User:JeffreyATW/Sandbox
The word near is a preposition in the English language, denoting closeness to many things [1]:
- Temporal — The time for action is near.
- Objective — We are near to winning the cup.
- Locative — The bank near my house was robbed.
- Conditional — Mary is near death.
- Affective — My wife is near to my heart.
History[edit]
Near comes from Old English near, which is the comparative form of neah or neh, meaning "nigh."
Around 1250, it was influenced by Old Norse naer, also meaning "near," turning it into a positive form. It was originally used in the adverbial sense, until the 16th century when it assumed a similar adjectival role to nigh. [2]
Syntax[edit]
Internal[edit]
Near can function as either a simple preposition, or part of a complex one. According to its use in the above examples, the subcategorization frame of near is:
near, P. [ __ {PP, NP}]PP
Its embedded PP can take different prepositions as its head, the most prevalent being to. [3] Another (perhaps non-standard) possibility is of. [4] Otherwise, its embedded NP refers to the theme that its agent is close to. This usage is synonymous to the usage of PPs, as illustrated in the following trees.
External[edit]
A PP with head near can appear in most usual locations - as complements or adjuncts to verb phrases. For example:
Idioms and collocations[edit]
Near can precede other prepositions when used in certain well known phrases.
- at - Near at hand
- by - Near by (established as "close at hand" around 1375 - later compounded to nearby) [2]
In some cases, it retains its adverbial use:
- One of them gave the security guard a belt of a hammer and damn near killed him.
- He began a quizzing sort of conversation with me that lasted near a half-hour... [5]
Other idioms include:
- Near-death experience — Experience reported by a person who nearly died
- Near beer — Beer with low alcoholic content
- Nearest and dearest — Collection of fondest friends [6]
- Near miss — A narrowly avoided mishap or something that hits short of its target [6]
- Near thing — Something barely effected [6]
References[edit]
- ^ http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00321890
- ^ a b http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=near
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=%22near+to%22
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=%22near+of%22
- ^ http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00321893
- ^ a b c "near." The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.