The Prepositional Phrase used Substantively.—We often find a prepositional phrase used as the object of a preposition. This gives rise to a succession of two prepositions like from among, from beneath, until within, till after. Some grammarians treat these as one compound preposition, but it seems to us best to consider them separately.
In the following sentence from Bolles,—“The river came from between abrupt, rocky walls,” the phrase between abrupt, rocky walls denotes a place that no noun in the language names, hence the phrase is employed to name the place, and as such a name it is the object of the preposition from.
It is very common for the preposition except or but (meaning except) to be followed by a prepositional phrase used as its object; thus, “Nobody comes to Novastoshnah except on business.”—Kipling. “No great art ever yet rose on earth but among a nation of soldiers.”—Ruskin. A phrase of this sort is usually preceded by some negative expression, and is necessary to the truth of the sentence, as it brings in a reservation or exception to some sweeping negative statement.
The Prepositional Phrase in an Absolute Phrase.—The prepositional phrase, as we saw in Chapter XXI., is sometimes used with a noun to form an absolute phrase. It is not then an ordinary adjective modifier of the noun, but is more like a predicated attribute, the verb being omitted. It may be called an appositive modifier of the noun; for example,
“’Tis written that the serving angels stand
Beside God’s throne, ten myriads on each hand.”
—E. Arnold.
The participle is omitted from the absolute phrase in such a sentence because it can readily be supplied by the reader from the verb in the predicate. It is always mentally supplied for the interpretation of the sentence, but it need not be supplied for its analysis.
Object of a Preposition.—The word or group of words that is brought into relation to some other word by a preposition is called the object of the preposition. It is always a substantive, but not always a noun or pronoun. Some of the common substitutes for the noun are the gerund, the prepositional phrase, and the noun clause. The prepositional phrase in this use we have just discussed. The gerund and the noun clause were discussed in Chapters XXII. and VII. respectively.
All of the above are regular constructions, but there are a few peculiar stereotyped phrases in the language, made up of a preposition and an adjective or adverb; as, from far, at all, at once, at the best. It is wiser in such a case not to separate the phrase into any component parts, but to think of it and treat it as if it were one word.