Philological Faculty Blaze Koneski

Skopje

The Prepositions OF and OFF in the

English language
Contrastive analysis with Macedonian
language equivalents -

Written by: Biljana Petrushevska

Mentor: PhD. Professor Zoze Murgoski

1. Introduction
This paper will deal with the proper analysis and explanation of the English prepositions OF
and OFF and a contrastive comparison with their equivalents in the Macedonian language, in
order to properly understand them, as well as to understand the connection of the two
languages in general and in the context of the generic tree of world languages. The association
of these two languages might seem not likely to produce some quality linguistic data, but one
must not be fooled by the first impressions.
Also another reason for contrasting these two languages is the case of performing an extensive
study of the two, as in this (i.e. my) situation, when it is necessary to stretch beyond the limits
of one single language and to deepen the understanding of the human language, a knowledge
each linguist must strive to.
To make the whole subject more substantial, we will look at it from a more fact-based
perspective. Namely it is widely known that language is a set of structures, symbols, patterns
and rules that differentiate it and make it unique. But also no language can be totally different
from other languages; there is always some connection, some similarity, and some tunnel that
has connected those languages in some time or place, no matter if it was directly or indirectly.
These connections represent links to the past that can also lead to the core of the present
constructions of language and society it self. In order to recognize them we need to first make
an analysis of the language as thorough as we can. Then we need to compare it to another
language and evaluate and place the results in the great puzzle.
This is a quest to great for a single person, not to mention for one single try, and that is why
each linguist must select a certain part of the language, detach it from the other features of that
language (as impossible as that might seem) and after having acquired all the necessary
information, to try to compare it in an objective manner, with the adequate scientific methods.
One of these methods is contrastive analysis which is a branch of contrastive grammar
concerned with systematic description and comparison of two or more languages, with a
special attention to the similarities and differences holding between them. It is an inductive
investigative approach based on the distinctive elements in a language and it has historically it
has been used to establish language genealogies. All in all it is the skeleton key to all the
unlocked doors to the world of language and that is why it is the ideal tool to gradually answer
all the uncertainties concerning our basic question in this paper.
Therefore in the following paragraphs, we will use all the methods contrastive analysis (further
referred to as CA) offers in order to work out the knots and bolts of this particular fragment of
the English language. The CA we will be administering will first be intralingual, and will deal
with the prepositions inside the English language, their varieties and old forms. Then we will
deal with interlingual CA, thus comparing the differences and similarities of the above
mentioned prepositions with their language equivalents in the Macedonian language.
The language model being used will be the normative (or so called traditional) language model
which views some language items in isolation, and it will mostly be focused on the English
version and the Macedonian equivalents will be used to explain it and bring it closer to the
non-native speaker.

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2. English vs. Macedonian language

- Prepositions in both languages -

All of the languages in the world belong to one giant family tree that shows the way they have
developed, which language they have originated from and which languages are the closest to
them in structure, grammar and symbols. Because of these existing similarities and differences
we are able to classify them by using several forms of categorization.
English and Macedonian, as categorized by the genetic classification, belong to the same group
of Proto-Indo-European Languages, but the English language belongs to the Germanic /West
Germanic subgroup and the Macedonian language belongs to the Balto-Slavic/Slavic/South
Slavic group of languages. Also they belong to the class of flexible languages which means
that in both languages there is a majority of flexible words, which can change their basic part
the root of the word, and the suffixes and prefixes have various different grammatical
meanings. Also in their case there is a fine line between the root and the suffix/prefix. So we
can already see some connection between these two languages, no matter how distant it may
seem .The important aspect of this connection, is the fact that the existence of similarities is a
fact and it will enable us to dig deeper into the structure we need to uncover.
But in order not to distance our selves too much from the subject we will tighten the circle of
our interest to the subject of prepositions and their basic forms and uses in these two languages.
In this section of the paper we will explain those exact properties and how they further the
connection which gives us the right to make a comparison between the prepositions OF and
OFF, which are the specific subject of this work.
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In the English language:

In the most general terms, a preposition expressed a relation between two entities (relationships
between nouns, pronouns and other words in a sentence), one being that represented by the
prepositional complement, the other by another part of the sentence. In doing so, a preposition
indicates the relationship of the idea expressed in the prepositional phrase to the ideas
expressed in the rest of the sentence.
The prepositional complement is characteristically a noun phrase, a nominal wh-clause, or a
nominal ing clause. They never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the
word they are referring to. The words of, and off are examples of prepositions. A word such as
a noun, pronoun or gerund following a preposition is said to be the object of the preposition.
They are combined into two groups, simple and complex. Because their number is very large,
they cant all be presented in this paper but here is a short list of some of the more common
one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than one meaning.

