1.2.4. Postpositional phrases
nominative, as Marácz (1991) claims, they would not have to be repeated on the demonstrative like any case suffix, and indeed the oblique case assigned by the "real" postpositions to their NPs.
(238) a. az-zal a fiú-val that-INS the boy-INS 'with that boy'
b. a(z) *(fölött) a fiú fölött that above the boy above 'above that boy'
c. az *(-zal) a fiú-val együtt that-INS the boy-INS together 'together with that boy'
When a personal pronoun and a referential NP are coordinated in a postpositional phrase, they again behave the same way as case-marked personal pronouns coordinated with referential NPs.
(239) a. vel-ed és Péter-rel INS-2SG and Peter-INS 'with you and Peter' b. *te és Péter-rel
you and Peter-INS
(240) a. fölött-ed és Péter fölött above-2SG and Peter above 'above you and Peter' b. *te és Péter fölött-(etek)
2PL
The person-marked form of the postposition in the (b) example serves to indicate that the ungrammaticality does not arise from a conflict of agreement; for example, coordinated subjects such as those in (240b) can have predicates marked for second person plural.
Real postpositions can take locative case suffixes, but case-like postposi
tions, pace Marácz (1991: 279), do not admit additional inflectional affixes - at least for a large class of speakers.
(241) a. a ház-on túl-ról the house-SUB beyond-DEL 'from beyond the house' b. ?a ház mögött-ről
the house behind-DEL 'from behind the house'
The ungrammatical form in the (b) example is even more unlikely because the simple postposition mögül 'from behind' may also lexically block the formation of such complex forms.
A further distinction can be made between "core" postpositions and syntactic phrases in a state of transition to become postpositions, which also relies on properties of person-marking. Whereas (a) core postposi
tions in construction with personal pronouns consist of a root, a locative suffix and a person-marker, which is by and large identical with the one on possessed nominals, (b) transitional postpositions have the latter two in reversed order, just as if they were "true" noun phrases.
(242) a. föl-ött-ed top-SUP-2SG 'above you' b. szám-od-ra
account-2SG-SUB
'onto your account' = 'for you'
This again relates these postpositions to (a) cases, some of which happen to have similar pronominal forms, and distances them from (b) "real"
postpositions, which cannot combine directly with personal pronouns, since they take case-marked personal pronouns just as they require case-marked NPs.
(243) a. bel-ő1-ed inside-ELA-2SG 'out of you'
b. vel-ed együtt/*együtt-ed INS-2SG together/together-2SG 'together with you'
1.2.4.2-3. Arguments and modification of postpositional phrases
Although postpositions appear in construction with subordinate clauses, it is safe to say that they always and without exception take noun phrases as their arguments, as has been illustrated throughout. In case they are accompanied by clauses, the postposition takes as its complement either (a) an anticipatory pronoun or (b) what is apparently a relative pronoun, but even in this latter instance the construction is best regarded as idio
syncratic since the literal meaning of the relative pronoun + postposition is not present. Although it is classified as a conjunction, the postpositional phrase is understood as part of (the meaning of) the main clause, since it is within the higher clause that the time relator is interpretable.
(244) a. Az-után, hogy Péter meg-érkezett, Anna el-aludt it-after that Peter PFX-arrived Anna PFX-slept 'After Peter had arrived, Anna fell asleep.'
b. Mi-után Péter meg-érkezett, Anna el-aludt what-after Peter PFX-arrived Anna PFX-slept 'After Peter had arrived, Anna fell asleep.'
Apart from conjoined phrases, postpositions do not occur with more than one argument, and they cannot be stranded either. The adverbs that can modify postpositional phrases were discussed in the previous subsection.
1.2.4.4. Cases governed by postpositions
As was argued above, case-like postpositions do not govern cases but behave like case affixes themselves. Their list is as follows: által 'by'; alá '(to) under', alatt 'under', alól 'from under'; elé '(to) before', előtt 'before', elől 'from before'; ellen 'against'; felé 'toward', felől 'from the direction of';
fölé '(to) above', fölött 'above'; gyanánt 'as'; helyett 'instead of; hosszat 'for (a period of time)'; iránt 'for'; köré '(to) around', körül 'around; közé '(to) between', között 'between', közül 'from between'; mellé '(to) beside', mellett 'beside', mellől 'from beside'; miatt 'because of; mögé '(to) behind', mögött 'behind', mögül 'from behind'; nélkül 'without'; óta 'since'; szerint 'according to'; után 'after'; végett 'for the sake of.
