Re: Origin of prepositions/postpositions

Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:
> I'd like some input on how prepositions/postpositions
> may arise in a language.  The scenario is essentially
> a language that has had cases but lost them through
> regular sound change.  I'm aware that adpositions may
> arise from nouns, adverbs or verbs, but am a little
> hazy on how the latter in particular works.
A good example of the latter is "concerning".  Subordinate clauses are
another good origin.  For example, in Japanese, to say "a man from
China" you'd say "Chuugoku kara kita otoko" literally "a man who came
from China".  That could easily develop into a single postposition,
karakita.

Japanese uses lots of nouns in postpositional constructions.  For
example, for "in", one often uses the form "no naka ni" literally "in
the interior of" (compare English "inside (of)" < "in the side of" or
"beside" < "by the side of")