Content uploaded by Arsim Sinani
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Arsim Sinani on Jun 06, 2022
Content may be subject to copyright.
Comparative Analysis of English Prepositions In
and On Translated Into Albanian
Meliha Brestovci
Faculty of Philosophy/Psychology, University of Prishtina, Prishtine, Kosovo
Arsim Sinani
Faculty of Philosophy/Anthropology, University of Prishtina, Prishtine, Kosovo
Abstract—The most common use of prepositions is to express the meaning of words placed before a noun or a
pronoun, and as such they are used very frequently. The English language as well as the Albanian language,
uses prepositions frequently, thus enriching the given language and allowing for a clearer expression of the
functions of a sentence. This research is centered around certain prepositions in English which have a high
frequency of use, and yet are quite simple. While comparing them, we will deepen the knowledge of these most
frequent prepositions in English, their use and how they are translated into Albanian. These language
comparison studies are becoming increasingly appealing. The structure and norms under which words
interrelate are part of the study of language as a method of communication. Scholars are faced with the
requirement to perform research on challenging subjects and make global and local comparisons. Therefore,
this research looks into analytical and comparative analysis with the aim of enlightening and empowering the
current use of prepositions in and on and giving a clearer picture of their translations in Albanian. The
research is based on the analysis of two English novels that have been translated into Albanian.
Index Terms—prepositions, analysis, time, in, on
I. INTRODUCTION
The most common use of prepositions is to express the meaning of words placed before a noun or a pronoun, and as
such they are used very frequently. The English language as well as the Albanian language, uses prepositions frequently,
thus enriching the given language and allowing for a clearer expression of the functions of a sentence. According to
Fang (2000), “they are statistically frequent in that there is one preposition in roughly every ten running words of
English. Functionally, it plays the largest variety of syntactic roles a grammatical phrase can play in a sentence” (p.183).
Prepositions serve as binders and are very important in the sentence because they connect words with each other.
Sentences without a preposition could be meaningless, short and fragmented, it would be unclear as to what actions
were committed by whom, or when they should occur, or if they have already occurred. These small words such as in,
on, etc., are used often and have different meanings so there is little hope for all those who want to learn English to
internalize all the meanings of these prepositions. Therefore, mastering them is not an easy task for foreign students due
to these different meanings and their polysemic nature. The meaning of temporal prepositions is again different, Bennett
(1975) says that “The study of temporal prepositions is considerably more complicated than that of spatial, because it is
intricately bound up with a verbal aspect” (p.360).
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Prepositions are especially difficult for the English Language Learner (ELL) for a number of reasons (Boquist, 2009)
“because each language has its own set of rules, there are clash points when learning a second language” (p.8). Since
prepositions cause such a problem for ELL, Evans and Tyler (2003) have proposed a new system for understanding
prepositions: Cognitive Linguistics, in effect, reveals how we subconsciously think about prepositions. Each preposition
has a central meaning, which is the mental picture of a spatial relationship. Once the central meaning of a preposition is
found, it becomes clear that the various meanings branch in a polysemic network (p. 26).
The same opinion is shared by many grammarians, such as Lindstromberg (1997), Swan (2002), Quirk (1985) and
others. According to Lindstromberg (1997), people think of time in one of two ways:
1. like a stream, tide or road carrying us from the past into the future (e.g., as we move into the next millennium…);
and 2. like a wind or tide that moves toward us out of the future, carrying events and time periods (e.g., the upcoming
meeting, the coming week) (p. 50).
Of course, this is not to be discouraged, but it is important to note that not all meanings are equally important. We
have seen that some prepositions are used more frequently than others. Prepositions in and on, as prepositions of time
(Quirk & Greenbaum, 1973) “are to some extent parallel to the same items as positive prepositions of positions,
although in the time sphere there are only two ‘dimension-types’, viz ‘point of time’ and ‘period of time’”(p.154). It
seems from the analysis of the novels that spatial prepositions are the most frequent ones and many of them can be used
ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 462-470, May 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1303.02
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
as prepositions of time as well.
The most common meaning of prepositions is that they are used to express the meaning of words placed before a
noun or e pronoun, and as such they are used very frequently. Both the English language and the Albanian language use
prepositions frequently. The Albanian language, in terms of grammatical system, has gone through the same route as to
that of other Indo-European languages, since it belongs to that linguistic group. Despite the changes that result from that
path, languages retain many common features as well as differences in their grammar system. In our case of study,
compared to English, Albanian has cases (Xhuvani, 1964) that English does not have (besides genitive case).
