prepositionele

Prepositionele are a class of function words that attach to a noun or pronoun to form a prepositional phrase, thereby expressing the relationship between that noun phrase and another element in the sentence. They typically indicate spatial relations (in, on, under), temporal relations (before, after, during), direction (toward, into), as well as manner, instrument, cause, or purpose.

Most prepositionele are invariable, not changing form for number or gender in many languages. Some languages feature contractions or clitic forms where a preposition combines with a following article or pronoun; others use postpositions that follow the noun instead of preceding it.

Syntactically, a preposition selects or governs its complement (the noun phrase it introduces) and, together with that phrase, forms a larger prepositional phrase that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another noun. In many languages, prepositions influence case marking on the noun phrase; in others, word order suffices to express the relation.

Common semantic categories include locative (in, on, at, beside), temporal (at, during, before), directional (to, toward, from), instrumental (with, by means of), and causal (due to, because of). Some prepositions form fixed multiword units, such as in spite of or because of, which function as single prepositional units.

In linguistic study, the term prepositionele is used to describe this multifunctional class across languages, noting variation in form, contraction, and interaction with case, articles, or word order. Their analysis covers semantics, syntax, and historical development from older language stages.