(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1992) Bosman, Christa; Feinauer, A. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Afrikaans and Dutch.
The Afrikaans preposition vir operates as a function word to indicate the possible relationships which exist between the verb and the noun(s) in the sentence. The most important relationships expressed by vir are time, goal and price. This capacity of vir, is the basis for its classification as a function word or preposition. However, vir has required an additional function. Because Afrikaans has no case marking, participants in a sentence are not always marked clearly enough as regards their role in the action expressed by the verb. in these instances an optional vir is used to indicate the object.