The theme of this research is centered around certain prepositions in English which have a high frequency of use, and
yet are quite simple. While comparing them, we will deepen the knowledge of these most frequent prepositions in
English, their use and see how they are translated into Albanian. These language comparison studies are becoming
increasingly appealing. The structure and norms under which words interrelate are part of the study of language as a
method of communication. Scholars are faced with the requirement to do research on challenging subjects and make
global and local comparisons. Therefore, this research looked into analytical and comparative analyses with the aim of
enlightening and empowering the current use of prepositions and giving a clearer picture of their translations in
Albanian. The research is based on the analysis of two novels in English translated into Albanian:
- "White Fang" by Jack London, translated by Mikaela Minga as "Dhëmbi i Bardhë" (hereinafter as W. F. and Dh.
B.); and - "Dubliners" by James Joyce, translated into Albanian by Idlir Azizi as "Dublinasit" (hereinafter used as D.
and Dubl.).
The decision to base the study on the above-mentioned novels derived from the fact that both Jack London and James
Joyce stand in high regard in both languages, and as such have been translated into Albanian. Given the complexity of
the topic, we admit that there is a great deal to say about English prepositions and their Albanian counterparts, as
Blamires (2000) said, "It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is an epidemic of prepositional anarchy around”
(p.1).
III. PREPOSITION IN
As stated above, so it is with meanings of the preposition in, which is one of the most basic and frequently used
prepositions in English, not only in cases denoting space but also in cases denoting time. Since the preposition in has a
meaning of an enclosed space or boundary with the subject inside or expressing something “inside”, such as The key is
in the drawer, in cases of time relation the preposition in is used with this “space of time” They arrived in 2005.
If we think of the key inside the frames of a drawer, then 2005 is considered as a time frame (the main action
happened somewhere in 2005). The time phrase expressed in the sentence above (in 2005) is not very precise as it
doesn`t show exactly the time when the action did happen; only that it happened in 2005. This indefinite time may
deepen in the past as can be seen even from the following examples when prepositional phrases in the old days and in
the past do not show exact time as in 2005 does. The moment we see the preposition in showing a rather exact time (in
2005), the next moment of in is indefinite in the past (in the old days, in the past):
1. In the old days, he would have sprung upon White Fang… (W. F. p. 104); (Më parë do t`i ishte sulur Dhëmbit të
Bardhë dhe do t`ia… [Dh. B. p. 108]).
2. In the past, he had liked the comfort and surcease from pain. (W. F. p. 154); (Më parë ai shikonte rehatin e vet
dhe urrente vuajtjen. [Dh. B. p. 158]).
As both PPs are separated by a comma in English, the translation in Albanian is not found as such, but both
prepositional phrases appear translated with the same prepositional phrase (in the old days/in the past = më parë).
Regarding their indefinite time, the prepositional phrase in Albanian does not show such an indefinite distant time as in
English. From the analyses of Albanian novels, the same PP (më parë) appeared translated with the adverb earlier or
preposition before. Therefore, we consider that, in order to show this “distant” indefinite time, an Albanian adverb dikur
could be replaced with PP më parë, as in Fjalor i Gjuhë së Sotme Shqipe (1981, p. 336) adverb dikur expresses time in a
distant past; a long time ago; long before now.
The meaning of preposition in as a frame of “time” is illustrated very well with the following example:
3. I ran around the block in less than a minute.
Lindstromberg (1997) illustrated the meaning of in as a line inside the box and not out of it and therefore the time
limit is not “gone out of” but the action is finished before that time limit. So, the preposition in is used with longer
periods in the past (in October, in 1995, in the summer holidays, in the 16th century) and parts of the day (morning,
afternoon, evening) such as:
4. They ain`t had a bite in weeks… (W. F. p. 16)
5. In the fall of the year, when the days were shortening… (W. F. p. 90)
6. In the morning it was Henry who awoke first. (W. F. p. 9)
7. In the evening my aunt took me with her to visit the house. (D. p. 12)
However, this is not the only meaning of the preposition in as it may show different time meanings such as
expressing time “in the future”. This meaning is stretched within the period in the future, or by the end of that period;
(in five minutes) the train will leave, or may express time at the “later boundary” of the time frame (Lindstromberg,
1997, p.79), suggesting all along the meaning of duration of time how long something takes to happen, for example:
