Iryna Fokashchuk

I am a PhD researcher at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Research Nürnberg, member of the Training Group on Dimensions of Constructional Space. My project focuses on two German primarily spatial prepositions, auf and an, when governed by nouns, in order to examine what abstract senses they express in such nominal constructions (project 9). The study adopts a cross-linguistic perspective, comparing German expressions of the pattern NP1 + auf/an + NP2 with their equivalents in English, Polish, and Ukrainian. Cognitive linguistics and Construction Grammar serve as the theoretical framework. Together, these form the basis for analyzing how meaning is organized and extended across networks of related constructions. The aim is to see whether the three target languages also rely on spatial prepositions with comparable meanings, and whether these are similarly extended to express abstract relations. When the patterns diverge, the analysis looks at what other grammatical resources, such as case marking or non spatial prepositions, each language uses to convey equivalent meanings. 

The results point to partial convergence. Constructions where auf is governed show fairly consistent metaphorical extensions from spatial to abstract uses, while those where an is governed vary more noticeably. This contrast seems linked to the stronger spatial grounding of auf, which is shared across the four languages, compared with the more ambiguous relational sense of an. When that spatial basis is less clear, languages appear to compensate through other structural means, which results in cross-linguistic divergence.

Conferences

• Exploring cross-linguistic prepositional patterns: A cognitive linguistic study of prepositions governed by nouns in German, and their equivalents in English, Polish, and Ukrainian. 10th International Conference of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association. Osnabrück, Germany, 4-6 September 2024 (presentation).
• Contrastive Analysis of Prepositional Usage in German, English, Polish, and Ukrainian: A Corpus and Dictionary-Based Approach. The 45th ICAME. Vigo, Spain, 18-22 June 2024 (presentation).
• From Spatial to Abstract: A Cross-Linguistic Examination of German Prepositions and their Equivalents. Constructionist Approaches to Language Pedagogy (CALP4). Erlangen, Germany, 18-20 March 2024 (presentation).
• Corresponding constructions of German Nouns with Governed Prepositions auf, and, an in English, Polish, and Ukrainian. Forum Junge Englische Linguistik in Bayern (FJUEL) 2023. FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, 29-30 September 2023 (presentation).
• Comparative Analysis of Nouns Governing ‚On‘: Examining NP1+P+NP2 Patterns in German, English, Polish, and Ukrainian. Grenoble Winter School in Cognitive Linguistics. Autrans, France, 13-16 March 2023 (presentation).

Publications