Semantic and Structural Features of Superessive Sentences
Semantic and Structural Features of Superessive Sentences

Summary/Abstract: The term Superessive is derived from Latin supersum, superesse: to be on, over and above. In semantic syntax, it is a relationship between the entities when one entity is conceived to be on top or the surface of the other entity. The entity to which reference is made in the utterance will be referred to as the Trajector and the entity serving as the reference point, as the Landmark. The analysis of the examples showed that the Trajector was on the horizontal surface, on the vertical surface and on a down-turned surface of the Landmark. There were cases when the Trajector was a part of the Landmark. Superessive relations included cases with Landmarks denoting or implying lines, to indicate location close to them. The Landmark was also expressed by abstract nouns treated as surfaces and elevations. In such cases the Landmark denoted people’s mental equipment to indicate that a mental or psychical phenomenon rests like a weight (in a transferred sense) on a person, often causing a state of obsession (an impression on my mind, a weight that brooded on my wits). The process component of the Superessive sentences was expressed by stative and dynamic verbs, which suggested that the Trajector was on some surface or elevation or it was engaged in some activity there. The meaning of the Superessive in English often merges with the Inessive (being inside an entity). The most common way of expressing the Superessive was the preposition on.

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