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Comparative Analysis of English Prepositions 

and Armenian Case Endings 

The present paper reveals one of the rather conspicu-ous differences between the English and Armenian
languages, i.e. the role of the prepositions in English and that
of the grammatical category of case in Armenian. It’s com-
mon knowledge that modern languages may have some pho-
netic, lexical and grammatical similarities regardless of the
differences in pronunciation, word building, morphology and
syntax. Being the language-representatives of one and the
same language family the English and Armenian languages
may rather lack common phonetic and lexical features.
However, these two languages have got similarities in their
grammatical structure. 

According to the morphological and typological classification of the languages at issue,
as well as relying on the common structural features, the English language is classified in
the series of analytic languages. In English such means as word order, stress, intonation,
modal words are used mainly as means of expressing grammatical meanings. Whereas the
Armenian language belongs to the series of synthetic languages. Inflectional morphology
makes it possible to clarify the grammatical meanings expressed in the Armenian language.

The case system is quite developed in Armenian. In the latest works of grammar the
synthetic notion and the definition of languages is being criticized on the basis of the fact
that the case meaning can’t be considered to be similar with the concrete relation and the
synthetic function expressed by the case. Each case has got its basic meanings and syn-
thetic functions on which the morphological meaning of the case is based. In the
Armenian language it’s only the Common (Nominative) Case that opposes to all the other
cases in its form: it hasn’t got any typical ending and it is considered to be the basic form
for the other so-called inflectional cases.

Modern English doesn’t have a rich case system. Here the synthetic applications typ-
ical of the case meaning are not expressed by means of case endings (inflections) but
with the help of modal words (Blokh 1983:65). So prepositions here play the role of the
modal words. It is just with the help of prepositions that different grammatical meanings
of one and the same word are expressed.

For example:

÷áÕáóÇó – from the street
÷áÕáóáõÙ – in the street
÷áÕáóÇ –  of the street, etc.

If case endings are considered to be morphemes, then prepositions are part of the voca -
buary of the language as independent words. Many prepositions, mainly the prepositions of

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Ruzanna Avetisyan



place are considered to be words with full meanings and they can function as independent
members of the sentence. Whereas the case endings lack any lexical meaning of their own.
Yet the role of prepositions and case endings in some languages are equal.

Prepositions are wildly used linguistic units in Modern English. Used with the noun
or the noun substitute, i.e. with the Pronoun and the Gerund, they express the relation
between that same word and another word in the sentence. Other parts of speech which
are used as nouns can take prepositions as well (Leech, Svartvik 1983:255).

Combinations of a notional word with a functional word are equivalent to separate
words by their nominative function. Since a functional word expresses some abstract
relation. Such combinations, as a rule, are quite obviously non-self-dependent: they are
artificially isolated from the context.

In terms of their morphological structure prepositions in Modern English are simple
(on, in, at, for, with, etc.), derivative (behind, below, across, along, etc.) and composite
(in front of, by means of, as for, etc.). They may have a meaning of their own.

For example:

Her sister appeared carrying a wine-glass in which there was a raw egg,
with a little cherry on it.
øáõÛñÁ ѳÛïÝí»ó ·ÇÝáõ μ³Å³ÏÁ Ó»éùÇÝ, áñáõÙ Óáõ ϳñ` íñ³Ý ÙÇ
÷áùñ μ³É:
The path felt springy beneath his feet.
²ñ³Ñ»ïÁ ϳñÍ»ë ÷³ËãáõÙ ¿ñ Ýñ³ áïùÇ ï³ÏÇó:
He dropped into a chair beside his mother.       
ܳ ÁÝÏ³í ³ÃáéÇ íñ³, Ùáñ ÏáÕùÇÝ:

Expanding the cited formative phrases with the corresponding notional words one can
obtain notional phrases of contextually self-dependent value. There are prepositions
which express concrete meanings: that of place (on, in, at, out of, etc.), position (above,
by, over, in front of, under, beneath, behind, below, on top of, etc.), motion (towards, into,
though, along, away from, etc.), direction (up, down, along, across, etc.) and time (after,
before, during, for, in, on, at, etc.). There are prepositions expressing different abstract
relations (by, with, for, against, because of, instead of, owing to, according to, etc). Some
prepositions may have a double meaning (Leech, Svartvik 1983:93).