aboard
about
above
around
as
at
before
behind
between
beyond
but
by
concerning
considering

despite
down
during
except
excluding
following
for
from
in
inside
into
like
minus
near

of
off
on
onto
outside
over
past
per
plus
regarding
round
save
since
than

through
to
toward
towards
under
unlike
until
up
versus
via
with
within
without

As pointed out previously, a personal pronoun following a preposition must be in the objective
case. Prepositions are nearly always combined with other words in structures called
prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases can be made up of a million different words, but
they tend to be built the same: a preposition followed by a determiner and an adjective or two,
followed by a pronoun or noun (called the object of the preposition). This whole phrase, in
turn, takes on a modifying role, acting as an adjective or an adverb, locating something in time
and space, modifying a noun, or telling when or where or under what conditions something
happened. The prepositional phrases in the following examples are underlined.
e.g. He owns the house on the corner.
We are waiting for her.
She has read many books about flying.
Prepositions are separated into several groups: prepositions of time, of place, of location, of
movement, of time. They are also sometimes so firmly wedded to other words that they have
practically become one word. This occurs in three categories: nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn
prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English (literature) and learning
useful phrases off by heart (study tips).

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Although there are fewer than one hundred English prepositions, although prepositions do not
take endings, and although the structure of most prepositional phrases is simple, the use of
English prepositions is very complex. The reasons for this are that most prepositions have more
than one meaning, many prepositions can also be used as adverbs, prepositions are used in
hundreds of idioms, many adjectives, nouns, and verbs must usually be followed by certain
prepositions, and there are hundreds of phrasal verbs formed from combinations of verbs with
adverbs and prepositions.It should also be noted that the use of prepositions varies somewhat
among the different dialects of English. For instance, as illustrated in the following example,
there are some differences between British and North American English in the use of
prepositions.
Example: (British Usage) There is a fence about the garden.
(American Usage: There is a fence around the garden.

In the Macedonian language:

The prepositions in Macedonian (called ) are official words which like in English
never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc., which express different relations
between words in a sentence. Combined with other words that have their own, full meaning
which is not necessary to be connected to other words, they gain a large number or varieties of
their meaning, or are reduced to being grammatical means to express the meaning of fullfledged words. In languages without case, such as the Macedonian language, they are very
important means to present the functions of words. They are of a great importance and enable
the expressing of a set of syntax functions when used together with the noun word or noun
phrase.
The primary meaning of the largest number of prepositions is connected to spatial relations,
from which the other, more or less direct, meanings develop. In this way the prepositions
(depending on the nouns they are structured with) can participate in the creation of adverbs and
adverbial phrases.The prepositions in the Macedonian language are, similar to English, split
into two groups, though they are not as numerous.
Simple: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , ..
Complex: , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , ,
, , ,
Examples:
- . (She is living in the new house on the hill)
- . (My mother said she would pay
my dancing classes no English equivalent of the structure with the preposition)
- . (This was supposed to be a gift for him)
- ? (Where did you come from?)
Prepositions have no accent of their own, but form an accentual unit with the substantive or
pronoun which they govern. There are two types: those which may take the stress when used
with a personal pronoun, and those which do not. In the former group there are some which
sometimes may take the stress when used with an indefinite noun.

3. Intralingual CA and Iterlingual CA (Macedonian Equivalents)

OF

Todays English language structure and is mainly built of two other languages: Germanic
(Anglo-Saxon) and Lain (mostly French) words, structures and rules have conjoined in a new
language with its own slightly altered system of signs. Since our main subject of discussion is
the preposition of we will discuss its origin. It is derived from Old English< Germanic roots,
from the preposition f; Proto-Germanic af-, whence also Old High German ab, Old Norse af.
Its pronunciation is \v, and before consonants also v, v.
The word OF in the English language has mostly the function of a preposition. Its main
purpose is to introduce nouns or noun phrases and provide more information about a preceding
word or phrase, usually (but not always), also a noun. In fact, the prepositions of is among the
ten most frequent words in English.
It belongs to the group of simple/ monosyllabic prepositions (because of the different stress
patterns of simple prepositions, they are divided into monosyllabic and polysyllabic) which
means it is usually unstressed, but it can be when used for coordination: The government of
the people, and also when it is used as the tail of the tone unit: What of it?.
It can also be a part of the complex prepositions: ahead of, back of, exclusive of, instead
of, outside of, because of, devoid of, in aid of, in behalf of, in case of, by means of, on
account of, and etc.
Its many uses are disambiguated here:
- It is frequently used to connect particular adjectives with nouns:
I have always been very fond of swimming, even since my childhood days
- When comparing related things:
Best of all I liked the green one.
- It is used for expressing something done to someone or something:
What this raging lunatics actions resulted in was the massacre of hundreds of
innocent people.
- When describing something that is felt or experienced by someone:
The suffering of millions throughout the world made me realise how fortunate I was..
- When presenting the cause of something, through:
He died of cancer.
- It is used after words or phrases expressing amount, number or particular unit:
Please hand me a kilo of apples.
- When we describe something, what it is made of, and what it consists of, or when we talk of
having something:
She lived in a land of ice and snow and was perfectly happy.
- We use of also when we want to show a certain distance from something in place or time:
We live within a mile of the city centre.

