Violence TOWARDS women, violence OVER women, violence AGAINST women: How preposition changes (or does not change) the conceptualization of violence and the conceptualization of woman

A more profound study of prepositions within the framework of cognitive linguistics has highlighted the importance of the category of space in structuring both concrete and abstract meanings. Simultaneous, inconsistent, but grammatically correct use of three prepositions in the constructions: "violence TOWARDS women," "violence OVER women" (not used in the English language, but very common in the Serbian) and "violence AGAINST women" imposed the need for a detailed analysis of these three prepositions in the mentioned constructions and the similarities and differences of mental representations that may exist among speakers of the Serbian language, depending on which preposition is used. A key feature of cognitive linguistics - recognizing the influence of human beings and their environment on the formation and development of meaning - required an interdisciplinary approach, and therefore contextualization and explanation with the help of feminist theory, bearing in mind that the phenomenon of violence against women is primarily recognized, described and explained by feminist activism and theory. The interaction of language and environment can create or indicate cracks in certain concepts, which are especially prominent when there is a choice between several linguistic expressions that more closely denote and describe these concepts. Considering that the patriarchal structure of society creates a specific type of violence - violence that takes sex difference as an imperative, this paper seeks to show and explain the conceptual cracks related to violence and women and have arisen in the interaction of language and that patriarchal structure of society.