For example:

I’ve been here for already two weeks.
²ñ¹»Ý »ñÏáõ ß³μ³Ã ¿ »ë ³Ûëï»Õ »Ù:
He has brought a letter for you.
ܳ ù»½ ѳٳñ Ý³Ù³Ï ¿ μ»ñ»É:
I was punished for my little joke.
ºë å³ïÅí»óÇ ÇÙ ÷áùñÇÏ Ï³ï³ÏÇ å³ï׳éáí: 
They went for a walk.
Üñ³Ýù ½μáë³ÝùÇ ·Ý³óÇÝ:

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They sent for a doctor.
Üñ³Ýù áõÕ³ñÏ»óÇÝ μÅßÏÇ Ñ»ï¨Çó:

As for syntagmatic groupings of functional words, they are essentially analogous to
separate functional words and are used as connectors and specifiers of notional elements
of various status. Functional phrases of such and like character constitute limited groups
supplementing the corresponding subsets of regular one-item functional words, as differ-
ent from notional phrases which, as free combinations, form essentially open subsets of
various semantic destinations. 

For example:

No one could account for his objection to our plan.
àã áù ã¿ñ ϳñáÕ ³ÏÝϳɻÉ, áñ ݳ Ù»ñ Íñ³·ñÇÝ ¹»Ù ÏÉÇÝÇ:
He should be ashamed of himself.
ܳ å»ïù ¿ áñ ³Ù³ãÇ Çñ ³ñ³ÍÇó:
You shouldn’t rely on him.
âå»ïù ¿ ÑáõÛë ¹Ý»ë Ýñ³ íñ³:
Who is going to look after your children while you are away?
à±í ¿ ËݳٻÉáõ »ñ»Ë³Ý»ñǹ, ÙÇÝã ¹áõ ³Ûëï»Õ ã»ë:  
I’ve been dependent on both of you so long.
ºë »ñϳñ Å³Ù³Ý³Ï Ó»ñ »ñÏáõëÇó ¿É ϳËí³Í »Ù »Õ»É:

The use of prepositions is determined by different factors. Sometimes it may be quite
free depending on the meaning that is meant by the speaker. In many cases the choice of
the preposition is determined by the main word with which it is used. In other cases the
choice of the preposition depends on the noun that follows it:

For example:

Who was the first to speak at the meeting?
à±í å»ïù ¿ ³é³çÇÝÁ Ëáë»ñ ÅáÕáíÇÝ:
He went there on business.
ܳ ·áñÍáí ·Ý³ó ³ÛÝï»Õ:
He is now on a concert tour in Europe.
ܳ ÑÇÙ³ ѳٻñ·³ÛÇÝ ÑÛáõñ³Ë³Õ»ñÇ ¿ ºíñáå³ÛáõÙ:
I’m planning to finish it in February. 
ºë åɳݳíáñáõÙ »Ù ³í³ñï»É ¹³ ÷»ïñí³ñÇÝ:

Prepositions, like all the other functional words re-interpreted by syntactic approach,
also reveal some important traits that remained undiscovered in earlier descriptions.
Functional words, considered by their role in the structure of the sentence, are proved to
be exposers of various syntactic categories, i.e. they render structural meanings referring
to phrases and sentences in constructional forms similar to derivational (word-building)
and relational (grammatical) morphemes in the composition of separate words. 

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The corresponding meanings of the English prepositions have their equivalent forms
in Armenian. Those meanings are expressed by the case category in Armenian. Case is
the immanent morphological category of the noun manifested in the forms of noun
declension and showing the relations of the nounal referent to other objects and phenom-
ena. Thus, the case form of the noun, or contractedly its “case” (in the narrow sense of
the word), is a morphological-declensional form. 

In modern English there are many prepositions denoting time relationships or dura-
tion. The equivalent meanings in Armenian are expressed by the Dative case: 

¸³ë»ñÝ ëÏëíáõÙ »Ý ųÙÁ ÇÝÝÇÝ:
Classes begin at 9 o’clock.
ºñ¨³ÝÁ ·»Õ»óÇÏ ¿ Ï»ë·Çß»ñÇÝ:
Yerevan is beautiful at midnight.

but:    ܳ ³Ùáõëݳó³í ï³ëÝÛáà ï³ñ»Ï³Ý ѳë³ÏáõÙ:
She got married at the age of 17.

As is evident from the above examples the Armenian case ending -ÇÝ/áõÙ corres -
ponds to the preposition of time at in English. The English preposition from has got
the equivalent meaning of the Armenian case endings -Çó/áõó . The corresponding
meaning of the preposition by is expressed by the case endings -áí/Û³Ùμ in the exam-
ples below:

Most people work from 9 to 5.
Þ³ï Ù³ñ¹ÇÏ ³ß˳ïáõÙ »Ý ÇÝÝÇó ÙÇÝ㨠ÑÇÝ·Á:
They flew from Paris to Rome.
Üñ³Ýù ö³ñǽÇó Ãé³Ý ÐéáÙ:
I translated the article from Russian into English.
ºë óñ·Ù³Ý»óÇ Ñá¹í³ÍÁ éáõë»ñ»ÝÇó ³Ý·É»ñ»Ý:
He likes to travel by car.
ܳ ëÇñáõÙ ¿ »ñè»Ï»É ³íïáÙ»ù»Ý³Ûáí:

Generally in both languages prepositions are considered to be functional parts of
speech. These are words that play the role of interpositional elements, determining the
relations of notional words to one another. 

