Why is "rolvorteto" used to mean "preposition" in PMEG?

I can understand o-vorto and n-finaĵo and even e-vortecaj vortetoj.

But rolvorteto? "A little word that has a role"? That could mean anything (except a big word). Am I missing the literal meaning somehow?

I read it as "a small word that defines the role of its dependant".

So not that much "a little word that has a role", but "a little word that gives a role"

Bruso:Why is "rolvorteto" used to mean "preposition" in PMEG?

I can understand o-vorto and n-finaĵo and even e-vortecaj vortetoj.

But rolvorteto? "A little word that has a role"? That could mean anything (except a big word). Am I missing the literal meaning somehow?

Bertilo describes his reasons for this in PMEG ch 45:
45. Pri la gramatikaj terminoj en PMEG

Essentially he wanted to use terms that specifically refer to Esperanto grammar, not grammar in general.

So, as far as general word-building goes, yes, rol'vort'et'o is a little word playing a role, but within the context of PMEG, it is Bertilo's term, not for the preposition, but specifically for the Esperanto preposition. He could have chosen another term, (antaŭvorto ? frazerekilo ??), or similar, but his main goal was to use a unique term, not prepozicio, so learners don't assume that the usage of the rolvorteto in Esperanto is necessarily the same as the preposition in their native tongue.

eric_vandenburg:
Bertilo describes his reasons for this in PMEG ch 45:
45. Pri la gramatikaj terminoj en PMEG

Essentially he wanted to use terms that specifically refer to Esperanto grammar, not grammar in general.

I understand his use of non-traditional terminology in general, I just didn't get why he chose "rolvorteto" when other terms such as n-finaĵo seemed obvious in their derivation.

Bruso:

eric_vandenburg:
Bertilo describes his reasons for this in PMEG ch 45:
45. Pri la gramatikaj terminoj en PMEG

Essentially he wanted to use terms that specifically refer to Esperanto grammar, not grammar in general.

I understand his use of non-traditional terminology in general, I just didn't get why he chose "rolvorteto" when other terms such as n-finaĵo seemed obvious in their derivation.

Even the n-finaĵo gets called a "rolmontrila finaĵo" a lot of the time.

En la Detala gramatiko, kiu aperos ĉi tie en !lernu baldaŭ, Bertilo uzas la normalajn gramatikajn terminojn. Li diras, ke ekzistas tri tipoj de "rolmontriloj" por montri la frazrolojn: nominativo, akuzativo kaj vortetoj kiujn oni nomas "prepozicioj".

In the Detala gramatiko, which is to be published here at !lernu soon, Bertilo uses the normal grammatical terms. He says that there are three types of "rolmontriloj" to show the functions in the phrase: nominative, accusative and vortetoj, which one call "prepositions".

Rugxdoma:En la Detala gramatiko, kiu aperos ĉi tie en !lernu baldaŭ, Bertilo uzas la normalajn gramatikajn terminojn. Li diras, ke ekzistas tri tipoj de "rolmontriloj" por montri la frazrolojn: nominativo, akuzativo kaj vortetoj kiujn oni nomas "prepozicioj".

In the Detala gramatiko, which is to be published here at !lernu soon, Bertilo uses the normal grammatical terms. He says that there are three types of "rolmontriloj" to show the functions in the fraze: nominative, accusative and vortetoj, which one call "prepositions".

Published soon? Isn't it right here?

Christa627:

Rugxdoma:En la Detala gramatiko, kiu aperos ĉi tie en !lernu baldaŭ, Bertilo uzas la normalajn gramatikajn terminojn. Li diras, ke ekzistas tri tipoj de "rolmontriloj" por montri la frazrolojn: nominativo, akuzativo kaj vortetoj kiujn oni nomas "prepozicioj".

In the Detala gramatiko, which is to be published here at !lernu soon, Bertilo uses the normal grammatical terms. He says that there are three types of "rolmontriloj" to show the functions in the phrase: nominative, accusative and vortetoj, which one call "prepositions".

Published soon? Isn't it right here?

Yes, you are right. The Esperanto version is available, but it seems as if the English version is not. That is what I intended to say.