"Real" postpositions, on the other hand, appear to select between the following cases: (a) superessive - alul 'below', át 'through, across', belül 'inside of, feltül 'beyond, over', keresztül 'through, across', kívtül 'outside of', túl 'beyond', végig 'along'; (b) instrumental - együtt 'together', szem-be(n) 'opposite to', szemközt 'facing'; (c) allative - képest 'compared to', közel 'near'.
(245) a. a ház-on át the house-SUP across 'across the house' b. Anná-val szemben
Anna-INS opposite 'opposite to Anna' c. Péter-hez képest
Peter-ALL compared 'compared to Peter'
Moreover, transitional postpositions may also govern oblique cases.
(246) e perc-től fogva this minute-ABL beginning 'from/since this minute'
A number of case-like postpositions (though definitely not all) can take personal pronouns as their arguments, whose most common form is, as was illustrated above, agreement marked on the postposition with the pronoun itself suppressed.
(247) a. fölött-ed above-2SG b. *gyanánt-ad
as-2SG
The pronoun can be (a) overt inside the postpositional phrase or (b) it can move out if it assumes a dative case, much as in possessive noun phrases.
Note that not all postpositions that can take personal pronouns as argu-ments allow them to leave the PP and that only personal pronouns are capable of undergoing this operation. It has been argued that when the nominal complement of the postposition is moved out of the PP, it is interpreted as metaphorical.
(248) a. Te-fölött-ed senki nincs.
you-above-2SG nobody not.is There is nobody above you.' 'You have no superiors.'
b. Nek-ed senki nines fölött-ed.
DAT-2SG nobody not.is above-2SG 'You have no superiors.'
(249) a. Te-helyett-ed Anna érkezett.
you-instead-2SG Anna arrived 'Anna arrived instead of you.' b. *Nek-ed Anna érkezett helyett-ed.
DAT-2SG Anna arrived instead-2SG
In another construction-type the postposition appears as if it were a preverbal prefix.
(250) a. A n n a m e l l é Péter-t állították.
Anna beside Peter-ACC stood.3PL 'They stood Peter next to Anna.'
b. Mellé-állították Péter-t Anná-nak.
beside-stood.3PL Peter-ACC Anna-DAT 'They stood Peter next to Anna.'
c. Anná-nak Péter-t állították mellé *(-je) beside-3SG 'They stood Peter next to Anna.'
It is supposed, at least under some analyses (cf. Marácz 1991, É. Kiss 1994), that the postposition moves out of the postpositional phrase into the preverbal position, leaving the argument in a dative case. Others, e.g., Komlósy (1994), maintain that the two analogous constructions come from parallel, but not identical, sources, as is indicated by the differences in person-marking.
Other, more prefix-like postpositions can freely alternate between a person-marked and a plain form.
(251) a. A sín alá ütött.
the rail under hit.3SG 'He hit (once) under the rail.' b. Alá-ütött a sín-nek.
rail-DAT
'He hit (once) under the rail.' c. A sín-nek ütött alá(-ja).
under-3SG 'He hit (once) under the rail.'
Note here that nonpronominal NPs cannot in general be marked by the dative in postpositional phrases and that in the examples above focus was disregarded.
Finally, there are two postpositions that govern alternative cases; one of them has different meanings depending on the cases it assigns, the other can assign an oblique case to its argument only if it is a personal pronoun.
The following illustrate.
(252) a. a körülmények-nél fogva the circumstances-ADE because 'on account of the circumstances' b. e perc-től fogva
this minute-ELA beginning 'from this minute'
(253) a. Péter(*-nél) nélkül Peter-ADE without 'without Peter' b. nál-ad nélkül
ADE-2SG without 'without you' c. nélkül-ed
without-2SG 'without you'
Few verbs or lexical heads in general govern postpositions (e.g., szeretet NP iránt 'love for NP'), and none of them determines the case the post
position assigns to its argument.
1.2.5. Noun phrases