- In expressions showing loss of something:

They were robbed of all their savings.
- It can be used with the meaning of THAT IS or ARE:
The main concern of our city council is the problem of homelessness.
- Used in expressions showing position:
He placed the hat on the top of his head
- It can also be used when it we are describing a typical characteristic of a person, using
something or someone else as a comparison:
She has the face of an angel.
- Used to refer to a particular date in a month.
She celebrates her birthday on the eleventh of March.
- Used in saying what the time is (mostly in the US):
Its ten (minutes) of five (= ten minutes before five o'clock).
- It can also be used after an adjective when judging someone's behaviour:
It was a bit unkind of you to mention her weight.
- When we are talking about, relating to something:
Speaking of Elizabeth, here she is.
- expressing the countenance or containing of something inside something else:
With him he brought a bag of sweets for the children and a bottle of beer for him self.
- It is used to show possession, belonging or origin:
He is a friend of mine* (he is my friend).
Biting my nails is a habit of mine*.
*This is a so-called double genitive construction, which has been used in English since the
14th century and serves a useful purpose. It can help sort out ambiguous phrases like Tom's
photograph, which could refer either to a photograph of Bob (that is, revealing Bob's image)
or to one in Tom's possession. A photograph of Toms can only be a photo that Tom has in
his possession, which may or may not show Tom's image. Moreover, in some sentences the
double genitive offers the only way to express what is meant. There is no substitute for it in a
sentence such as That's the only friend of yours that I've ever met, since sentences such as
That's your only friend that I've ever met and That's your only friend, whom I've ever
met are awkward or inaccurate.
- It has some old-fashioned use also, replacing the meaning of during:
I like to relax with a pipe of an evening.
- Some speakers of vernacular English varieties, particularly in isolated or mountainous regions
of the southern United States, use phrases such as of a night or of an evening in place of
Standard English at night or in the evening, as in We'd go hunting of an evening. This of
construction is used only when referring to a repeated actionwhere Standard English uses
nights, evenings, and the like, as in Wed go hunting nights. It is not used for single actions,
as in She returned at night. Interestingly, these of and -s constructions are related. This -s
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construction, which dates back to the Old English period (c. 449-1100), does not signify a
plurality but is similar to the so-called genitive suffix -s, which often indicates possession, as in
the king's throne. Just as this example can also be phrased as the throne of the king, nights
can be reformulated as of a night. This reformulation has been possible since the Middle
English period (c. 1100-1500). Sometimes the original -s ending remains in the of construction,
as in We'd walk to the store of evenings, but usually it is omitted.
In the Macedonian language it is mostly translated by the equivalents and , and also by
juxtaposition.
The preposition has extremely varied meanings.
(We are mostly interested in its connection with the preposition of, so here we will list only the
uses which are translated with that word i.e. the equivalence that exists between these two
words.)
- It can express possession or the relationship of indirect object.
- The scream of a woman is unbearable.
- It is also used to introduce the person who performs an action in the sentence.
o.. The storytelling of the grandfather .
- It can connect a noun (or a group of nouns) with another noun (or a group).
The handsome mane of the black horse.
The preposition is connected with OF when:
- it expresses origin
. She is Donka of the Manevi family.
- it expresses direction
. I have never been north of
Macedonia
- it forms connection between nouns or group of nouns
What is causing the
problems is the hole of the chimney.
- it is after an adjective when judging someone's behaviour
, It was very nice of you to
visit me in the hospital.
- it shows the cause of an event
It happened out of negligence.
- when showing some quantity
, . She got nine out of ten right.
Juxtaposition
The partitive meaning usually expressed by the genitive case in other Slavic languages and by
the preposition of in English, is usually expressed in Macedonian simply by juxtaposition of
the substantives: a glass of water, a bottle of brandy,
collection of junk, plowing of a field,
on the occasion of her birthday.
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 OFF
This English word originates from the 12th century. It has meaning as an adverb, a preposition,
an adjective, a verb or an abbreviation. Its more common use is as an adverb but it is its use as
a preposition that is looked at more closely in this paper here. Off functions as a preposition of
position or movement and is the converse of on.
The compound preposition off of is used interchangeably with the preposition off in a context
such as she picked it up off of the floor (compared with she picked it up off the floor). The use
of off of is recorded from the 16th century (and was used commonly by Shakespeare, for
example) and is logically parallel to the standard out of, but is not accepted in standard modern
English. Today off of is restricted to dialect and informal contexts, particularly in the US.
Here are some examples of other common usages of off as a preposition:
- When someone doesnt like or doesnt like taking something or someone
He's been off his food ever since he had the stomach upset.
I used to love wine but I've gone off it recently. (= stopped liking it)
- Meaning near to some place
He lives just off the main road.
- Meaning no longer to be supported by, attached to, on, resting on, or unified with:
Take your feet off the table!
- Meaning deviating from:
The chi in his body is totally off balance;
- Meaning away, disengaged, or resting from:
To be off duty on Tuesdays
- (Informal) Refraining or abstaining from; denying oneself the pleasure, company, practice,
etc., of:
He's off gambling.
- Away from; apart or distant from:
A village off the main road
- leading into or away from:
It is found in an alley off 12th Street.
- Not fixed on or directed toward, as the gaze, eyes, etc.:
Their eyes weren't off the king for a moment.
- With the meaning of from:
(Informal)I bought it off a street vendor. - A specified source
To lunch off cheese and fruit. - Indicating material or component parts
Living off an inheritance; living off his parents - From or by such means or use of
- Nautical. at some distance to seaward of:
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Our course is off Cape Hatteras.

