La rappresentazione dei significati preposizionali locativi nelle grammatiche italiane: una valutazione dalla prospettiva delle grammaticografia croata

Abstract

The starting point of this study stems from the two assumptions that are commonly accepted and, to a great extent, proven within cognitive linguistics: 1. members of the category of prepositions are bearers of autonomous meanings, and 2. prepositional meanings are conditioned significantly by the concepts pertinent to the domain of space. In the light of the theoretical model of the semantic representation of prepositions previously developed by the author (2022) and his reflections on the nature of prepositional meaning in general, this article presents the results of an analysis conducted on a corpus of 13 Italian grammars published in the last 70 years. Specifically, the representations of spatial meanings of Italian prepositions as proposed by grammarians are examined. Since a clear prevalence of approaches characterised by the use of the terms of logical analysis to provide the semantic description of a preposition is identified, the author compares this trend with some models used within Croatian grammaticography. In conclusion, the author indicates some potential alternative evolutionary paths of Italian grammaticography that might lead it to a higher level of cognitive plausibility of representation of the semantic structure of a preposition.