Complex versus compound prepositions

In addition to monomorphemic, and often monosyllabic, prepositions like French à, de, en, Gallo-Romance languages have a variety of items which have developed from original multi-word sequences. This chapter begins by examining the etymological sources and diachronic processes involved, dividing the items so formed into two distinct classes of complex prepositions (e.g. Occitan a dich de ‘by virtue of’) and compound prepositions (e.g. French avant ‘before’). It goes on to compare the different types of analysis that have been proposed for these items, concentrating in particular on the approach of nanosyntax and arguing against the syntactico-centric take on linguistic analysis that such an approach implies.