Tertia comparationis in multilingual corpora 19
4.2 Convergent constructions containing alternative prepositions
Table 3 contains details of the codings of ‘betweenness’ in the two languages
employing prepositions other than between and entre.
Table 3. Tokens of mellom translated by prepositions other than between and entre
Type Total tokens English French English + French
Location 139 29 21% 22 16% 13 9%
Motion 89 37 42% 25 28% 17 19%
Interaction 51 2 1 0
Relationship 47 1 0 0
Comparison 36 2 0 0
Idiom 14 0 0 0
Time 17 1 3 1
Total 393 72 18% 51 13% 31 8%
As shown by Table 3, it is mostly spatial senses of ‘betweenness’ in the two lan-
guages that may be encoded by alternative prepositions. Indeed, of a total of 165
non-spatial tokens of mellom, only six are expressed by an alternative preposition
in English, and just four in French. Typical of Location predications encoded by
other prepositions in both languages is plurality, as opposed to duality, of the
landmark of the preposition. (32)–(34) may serve as illustrations.
(32) a. The wish exploded in him when he noticed that there actually was some-
one in the bushes. (HW2TE)
b. Ce désir explosa en lui quand il remarqua qu’il y avait vraiment quelqu’un
dans les buissons. (HW2TF)
(33) a. Some say that El Planeta and the dwarf lived together for several days
amongst the quayside shacks of Marseilles. (JG3TE)
b. Certains prétendent qu’ El Planeta et le nain auraient vécu ensemble
quelques jours dans les entrepôts de Marseille. (JG3TF)
(34) a. We stood for a while longer among the books in that strange stillness.
(NF1TE)
b. Nous nous attardons au milieu des livres dans un profond silence.
(NF1TF)
When the area coding the locus of situation of the landmark has three or more
reference points, it may be construed as a two-dimensional container, motivating
the choice of the default container prepositions in and dans as in (32a and b) and
(33b). The situation of a landmark in an area with multiple reference points may
also be encoded by among(st) in English, as in (33a) and (34a) and au milieu de