For this feature (based on WALS feature 85, by Matthew S. Dryer), an adposition is defined as a separate free word that stands before, inside or after a noun phrase and establishes a grammatical or semantic relationship between the noun phrase and a verb in the same clause. Three types of adpositions occur in our languages: prepositions stand before, postpositions after, circumpositions both before and after a noun phrase. Since our criterion is that an adposition indicates some kind of relationship between a noun phrase and a verb, as in speak of the devil, attributive possessive constructions like the tail of the dog are disregarded here because they only establish a relationship between the nouns tail and dog, but not between either of them and a verb. Note that we also disregard case affixes on nouns, which in some languages have functions that are similar to adpositions in European languages. On the other hand, cliticized relation markers, which are phonologically integrated into the noun but whose position depends on syntax do count as adpositions for the purposes of this feature.
