本研究以內容分析法以及與英語介系詞in、on和at進行比較的方式探討中文空間介系詞在…裡、在…上以及在所傳達的認知概念。從前人研究成果中收集與英語及中文介系詞相關之資料進行比較分析。研究結果顯示中文介系詞在…裡、在…上以及在，實際上應稱為框式介詞(circumposition)，其與英文介系詞in、on和at傳達了部份相同的認知概念，但兩種語言針對介系詞之使用各有變異。此外，中文母語人士之身體經驗，例如上－下方位之關係，影響他們對於空間概念傳達之語言使用。而中文的框式介詞在中文使用的語法上根據不同的情況能有不同的變化，然而中文母語人士仍然能理解省略前置詞、後置詞或兩者皆省略後之言辭所傳達之空間概念。因中文母語人士或英語母語人士對於空間認知不盡相同，造成了他們使用不同介系詞描述相同空間概念之情況產生。中文與英文的語言學習者應同時學習中英文介系詞認知語意之異同，以避免使用了與母語人士之認知不同之空間介系詞。

This study investigates the conceptual meanings expressed by the Mandarin spatial prepositions or circumpositions 在… 裡/zai…li/in, 在… 上 /zai…shang/on, and 在/zai/at via a content analysis and comparison with the English spatial prepositions in, on, and at. The data was collected from previous studies researching prepositions in both English and Mandarin. The results show that 在…裡/zai…li/in, 在…上/zai…shang/on, and 在/zai/at express some conceptual meanings as presented in their English counterparts in, on, and at. However, there are some variation between the two languages. Furthermore, native Mandarin speakers’ embodiment, e.g. UP-DOWN orientation, strongly influences their utterances expressing the concept of space. Besides, the morphological structure of a Mandarin circumposition can be varied according to different condition but native Mandarin speakers can still understand what spatial concept is expressed by the Mandarin PP when the preposition, postposition, or both are omitted. Therefore, native English and Mandarin speakers may think space differently so they may use varied prepositions to describe space. It is suggested that language learners should understand the similar and different conceptual meanings expressed by English and Mandarin spatial prepositions to avoid making mistakes when using them.