FOR: A SEMANTIC POTENTIAL
FOR: A SEMANTIC POTENTIAL

Summary/Abstract: For: A Semantic Potential. The preposition for is attributed a total of nine different senses and 27 sub-senses by the Oxford English Dictionary. It is possible to determine one meaning that explains all observed usage allowing for a word’s two different states: (1) as a semantic potential allowing for a range of possible senses and (2) in actual use, which is one sense expressed out of all of the possibilities. This paper will demonstrate how through the organization of authentic examples, an organization influenced by Cadiot’s work on the French preposition pour, that the highly polysemous for can be reduced to one semantic potential. This semantic potential will be characterized by using both a diagram and a description of how this diagram is to be interpreted.

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