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
463
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
8. The train leaves in five minutes.
9. Can you come back in/*after an hour; I`ll be free then?
10. He is a good runner. He can run 1000 meters in two minutes.
From the first two examples one can understand that the focus is on the later edge of the time frame (not more than
five minutes or more than an hour, but very close to the end of that time frame), whereas the third example suggests the
duration needed to complete that action. The distinction between expressions such as in a week’s/months’ time and in a
week/month, is used to tell how soon something will happen (a time in the future measured from the present), not how
long something takes (Swan, 2002), for example:
11. I`ll see you again in a month`s time.
12. It`ll be ready in three weeks’ time (three weeks from now).
13. He wrote the book in a month. (NOT …in a month`s time)
English prepositions have their synonymous meanings with other prepositions, when a certain meaning can be
expressed by more than one preposition. In comparison to prepositions indicating place (by/near; next to/beside;
behind/in the back of, etc.), these synonymous meanings get narrowed when it comes to prepositions of time, as they
have fewer synonymous meanings (during/in; in/at). As seen in the previous chapter, the Albanian prepositions are
richer in this field, given the fact that there are cases when three prepositions can express the same meaning
(afër/kah/nga dreka). Let us see some examples in two languages:
14. She always takes a trip to Turkey during the summer.
in
kah
15. Takohemi aty nga dreka.
In some contexts, we can either use the preposition in or leave it out, for example:
16. Profits were $50 million, compared with $30 million (in) the previous year.
In the following section, let us see some examples of when the preposition in can be replaced or not with other
prepositions.
A. In vs At
As stated above, the preposition in is used with periods of time long enough to be considered a time frame (from the
basic meaning of in) and if we continue with this basic meaning, then the preposition at represents points of time. But
these two prepositions can interchange their meanings in certain cases, for example in the phrases in the night and at
night. Let us see the following examples:
1. I heard a noise in the night. (= in the middle of the night)
2. The windows are shut at night. (= when it is night)
The first example includes the meaning of a particular night and the second one has a more general meaning such as
any night or nights in general. According to Swan (2002), in an informal style these two prepositions can be left out,
“when plurals show activities happening again and again” (p.80)
3. He would rather study nights than days!
Other ambiguous phrases are in the end/at the end. In the end suggests that something “happens after a lot of changes,
problems or uncertainty and at the end simply refers to position at the end of something; there is no sense of waiting or
delay Swan (2002), for example (p.201, 202):
4. The tax man will get you in the end.
5. I wish I was paid at the beginning of week and not at the end.
B. In vs During
Since the preposition in has several meanings and uses, one similar meaning is with the preposition during when
both prepositions are used to say that something happens inside a particular period of time (Swan, 2002) (August, night)
and each preposition can be replaced with the other, for example:
1. We`ll be on holiday during/in August.
2. I woke up during/in the night.
According to the same grammarian (2002), besides similarities shown in the examples above, these two prepositions
may not have the same meaning when we are talking about an action happening all the time in that period, for example:
3. The shops are closed during the whole of August. (NOT…in the whole of August).
C. Analysis of Preposition In
The above-mentioned fact, that the preposition in is one of the most frequent prepositions, is also based on our
research from the analyses of the novels: in White Fang, out of 1214 appearances of the preposition in, only 68
occurred in sentences denoting time. In Dubliners, out of 1056 appearances of the preposition in, only 27 denoted time
relation. The high numbers in both novels show this preposition’s frequency of use. In the following pages we will
show these numbers in a tabular way and their translation as well. Regarding translation into Albanian, it was not
464
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
always translated with preposition në as one might expect, but we found several cases translated with adverbs of time
(ndërkohë, nesër, pasdite), with nouns (ditën, natën), and prepositions (rreth, më, në, nga, gjatë, pas, etc.).
D. English In Albanian Në
1. In the morning, Henry aroused by fervid blasphemy that proceeded… (W. F. p. 11) (Në mëngjes Henrikun e
zgjoi një mallkim i papritur…. [Dh. B. p. 14]).
