Semantics and Pragmatics of Locative Expressions

The paper examines locative expressions and shows that on adequate account of their meaning must be based on two essential understandings: First, the simple spatial relation, often given OS the meaning of the spatial prepositions, is only an “ideal” from which there ore deviations in context: second, a level of “geometric conceptualization” mediates between “the world OS it is” and longuoge. Pragmatic “near principles” are formulated to explain some deviations from the ideal and several other apparent irregularities of prepositional use. A set of “use types” of the ideal meaning is proposed to account for conventionol aspects of locative meaning. The paper concludes with o discussion of the consequences of this description of locative expressions for artificial intelligence and linguistics.