deprepositional

Deprepositional is an adjective used in linguistics to describe phenomena related to the absence or non-use of a preposition to express a semantic relation. It pertains to how some languages or constructions convey spatial, temporal, or other relational meanings without a dedicated prepositional marker.

In practice, deprepositional usage can refer to several related ideas. It may describe words, verbs, or phrases that take complements without a preposition, or constructions in which the usual prepositional element is omitted or fused with another grammatical mark. In typology and historical linguistics, deprepositional patterns are often contrasted with prepositional or postpositional systems, and with languages that encode relations through case marking rather than separate prepositions.

Several theoretical approaches discuss deprepositionality in terms of grammaticalization and economy of expression. Some languages rely on case endings, affixes, or verb semantics to indicate location, direction, or other relations that English would typically signal with a preposition. In such cases, the relation is interpreted from the surrounding grammar rather than from a standalone preposition. Deprepositional constructions thus illustrate how languages can vary in how they encode similar meanings.

Notable distinctions include deprepositional phenomena versus zero prepositions (where no preposition is used but the relation is still indicated by other means) and versus explicit use of prepositions. The concept is mainly of interest in linguistic typology, syntax, and historical change, where the focus is on how languages differ in marking relational meaning without or beyond the standard set of prepositions.