Prepositions are among the most problematic topics to be mastered by Italian learners of the English language. This is mainly due to discrepancies in their repertoires and use in the two languages at issue. The present account aims to shed light on some such asymmetry by making reference to, and attempting to replicate, the procedure employed in past work on Lexical Complexity carried out at Pisa University (see Bertuccelli Papi and Lenci 2007; Masi 2010.). Reference is also made to work on English prepositions based on the theoretical backgrounds of the Principled Polysemy Network (cf., e.g., Evans 2006, Evans and Tyler 2004, Tyler and Evans 2001, 2003, 2004) as a starting point for the comparison. Starting from the systematic account of the semantic networks of the English spatial prepositions across and through, the work sets out to check the extent of the networks correspondence with Italian (e.g. attraverso). In fact, there are complex extensions of the basic meanings of the English prepositions which result in less predictable translation options. The work is intended to supply useful insights and resources for teaching, research and translation, as well as to further test the applicability of the framework of Lexical Complexity to this area of investigation.
Through vis-à-vis Attraverso: A Cross-linguistic Account of Spatial Particles
MASI, SILVIA
2011-01-01
Abstract
Prepositions are among the most problematic topics to be mastered by Italian learners of the English language. This is mainly due to discrepancies in their repertoires and use in the two languages at issue. The present account aims to shed light on some such asymmetry by making reference to, and attempting to replicate, the procedure employed in past work on Lexical Complexity carried out at Pisa University (see Bertuccelli Papi and Lenci 2007; Masi 2010.). Reference is also made to work on English prepositions based on the theoretical backgrounds of the Principled Polysemy Network (cf., e.g., Evans 2006, Evans and Tyler 2004, Tyler and Evans 2001, 2003, 2004) as a starting point for the comparison. Starting from the systematic account of the semantic networks of the English spatial prepositions across and through, the work sets out to check the extent of the networks correspondence with Italian (e.g. attraverso). In fact, there are complex extensions of the basic meanings of the English prepositions which result in less predictable translation options. The work is intended to supply useful insights and resources for teaching, research and translation, as well as to further test the applicability of the framework of Lexical Complexity to this area of investigation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