2. In the fall of the year, when the dogs were shortening and the bite…. (W. F. p. 90) (Në vjeshtë ditët ishin shumë
të shkurtra dhe në ajër ndiheshin…[DH. B. p. 94]).
3. …and, in an ironical moment, the headline of an advertisement …. (D. p. 103) (…dhe në një çast ironie kishte
sajuar një kaptinë reklame…[D. p. 138]).
4. , and if he could get the copy done in time, Mr. Alleyne might give him an order on the cashier. (D. p. 83) (...dhe
nëse e mbaronte kopjen në kohë, z. Allejni mund t`i jepte një paradhënie. [D. p. 115]).
From the examples above, we see that all prepositional phrases with preposition in are divided by a comma,
regardless whether they are in the beginning or the middle of a sentence, but such a thing is not observed in Albanian
translation.
The first three examples (3.2.1.1; 3.2.1.2.; 3.2.1.3) are very much into the meaning of the preposition in, in two
languages (in, në). In the last example (3.2.1.4), the preposition in (in time) expresses something done “before the exact
or given time” such as We were enough in time to have a coffee before the flight, and the Albanian preposition në
expresses a rather exact time; we think that the prepositional phrase in time should be translated with prepositional
phrase me kohë, as it suggests something done previously (me kohë - më përpara).
E. English In Albanian Adverbs of Time
1. You jes`shut up now, an` go to sleep, an` you`ll be hunkydary in the mornin`… (W. F. p. 8) (Tani mbylle gojën
dhe fli! Nesër do të jesh sërish fill…. [Dh. B. p.11]).
2. In the afternoon he blundered upon a ptarmigan. (W. F. p. 43) (Pasdite gjeti një thëllëzë dëbore afër një
shkurreje. [DH. B. p. 48]).
The preposition in, being used with parts of the day (in the mornin`, in the afternoon) appeared translated into
Albanian with adverbs of time that fit perfectly to English PP’s because both of them denote parts of the day (in the
morning`- nesër; in the afternoon - pasdite).
3. In the meantime, Bill had thought himself of the rifle… (W. F. p. 21); (Ndërkohë Billit iu kujtua pushka…[Dh. B.
p. 24]).
4. And in the meantime, the she-wolf, the cause of it all, sat down contentedly on her …and watched. (W. F. p. 34);
(Ndërkohë ulkonja rrinte shtrirë dhe shikonte përleshjen me qetësi. [Dh. B. p. 39]).
In the above examples, the English PP in the meantime shows the time of the action that was done while something
else was expected, or when two actions are performed at the same time. In both sentences we have an Albanian
translation the adverb of time ndërkohë and translation missing of in - në, which perhaps the translator did not use for
economy of language. We think that in the example (3.2.2.3) the use of the preposition në would be useful, as it would
stay close to the meaning of PP in the meantime, while the example (3.2.2.4) is sufficient.
F. English In Albanian Nouns
1. But, though he worked in the sled in the day, White Fang did not forego the guarding of his master`s property in
the night. (W. F. p. 1560; (Ditën punonte me zell të madh, ndërsa natën ruante me kujdes gjërat e të zotit. [Dh. B.
p. 159]).
2. Not in a day or a generation were the ravaged sheepfolds to be forgotten. (W. F. p. 171) (…sa për delet, edhe
ditët nuk do të mjaftonin për të numëruar viktimat. [Dh. B. p. 175]).
3. In its first week, insisted of brighter news or at least…. (D. p. 85); (Java e parë e tij, në vend të mbyllej me një
lajm…[Dub., p. 82]).
From the examples above, it can be seen that PPs in English are translated with nouns into Albanian and these nouns
can be in their definite form, as PP with the preposition in appears to be translated with feminine nouns (ditën, natën,
ditët), singular, in accusative, definite form but the noun (ditët) is plural. This is the advantage of the Albanian language;
because of the case endings, nouns can be used without prepositions.
G. English In Albanian Prepositions (pas, brenda, prej, gjatë)
The preposition in was found translated with the above-mentioned prepositions into Albanian:
1. In a few minutes the train drew up beside an improvised wooden platform. (D. p. 26); (Pas disa minutash, treni u
shkund pranë një platform të sajuar. [Dub., p. 52]).
2. And so was recorded the second epitaph in two days… (W. F. p. 15) (…ky ishte fjalimi i dytë mortor brenda dy
ditësh. [Dh. B. p. 15]).