- Taken or stolen from the possession or charge of
He had his wallet stolen off him
- used as a function word to indicate the object of an action
I borrowed a dollar off him
- To show the ending of some activity by someone.
He turned off the light.
She switched off the computer
Expressions with off
We also speak about people being off-balance, off-colour, off-duty, doing things on the offchance and having off days:

I caught him completely off-balance and he didn't know what to say.

She'd been off-colour for days, but there was no sign of any real illness
developing.
Could you just do this for me? ~ Sorry, love, I'm off duty at the moment. ~
When are you on again?

In the Macedonian language:

It is mostly translated using the preposition , when referring to the following structures:
- When it has the meaning of down from, or rather some form of departure or detachment
from a surface or a line
He got off the horse.
He took his hat off of his head.
- When it means an exit from an enclosed space
, When she got off the train, the first
thing she saw was him.
In other cases it is usually not translated by a specific word or preposition, but its meaning is
explained and replaced by the use of prefixes. For example, the most common usage of OFF in
the English language, which is switch off/turn off is translated as in the Macedonian
language. That is why many Macedonian equivalents dont exist.

Conclusion
Linguists, psychologists and philosophers have long observed the importance of space and
spatial experience for both language and thought. They have often assumed that words
constitute lexical forms that are conventionally paired with meanings, and that these formmeaning pairings are stored in a mental dictionary or lexicon. These meanings or ideas, of
some shapes or objects or abstract things are related to different words in different languages.
It is important to know that each language has its specific grammar patterns, structures and
rules that make it instantly recognizable and differentiated from other languages. Its primary
function is that of enabling communication between people and forming the understanding and
meaning of that communication. It also develops it self through it and it functions as a selfupgrading mechanism. That means that it has the ability to improve it self, to change, to
fluctuate, to widen and to constrict it self. It has been created by humans but it has become a
phenomenon greater than the control we can provide it and it has probably had the
predisposition to be created all along, an unavoidable occurrence, an enciphered code in our
genes, waiting for its time to come and to develop, unleashing the power for other, maybe even
more important and unimaginable human properties and creations.
Here lies the other function of language. It is a powerful means to uncover information that has
been stored through time and space, which has been the building material for it. All the
happenings, all the conditions, whether natural or artificial, have left their impression on it, i.e.
have made perhaps a slight bend in it, that has caused an entire shift it some of its symbols or
structures. By looking into this changes or variations, we will have access to a higher
knowledge that could raise our conscience and insight into the world.
This all sounds very impervious and philosophical, but it has a very obtainable scientific side.
Although it has not yet reached the boundary we need to break in order to get to that fruit of
paradise, it is on a very good way to dig up the upper layers of the hidden treasure and travel
through its interconnecting tunnels which can not be seen from the surface.

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