one region in another (for in) and location

adjacent to be above a horizontal surface (for on). (Dowty 1979:210)

Dowty is referring to the kind of detailed decomposition described by FVV

as an alternative to that used in RRG. But it is possible that there is some­

thing between the detailed specificity of Bennett's componential model

(1975) for spatial prepositions and mere lists of functional assignments in

the lexicon — especially in view of the fact that treating prepositional