3. They ain`t had a bite in weeks… (W. F. p. 16); (Vë bast se nuk kanë venë në gojë prej javësh…[Dh. B. p. 20]).
4. He had not eaten in forty hours, and he was weak with hunger. (W. F. p. 93); (Nuk kishte futur gjë në gojë prej
dyzet orësh. [Dh. B. p. 97]).
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
465
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
5. In the meantime, they`re willin` to pick up anything` eatable that comes handy. (W. F. p. 16); (Gjatë kësaj kohe
shohin se mos kushedi rastisin ndonjë gjë tjetër…[Dh. B. p. 20]).
6. In the summer the fish failed. (W. F. p. 107); (Gjatë verës nuk kishte peshk. [Dh. B. p. 111]).
In the examples with PP’s showing rather shorter periods of time (with a modifier: PP = P + NP [in a few minutes]) is
observed to be translated mainly with a PP in Albanian with the same structure (pas pak minutash; pas disa minutash),
and here we have a similarity between two languages based on their structure. In all examples, when the preposition in
is used to show a longer period started in the past and continued for some time or up to the moment of speaking, the PP
was translated with the preposition prej which is in ablative (prej javësh, prej dyzet orësh). However, in sentences
showing a shorter period of time (in a day, in two days) is always translated with the preposition brenda (brenda një
dite, brenda dy ditësh).
In the last example, the preposition in is translated with gjatë, and here we have similarity in translation and
synonyms as well. The preposition in has a similar meaning to the preposition during (in/during the summer) and in
Albanian as well the preposition në is similar to the preposition gjatë (në verë/gjatë verës).
H. English In Translation Missing
1. He straightened up in time to see a dim form disappearing across the snow into the shelter of the dark… (W.F.
p.10); (Drejtoi trupin dhe pa një hije të vagullt, që zhdukej në errësirën mbrojtëse…[Dh. B. p. 13]).
2. In this time of mystery, White Fang, too, stole away into the woods. (W. F. p. 108); (Dhe Dhëmbi i Bardhë iku.
[Dh. B. p.112]).
3. In the meantime, the canoe had drifted down the stream. (W. F. p. 82); (Varkën po e merte vala dhe Kastori i
Hirtë mori drejtimin e saj. [Dh. B. p. 88]).
4. We were to meet at ten in the morning on the Canal Bridge. (D. p. 13) (…e patëm lënë të takoheshim në orën
dhjetë tek Ura e kanalit. [Dubl., p. 36]).
In the analysis of the novels, besides translations, whether with prepositions or adverbs, there were found many
examples when the preposition in was not translated at all. This phenomenon was found more in the novel White Fang
translated into Albanian and less in Dubliners. In White Fang, the translation was missing because the translator had left
several paragraphs without translating, underlined PP’s were not even translated, and they were not replaced by other
words or phrases. We do not know the reason for these gaps, but we believe that these missing translations woud have
given additional details about the actions in the story. As was seen in the examples above, some of the PP’s could have
been translated, especially in the last example, because in translation it is not clear (në orën dhjetë?) whether the time of
the action was in the morning or in the evening. Some of the examples we have already mentioned in the previous
chapter when analyzing the above-mentioned Albanian prepositions. On the following page we have illustrated the
frequency of use for the preposition in for both novels and their translation into Albanian.
TABLE 1.
WHITE FANG .
Translation used for analysis
Times
%
English PP with the head in used - in total
1214
100%
In denoting time
68
5.60%
100%
PP with the head in
–translated into
Albanian
- with prepositions of accusative - në (10)
10
14. 70%
- other prepositions
nga - 2
më - 2
prej - 2
gjatë - 6
brenda - 4
13
19. 11%
-with adverbs
nesër - 5
ndërkohë - 7
pasdite - 1
13
19. 11%
- cases when translation missing
- conjuctions (megjithatë, pastaj, sapo)
25
3
36. 76%
- nouns (natën, ditën)
4
5. 88%
466
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
TABLE 2.
