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English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase:On
As Mr. Nilson, well known in the City, opened the window of his dressing room on Campden Hill, he experienced a peculiar sweetish sensation in the back of his throat, and a feeling of emptiness under his fifth rib.
Functional words have many different functions. What is the function of "on" here?
In UK English at least, on means on and not overlooking. If they meant overlooking, they would have said so. I'm pretty certain that the text implies that the dressing room (i.e., the whole building/house/address) is on Campden Hill and not that the window is "on" Campden Hill. In UK EN at least, we don't use "a window on" except in a totally-unconnected metaphorical sense. But as for US usage, who knows!
Just to confuse the issue, many years ago I used to work ON/IN Fleet Street, just OFF the Strand IN London; I also lived IN Kensington Gardens Square, near the Bayswater Road IN Bayswater, whilst I had friends who lived ON the Old Kent Road… Later, I went on to work in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, off the Tottenham Court Road.
Personally, I don't think that's what it means, no. It is certainly true that Mr. Nilson's dressing room would have been on the upper floor of his house and it obviously overlooks the gardens, since he sees the gardens from the window. But it doesn't follow that "on" means "overlooking", and I don't believe it does; that use of "on" seems implausible to me in linguistic terms. You might say that his dressing room looked onto the gardens if you mean that, but not that it was "on" the gardens.
In any case, it doesn't say that his dressing room was on the square or the gardens; it says that it was on Campden Hill, and "Campden Hill", as I have said, is not the name of a street here; there is such a street but Mr. Nilson doesn't live in (or on) it. The name refers here to the neighbourhood in which he lives, and to the hill which gives that neighbourhood its name. Mr. Nilson actually lives in Campden Hill Square, since the gardens he can see from his window are the Square gardens.
So I believe that it means the dressing room of his house, which was situated on the hill called Campden Hill.
What do you think of what Robin told? It seems logical that the dressing-room overlooks the gardens rather than the entire house located on high ground. Please tell me what you think
By the way, this must refer to the Campden Hill area, not the street called Campden Hill. Mr. Nilson must live in Campden Hill Square, since he goes for a walk in the Square gardens (see the question on this). So "on" here means on the hill.
You're quite right, of course, that you can be on a hill without necessarily being at the top. "On top of" was my phrase and it was unsuitable for that reason. I simply meant "on" in the sense of vertical position. But the question of whether it's a hill is certainly material to the meaning of "on", and I wouldn't be surprised if this question were crucial to the word choice in Farsi.
As for whether Campden Hill is rich or poor, this is again very material to an understanding of the story, though it may not directly affect word choices in the translation. The fact that Mr Nilson lived in Campden Hill is a clue to the sort of person he is. That is actually why I mentioned the fact that it's a very well-to-do area nowadays, and so it was in 1910. This is something that Masoud may not have known, and I though it might be helpful.
just to clarify: you can live/be on a hill without necessarily being right on TOP of it. If you're halfway up, you're still on the hill. But all this, interesting though it may or may not be, and whether relating to rich or poor, etc., seems fairly immaterial to the original question.
Well, in fact, that's not so far from the historical truth! Though do note that 'Beverely Hills' is in the plural, which gives it a slightly different meaning — 'up in the hills', rather like 'up in the mountains'.
But traditionally, in Europe, the Lord would build his castle on high ground or a hill, to make it more impregnable and/or give it a better view of approaching enemies; it would also be more airy and healthier; while the poor people had to live at the bottom of the hill, in the probably plague-infested swampy flat lands. So I think to some extent this idea lives on, of high ground equating to desirable area.
It seems that in English-speaking countries, every area that end with "hill" is an expensive one such as Beverly Hills! Just kidding. Anyway, thanks for your info.
Campden Hill is an area of London. It is indeed a hill, though a very low one. It's in North Kensington, between Notting Hill and Holland Park. The roads that run south off Notting Hill Gate into Campden Hill slope upwards, though quite gently.
In your text, "Campden Hill" quite probably refers to this somewhat high-lying neighbourhood, and the capital letters are consistent with that.
If so, "on" means "on top of".
On the other hand, there is also a street in this area called simply Campden Hill. It runs from Campden Hill Road west to Holland Park (the actual park). The name in your text could refer to this street. If so, it's another use of "on", to refer to the street where a building is situated. As Tony says, this use of "on" doesn't imply that it's raised in any way; you can say "on the High Street".
Campden Hill is obscenely expensive, by the way. In 2011 Campden Hill Square was the most expensive address in England and Wales, with an average house price of 4.9 million pounds. It has always been a very "desirable" area.
'Hill' is rarely "just a kind of name" — when used as part of a toponym, it almost always relates (at least historically) to some kind of geographical relief. Cf. 'Primrose Hill' among many, many others.
Note too that the 'on' isn't anything directly related to the nature of the terrain — a plae might equally well be described as "on the High Street", it's just one commonly used preposition for describing where something is situated.
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
20:36 Apr 7, 2015
Campden Hill is the name of a street (each word starts with a capital letter). You can assume it's on a real hill but you can't be sure.
peer agreement (net): +4