8. PREPOSITIONS מילות יחס This chapter discusses: • The formal characteristics of the prepositions (section 1) • The meanings of the prepositions (section 2) • The use of prepositions within the sentence (section 3) ליד; לפי; לפני; של; תוך; בלעדי; אל :Confusables • • Less commonly used prepositions (Appendix) This chapter will help the reader to: • Distinguish between translatable and non-translatable prepositions • Choose the correct translation for prepositions with multiple meanings are definite or indefinite ב,כ,ל Determine whether nouns preceded by the prepositions • • Identify the reference of inflected prepositions in relative clauses • Use prepositions as an aid in reading comprehension 298 . prepositions Prepositions: an overview Prepositions link verbs, nouns and adjectives to nouns. Unlike Hebrew nouns, verbs and adjec- tives, prepositions have no number or gender markings. The preposition may be attached to merge ל- and כ- ,ב -the noun or stand on its own as an independent word. The prepositions .ה -with the definite article In Hebrew, a preposition cannot be followed by a pronoun – instead, it is inflected with the appropriate pronoun suffix. Some prepositions have a fixed meaning and are, therefore, translatable into English. Others – usually those that are required by the verb and as such are considered part of it (in fact, the preposition may change the meaning of the verb) – may be ignored in translation, or may have different translation options in different linguistic environments. 1. The forms of the prepositions The prepositions fall into three structural groups: (a) One-letter prepositions that are affixed to the noun (these are referred to nemonically as .(בַּכְלָ"ם (b) One-syllable prepositions that are written as a separate word .(עם, על, אל, מן, מול, כמו, בין, את ,.e.g) (c) Multi-syllable prepositions, some of them created through compounding of several prepo- ,against, in contrast to לְעוּמַת ,before (מ)לִפְנֵי ,against (כְּ)נֶגֶד ,after (ל)אַחַר ,.sitions (e.g .(around (מ)סָביב ,for בִּ שְביל ,about (על) אוֹדוֹת ,toward ִל קְ רַ א ת ,at אֵ צֶ ל ,vis-à-vis ממוּל 1.1 Merging of prepositions and pronouns A preposition cannot be followed by a personal pronoun. Instead, it is inflected by a personal .(is not possible *בהוא) בו becomes ב+ הוא,pronoun suffix. For example The reference of the suffix can be determined on the basis of its gender and number agree- ment with a previously mentioned noun (on occasion, however, the inflected pronoun may anticipate the noun, as seen in example 5). The inflected preposition and the noun it refers to are shaded: (1) בשִבְעת יְמֵי האֵבֶל אין האֲבֵלים מכינים לְעַצמם את ְ מזוֹנָם, וקְרוֹבֵיהם והקְהילה דואגים להם. During the seven days of mourning the mourners do not prepare for themselves their food, and their relatives and the community take care of them. (2) מוֹטיבַציָה אינְטֶגְרטיבית היא ְ המניעָה מ ַ ְהגרים הבאים לאֶרֶץ חדשה להש ַ ְתלב בָּהּ בְּאוֹפן מָלֵא. It is integrative motivation that impels immigrants arriving in a new country to inte- grate in it fully..