DUBLINERS
Translation used for analysis
Times
%
English PP with the head in used - in total
1056 - 29
100%
In denoting time
29
100%
PP with the head in
–translated into
Albanian
- with prepositions of accusative - në (10)
15
51. 72%
- other prepositions
brenda - 1
pas - 5
6
20. 68%
- with adverbs
menjëherë - 1
1
3. 44%
- cases when translation missing
3
10. 34%
- nouns (natën, ditën)
4
13. 79%
From the above tables, one can see that the preposition in is mainly translated with the preposition në into Albanian,
adverbs of time, nouns and other prepositions, but the main burden of translation carries the preposition në (10 times in
White Fang and 15 times in Dubliners) as no other preposition has such a high frequency of translation.
IV. PREPOSITION ON
Based on the analyzed novels, the preposition on is the third most used preposition after the prepositions in and at.
The three prepositions, apart from other adjunctions, can express time, such as in and at which are the most specific. On
is the most general because the PPs in 10 minutes and at 10 o`clock are more specific than on Monday. So, on is used
with days of the week and before months that are used with dates and before that. The preposition on is used to mean
one day of the holiday (Swan, 2002, p. 80, 81), and if we say which morning or afternoon we are discussing about, or if
we describe the morning/afternoon, etc. Regarding position in the sentence, this preposition can have all three positions
(initial, middle and final positions), for example:
1. Come and see us on Christmas Day.
2. What are you doing on Easter Monday?
3. We met on a cold afternoon in early spring.
4. His birthday is on October 11th.
5. The meeting is on 7 August.
6. I have to go to an interview on that day.
The preposition on is also used in formal English, in expressions like these (Lindstromberg, 1997), and here
preposition on can mean “immediately after”, for example:
7. On arriving, we went straight to the front desk.
8. On his arrival, the commander gave a speech to his soldiers.
9. I`ll bring it on Friday at 16:00. (NOT - at Friday on 16:00)
As for the last example, as stated in the second chapter on prepositions, certain prepositions are used in one form, on
can be left out but not the preposition at (The party will meet Friday at 16:00). When showing special meanings,
prepositions (on, in) can both be used in a sentence: one with a correct meaning and the other one a bit awkward (I can
meet you in the house/I can meet you on the house). When it comes to indicate time relations, this flexibility is very
rarely applied. This is shown from the example above with preposition on and at, as they cannot be replaced. Therefore,
prepositions denoting time can be used only with certain words or in some cases they can be left out and very rarely
replaced with other prepositions.
As stated in the second chapter, prepositions are not used before some common expressions of time beginning with
next, last, this, that (sometimes) one, every, each, same, any (in an informal style), or sometimes preposition on is left
out before the week days. This is common in American English (Eastwood, 2005) for example:
10. Why don`t you come for a drink (on) Monday evening?
11. I`ll see you (on) Tuesday.
In other cases, we can leave out preposition ON before what/which day(s), such as:
12. What day is your appointment?
13. Which day do you have your music lesson?
A. On vs In
Although prepositions in and at express a more specific time, the PP on time refers to fixed time clock, and it has an
idiomatic meaning as it can be more precise than at ten o`clock. The PP in time (for/to) means “early enough”; but PP
on time means (Eastwood, 2005, p.307) “punctual(ly)”, for example:
1. Oh good. You`re back in time for tea.
2. The train left on time at 11.23.
According to the same grammarian, these two PPs are a bit clearer in comparison with the following PP’s: in good
time and just in time, for example:
3. We got back in good time for tea. (= with plenty of time to spare)
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
467
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
4. We got there just in time for tea. (= with little time to spare)
Preposition on is used not only with days (Monday, Tuesday, etc), but also if a day is named or specified
(Lindstromberg, 1997, p. 76) such as:
5. On the first day/the morning I arrived, it snowed.
6. On the day of the earthquake….
7. On the twentieth night of Christmas my true love said to me….
8. In the evening we sat around and drank beer.
9. On the evening of the 9th, we were sitting around and drinking beer; suddenly…
In the last two examples above (3.5.1.8; 3.5.1.9), the role of the preposition on is to make the time period more
compact, therefore on is used as there is more information after the first PP. In all the above examples, the preposition
on is with a complement referring to a part of a day rather than a whole day (Quirk et al., 1973).
B. Analysis of On
Preposition on was not found to be used very often in White Fang, as from the 489 times used in total, only 12 times
denoted time relation. In regard to its translation, it was done with NP’s more than with other prepositions.
