従来，英語の前置詞 on には［動詞句 on X］（X：人間）という形を取り迷惑・被害・不利益を表す用法があることが指摘されてきた。たとえば John walked out on his wife. では，ジョンが出て行ったことにより，残された妻が迷惑・被害・不利益を被ったということが表される。Jane が聴力を突然失ったということを描写するのに The world suddenly fell silent on Jane. と言った場合には，世界が急に黙りこくったようになってしまったことにより Jane が迷惑・被害・不利益を被ったということが表される。
こうした用法が存在すること自体は事実であるが，英語母語話者が発話の現場で参照した知識は，動詞の種類が指定されない［動詞句 on X］というような抽象度の高い知識ではないと思われる。というのも，誰かが被った迷惑・被害・不利益を表したいときにいつでも on を利用できるわけではないからである。
母語話者が発話の現場で参照する知識は，［動詞句 on X］よりももっと具体的な知識であろう。たとえば John walked out on his wife. を発話した話者が参照した知識は［walk out on X］の知識であり，The world suddenly silent on Jane. を発話した話者が参照した知識は［関係の断絶を表す動詞句 on X］の知識である。
英語の母語話者は実例に触れながら［walk out on X］や［quit on X］，［disappear on X］を抽出し，さらにそれらから［立ち去りを表す動詞句 on X］を抽出する。また実例に触れながら［cancel on X］や［bail on X］を抽出し，さらにそれらから［約束不履行を表す動詞句 on X］を抽出する。さらには，［立ち去りを表す動詞句 on X］や［約束不履行を表す動詞句 on X］，［hang up on X］，［close the door on X］などから［関係の断絶を表す動詞句 on X］を抽出する。
こうして構築される表現のネットワークのうち具体性の高いものが優先的にコミュニケーションに利用されると考えれば，一貫性のある形で前置詞 on の使用を説明できる。ただし，本研究が指摘していないパターンも多くあり，これについては今後の課題とする。
It has long been known that the English preposition "on" can be used in the negative [VP on X] construction, referring to a situation where the X-denoted person is negatively affected by the VP-denoted event. In the sentence "The world suddenly fell silent on Jane," for instance, Jane is negatively affected by losing her hearing.
This generalization does describe a certain part of native-speaker knowledge, but the negative [VP on X] construction, with no specification of the kind of verb phrase, seems to be too abstract to be readily accessed in actual usage events. This is suggested by the fact that the construction cannot be employed to describe just any situation where someone is negatively affected.
It is more likely that the portions of knowledge accessed in actual usage events are more specific than the negative [VP on X] construction. "John walked out on his wife" is probably uttered by accessing the [walk out on X] construction. The speaker who has uttered the sentence "The world suddenly fell silent on Jane" has most likely accessed the [VP(severed interaction) on X] construction.
Native speakers extract, from the usage events they find themselves in, the [walk out on X], [quit on X], [disappear on X] constructions, which in turn serve collectively as the source for the extraction of the [VP(leaving) on X] construction. They also extract from usage events the [cancel on X] and [bail on X] constructions, from which the [VP(promise violation) on X] construction is extracted. Furthermore, from the [VP(leaving) on X], [VP(promise violation) on X], [hang up on X] and [close the door on X] constructions emerges the even more abstract [VP(severed interaction) on X] construction.
By positing a network of (patterns of) expressions thus constructed, in which more specific items are more readily accessed in actual usage events, a coherent and unified account can be given for both the conventional and non-conventional (creative) usage of negative "on." There are some other usage patterns that can be regarded as instantiations of the negative [VP on X] construction but that are not covered in the present project. The description of these is left to future research.