Thus, according to the comparison of the case meanings in Armenian and the cor-
responding meanings of prepositions in English, it can be mentioned that there is a
certain kind of correspondence between them which can bring to the creation of sev-
eral useful grammar rules which may be observed by translators. It will naturally
make things easier for them while doing translations from Armenian into English or
vice versa.

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References:

1. Gordon, E.M., Krylova, I.P. (1980) A Grammar of Present-Day English. M.:
Vyshaya Shkola.

2. Murphy, R. (1967) English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

3. Thomson, H., Martinet, E. (1986) A Practical English Grammar. New York: Oxford
University Press. 

4. Vince, M. (2008) Intermediate Language Practice. English Grammar and
Vocabulary. China: Macmillan. 

5. Leech, G., Svartvik, J. (1983) A Communicative Grammar of English. M.:
Prosveshcheniye.

6. Blokh, M.Y. (1983) A Course in Theoretical English Grammar. M.: Vyshaya
Shkola. 

²Ý·É»ñ»ÝÇ Ý³Ë¹ÇñÝ»ñÇ ¨ ѳۻñ»ÝÇ ÑáÉáí³Ï³Ý í»ñç³íáñáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ
ѳٻٳï³Ï³Ý í»ñÉáõÍáõÃÛáõÝ

êáõÛÝ Ñá¹ í³ Íáõ٠ѳ Ù» Ù³ï íáõÙ »Ý ³Ý· É» ñ» ÝÇ Ý³Ë ¹Çñ Ý» ñÁ ¨ ѳ Û» ñ» ÝÇ Ñá Éá -
í³ Ï³Ý í»ñ ç³ íá ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÁ, μ»ñ íáõÙ »Ý û ñÇ Ý³Ï Ý»ñ, á ñáÝó ÑÇ Ù³Ý íñ³ Ý»ñ ϳ -
Û³ó íáõÙ ¿ ѳ Û» ñ» ÝÇ ï³ñ μ»ñ Ñá Éáí Ý» ñÇ ¨ ³Ý· É» ñ» ÝÇ ï³ñ μ»ñ Ý³Ë ¹Çñ Ý» ñÇ Ñ³ -
Ù³ å³ ï³ë ˳ Ýáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ: ä»ïù ¿ Ýß»É, áñ Ñá¹ í³ ÍÇ Ã» Ù³Ý ß³ ñáõ ݳ Ï» ÉÇ ¿ ¨ »Ý ó -
ϳ ¿ Ñ» ï³ ·³ áõ ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñáõà ۳Ý, ù³ ÝÇ áñ ³ÏÝ Ï³É íáõÙ ¿, áñ Ñá¹ í³ ÍáõÙ ßá ß³÷ -
íáÕ Ã» Ù³Ý μ³ í³ Ï³ ÝÇÝ û· ï³ Ï³ñ ÝÛáõà ϳ ñáÕ ¿ ͳ é³ Û»É ³Ý· É» ñ» ÝÇ Ý³Ë ¹Çñ Ý» -
ñÇ ¨ ѳ Û» ñ» ÝÇ Ñá Éá í³ Ï³Ý í»ñ ç³ íá ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ Ñ³ Ù³ å³ ï³ë ˳ Ýáõà ÛáõÝÝ áõ -
ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñ» Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: ÜÙ³Ý áõ ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÁ ϳ ñáÕ »Ý Ñ³Ý ·»ó Ý»É ù» -
ñ³ ϳ ݳ Ï³Ý ÏáÝÏ ñ»ï ϳ ÝáÝ Ý» ñÇ ëï»ÕÍ Ù³ ÝÁ, á ñÁ μݳ ϳ ݳ μ³ñ ¹Ûáõ ñÇÝ
Ϲ³ñÓ ÝÇ Ã³ñ· Ù³Ý ã³ Ï³Ý ³ß ˳ ï³Ý ùÁ ѳ Û» ñ» ÝÇó ³Ý· É» ñ»Ý ¨ ³Ý· É» ñ» ÝÇó ѳ -
Û» ñ»Ý:

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