Re: those irregular prepositions
| From: | Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 14:15 |
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On 6/20/06, Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@...> wrote:
> In English, we say:
> * at night
> * at nightfall
> * at nighttime
> * at dusk
> * at dawn
> * at noon
> * at the weekend
That last one sounds very odd to me; it's certainly nothing I would
ever emit. I'd say "on the weekend" or "during the weekend".
> * at daybreak
> but
> * in the daytime
> * during the day
> never
> * at day
> * at daytime
However, note that the reverse is OK. "in the nighttime", "during the
night", etc.
> Why is it so?
No idea. Prepositional use is pretty darn idiomatic in every
language, though; once you get beyond the literal meanings of relative
physical placement, you're into metaphorical territory, and different
folks have different metaphors that get adapted (or borrowed)
differently.
The different treatment of "day" and "night" might be related to the
dual meaning of "day" (as both "daytime" and "nycthemeron"). That's
just a guess, though.
My conlangs are disappointingly regular in this regard, so far, I'm afraid.
--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
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