Is there a term for the linguistic process when a noun subsumes the prepositional phrase that it typically takes Eg In the 17C you said a competence of property this became a competency?
This seems to be the rhetorical device synecdoche, sometimes called using the part for the whole, for example saying I lost fifty head, for fifty head of cattle, or The pitcher has three bats to...
Yes. Here is an example: A large fire was burning near the outskirts of the city. (near the outskirts is a prepositional phrase, city is a noun and the is a determiner)
There actually is no prepositional phrase in that sentence. is = verb (copula) this = subject (demonstrative pronoun) the road = predicate nominative (determiner/article + noun) to take = infinitive...