SEMANTIC FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL AND TEMPORAL PREPOSITIONS IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

The article is devoted to the functions of local and temporal prepositions in German. Space and time are fundamental concepts that exist in the human mind, which explains the importance of studying them. Understanding and describing spatial and temporal relations in different languages is of particular interest both in cognitive and linguistic terms. The study of prepositions that convey spatial and temporal relations makes it possible to identify the patterns of spatial and temporal perception of the world, refracted in the meanings of these language units, and helps to reveal the system of concepts with which a person comprehends the world around him, which is important for professional translators. The relevance of the study is that it is devoted to little-studied problematic semantics – the problematic meanings of spatial and temporary prepositions. The object of the research is the system of spatial and temporal prepositions of the German language. The subject of the research is the semantic functions of prepositions, expressive spatial and temporal relations. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of the spatial and temporal perception of the world by native speakers of the German language by describing and comparing the semantic functions of the spatial and temporal prepositions of the German language. The article considers the main aspects of the study of prepositions within the framework of modern linguistics in order to determine the basic theoretical postulates of the study, and also determines the specificity of the grammatical and lexical meanings of prepositions. The authors of the article analyzed research approaches to the study of the semantic structure and functionality of prepositions. In addition, the categories of space and time are considered in order to determine the place and role of prepositions in the expression of spatial and temporal relations. The article reveals the features of the spatial and temporal perception of the world by German speakers, which are reflected in the semantics of local and temporal prepositions.