Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How the user relates to the concept is contained 'within' the preposition, particularly agglutinative "preposition-verbs" (my favorites!) Much is revealed about the user's psyche. One of the most interesting is the verb "to overcome".

The preposition 'over' places the object beneath the subject. This position reveals the power dynamic between the two nouns. Power is exerted by the subject unto the object. There is a top-down, authoritarian impulse being displayed in this "preposition-verb". Were it a more egalitarian process, the word would be 'throughcome', or somesuch. The two ideas -- overcoming and throughcoming -- are vastly different. Overcoming is overtly masculine and controlling of one's destiny; throughcoming is feminine and subject to one's environment, situations, or other people.

Also, note the preposition-like nature of the verb "to come". The user is already at the destination, in a sense, and thus the 'overcoming' is predestined, but a formality. Were it otherwise, the word would be 'to overgo', or the egalitarian 'to throughgo'.

This analysis makes the transitive form of the verb 'to overcome' especially interesting, in that the form tends to be used in a passive sense; "He was overcome by the fumes." The passivity of this form makes the double positioning of the word quite ironic. There should, rightly, be no position of strength nor fate in a term of passivity. Thus: throughcome --> throughgo; but the term is past tense, so rightfully should be 'throughwent':

He was throughwent by the fumes.

I told you prepositions are the funnest part of speech!