Alternation ‘locus of personal contact’ (Uncoded)

A transitive verb implying affect caused by physical contact with a body-part takes an NP designating a person as its direct object, and the locus of contact with that person's body appears in a prepositional phrase with the adpositions on or in, e.g. & beoton hine on þæt heafod mid hreode ‘and they beated him on the head with a staff’. Levin (1993) termed this Body-Part Possessor Ascension. It generally implies a "feel" component, either on behalf of the affected person or as part of the agent's intention.