A Study on Physical Contact Constructions in English and Other Languages
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Prepositional constructions involving body parts—such as hit him in the chest or grabbed her by the arm—have drawn increasing attention in linguistic theory and pedagogy. Although a number of prepositions appear more frequently than expected in English physical-contact expressions, the criteria governing their selection remain unclear. Previous studies have addressed the issue, but concrete results are still lacking. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the underlying principles that govern the selection of prepositions in these constructions. These expressions, despite their high frequency, are often taught as unanalyzed idioms, leaving learners without clear understanding of how prepositions interact with body-part nouns. This study explores the semantic and syntactic patterns of five key English prepositions (in, on, by, around, and to) in such constructions. Based on the analysis, five types of inter-physio constructions are identified: (1) momentary light contact constructions, (2) momentary strong contact constructions, (3) durational contact constructions, (4) durational circular contact constructions with cylindrical body parts, and (5) metaphorical or emotional contact constructions. Cross-linguistic data from Indo-European and Niger-Congo languages show a consistent separation of body parts from objects, indicating that the object-splitting phenomenon extends beyond English and represents a broader cross-linguistic tendency.
Abstract
Prepositional constructions involving body parts—such as hit him in the chest or grabbed her by the arm—have drawn increasing attention in linguistic theory and pedagogy. Although a number of prepositions appear more frequently than expected in English physical-contact expressions, the criteria governing their selection remain unclear. Previous studies have addressed the issue, but concrete results are still lacking. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the underlying principles that govern the selection of prepositions in these constructions. These expressions, despite their high frequency, are often taught as unanalyzed idioms, leaving learners without clear understanding of how prepositions interact with body-part nouns. This study explores the semantic and syntactic patterns of five key English prepositions (in, on, by, around, and to) in such constructions. Based on the analysis, five types of inter-physio constructions are identified: (1) momentary light contact constructions, (2) momentary strong contact constructions, (3) durational contact constructions, (4) durational circular contact constructions with cylindrical body parts, and (5) metaphorical or emotional contact constructions. Cross-linguistic data from Indo-European and Niger-Congo languages show a consistent separation of body parts from objects, indicating that the object-splitting phenomenon extends beyond English and represents a broader cross-linguistic tendency.