However, different results were found in Dubliners as it was used 457 times in total but 24 times denoted time
relation. In Dubliners, the preposition on was translated with its equivalent të and with nouns into Albanian, and less
with other prepositions.
C. ENGLISH ON ALBANIAN TË
1. And the men used to go in on Sunday morning before the houses… (D. p. 120); (Dhe burrat shkonin aty çdo të
diele në mëngjes…. [Dubl., p. 157]).
2. … on Saturday nights had begun to weary her unspeakably…(D. p. 31) (…për punë të hollash të shtunave
mbrëmje nisën ta lodhnin sa s`ka. [Dubl., p. 56]).
3. On special Sundays, when Mr. Kearny went with his family... (D. p. 80); (Disa të diela të veçanta, kur zoti Kirnei
shkonte bashkë me familjen…[Dubl., p. 175]).
As seen in the above examples, PP’s with on denoting days of the week along with parts of the day (On Saturday
evenings, on Sunday morning, etc.) or without them (On special Sundays) appear translated always with të, which
belongs to the nominative case. It is observed that, whether the noun is singular or plural in English (on Saturday
evenings - të shtunave në mbrëmje; on Sunday morning - të shtunave në mëngjes) the translation into Albanian is the
same, meaning that the second preposition në may or may not be used, and the meaning is the same (on Saturday night -
të shtunën në darkë; on Saturday night - të shtunën mbrëma).
As stated in the previous chapter on Albanian prepositions, the preposition në can sometimes be left out and it seems
that, for language economy, the translator did not always use në.
D. ENGLISH ON ALBANIAN NOUN
1. On nights when he came in very late it was, she who warmed up his dinner. (D. p. 62); (Netëve kur ai kthehej
vonë, vetë ajo ia ngrohte gjellën e darkës. [Dubl., p. 92]).
2. Six o`clock on Chistmas morning... (D. p. 195); (Në gjashtë fiks mëgjesin e krishtlindjeve! [Dubl., p. 243]).
3. In all the days he had lived it had not worked so hard as on this one day. (W. F. p. 60; Truri i tij i vogël nuk
kishte punuar ndonjëherë aq shumë sa atë ditë. [Dh. B. p. 65]).
4. Later on that day, Kiche and White Fang strayed into the edge of the wood next to the camp. (W. F. p. 80); (Një
ditë Kisheja dhe Dhëmbi i Bardhë po endeshin së bashku në pyllin aty afër. [Dh. B. p. 87]).
As can be seen from the above examples, in Dubliners the preposition on is translated with nouns that can be
feminine and masculine, and they appear in their definite form, such as natën which is a feminine noun, singular in
accusative case; and mëngjesin - a masculine noun, singular. The first example is a noun in plural (netëve), and the
common characteristic is that they are in their definite form.
Regarding White Fang, there were five cases translated with NPs such as the last two examples above: on this one
day - atë ditë and on that day - një ditë. These are essentially the only NPs translated into Albanian, and they have
modifiers (atë - pronoun and një - numeral). In almost all these cases, there is the invisible presence of the preposition
në.
TABLE3.
DUBLINERS
Translation used for analysis
Times
%
English PP with the head on used - in total
457 - 24
100%
on denoting time
24
100%
PP with the head
on–translated into
Albanian
- with - të
14
58. 33%
- other prepositions: me
1
4. 16%
- nouns (3); NP (1)
4
16. 66%
- cases when translation missing
2
8. 33%
- with preposition of accusative – në
3
12. 5%
468
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
V. CONCLUSION
Prepositions, particularly temporal prepositions, are the focus of our research. The goal of this research was to have a
better understanding of the differences between prepositions and how to utilize them correctly. We attempted to update
the study in order to aid in ELL’s acquisition of English as a foreign language, as well as the work of translators from
English to Albanian and vice versa. This research included internal similarities as well as comparisons between the two
languages. This raises further issues about parallels, replacement options, and differences. To explain the research, we
looked at the usage of prepositions, particularly prepositional phrases with a focus on time prepositions such as in and
on, and compared them to prepositions in Albanian from chosen English books.
