Towards a domain-neutral prepositional semantics

Prepositions with a range over several conceptual domains are often described as polysemous between these domains. Typically, spatial senses are seen as basic, while temporal and abstract senses are assumed to be derived from space. The present article argues in favour of an alternative analysis in which domain-neutral properties of prepositions are used to account for similarities between instances in different domains. Methodological considerations with respect to the analytical depth, generality and simplicity of semantic accounts speak in favour of such a domain-neutral approach. The approach is illustrated with two Swedish prepositions, från ‘from’ and till ‘to’, both of which span numerous domains. To facilitate semantic descriptions of the relation between domain-neutral and domain-specific content, a semantic notation in the form of feature structures is introduced