The preposition in is one of the most common prepositions in English, and as previously indicated, its time meaning
originates from its fundamental meaning: a "space time" long enough to be thought of as a window. Its meaning might
be exact (as it was in 2005) or it can develop through time (in the old days). The fact that the preposition in is one of the
most common prepositions is supported by our findings from novel analyses: in White Fang, only 68 of the 1214 times
the preposition in appeared in sentences denoting time, and in Dubliners, only 27 of the 1056 instances of the
preposition in denoted time relation. This large figure in both works demonstrates how frequently the preposition is
used. In terms of translation into Albanian, we discovered that it was not generally translated with the preposition nё, as
one might assume, but rather with adverbs of time (ndërkohë, nesër, pasdite), with nouns (ditën, natën), and
prepositions (rreth, më,në, nga, gjatë, pas, etc.).
The preposition on was not found to be used very often in White Fang as, from the 489 times used in total, only 12
denoted time relation. It was translated with NP’s more than with other prepositions. But we found different findings in
Dubliners, as it was used 457 times in total but only 27 times denoted time relation. In Dubliners, the preposition on
was translated with të and with nouns, and less with other prepositions.
REFERENCES
[1] Bennet, D. ((1975). Spatial and Temporal Uses of English Prepositions: An Essay in Stratificational Semantics. Longman,
London. p.360.
[2] Blamires, H., ((2000). The Penguin Guide to Plain English. Harmondsworth, Penguin.p.1.
[3] Boquist, P. (2009). The Second Language Acquisition of English Prepositions. A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University. p.8.
[4] Essberger, J. (2012). English Prepositions List, England, p. 11.
[5] Fang, A. C. (2000). Alexicalist Approach Towards the Automatic Determination for the Syntactic Functions of prepositional
Phrases. Natural language Engineering, 6(2). p.183.
[6] Fjalor i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe (Albanian Dictionary) (1981). Prishtina.p.336.
[7] Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (1973). A University Grammar of English. Longman Group Limited London. p.154.
[8] Lindstromberg, S. (1997). English Prepositions Explained. John Benjamin`s Publishing Co. Amsterdam.p.50.
[9] London, J. White Fang. (2005). The project Gutenberg eBook. ≠910.
[10] London, Xh. (2009). Dhёmbi i Bardhё. Uegen. Tiranё. Translated by Mikaela Minga.
[11] Mardale, A. (2011). Prepositions as a Semilexical Category. Bucharest Working papers in Linguistics, p. 35-50. halshs-
00663128.
[12] Joyce. J. (2000). Dubliners. Penguin Books. Reprinted in Penguin Classics 2000, 10.
[13] Joyce, J. (2004). Dublinasit. Zenit Editions. Translated by Idlir Azizi.
[14] Swan, M. (2002). Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.p.80.,201., 202.
[15] Tyler, A. & Evans, V. (2003). Semantics of English Prepositions. Cambridge University Press. p.26.
[16] Xhuvani, A. (1964). Parafjalët (Prepositions). Studime Filologjike 1. (Philological Studies). State University of Tirana. Albania.
p.8.
Meliha Brestovci (first author) an English language lecturer at the University of Prishtina was born on
October13th 1972 in Gjilan. She obtained her Basic Studies-English Language and Literature at the
University of Prishtina in 1996 and worked as a teacher of English. She completed her Master Studies in 2010
at the University of Prishtina, Kosovo being part of the university as well. Her Doctoral Degree in Linguistics
was completed in 2015 and she has gained the qualification of Doctor of Philological Sciences from South
East European University, Tetovo, North Macedonia in the Faculty of Languages, Cultures and
Communication.
Dr. Brestovci is currently working as a lecturer at the University of Prishtina, Kosovo, in the Faculty of
Philosophy, Psychology department for the past 10 years. She is also a secretary of the Institute for Social
Studies and Humanities.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
469
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
Arsim Sinani professor at the University of Prishtina was born on June 4th, 1974 in Tetovo. He obtained his
Basic Studies in the University of Prishtina Faculty of Philology-Literature in 2008.He completed his Master
studies in 2010 International Relationship and Diplomacy in Iliria University in Prishtina. He worked as a
professor at the State University of Tetovo in North Macedonia. He completed Doctoral Studies in 2013 in the
University of Tirana, Institute for European Studies. From 2012 to 2019 he worked as a founder of the Center
for International Relationships and Balkan Studies. He is an editor of the international scientific journal
“Diskutime”.
Dr. Sinani is currently a professor in the University of Pritishtina’s Anthropology department and is a
director of the Institute for Social Studies and Humanities.
470
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH
© 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION
