at, on, in

A correspondent raised an interesting question.  If someone flies from Sydney to Norfolk Island, once they have arrived, are they now 'at' 'in' or 'on' the Island?

My first thought was that you can say Sue is at Norfolk Island but not Sue is at the island.

So at requires a proper name.

You can say Sue is on the island (and when she returns she is on the mainland).

If you say Sue is in the island it would imply that she is dead and buried.  Just joking.

You could say to other people living on the island that Sue is in Kingston.  So, like at, in requires a proper noun location.  But from the point of view of the mainland you would be more likely to say Sue is at Kingston.

So I checked this out.

According to the OED there are a few exceptions to the rule that at requires a proper name.  London and New York for example.  You are always in London. In New York.

From the entry for at in the OED:

2. With proper names of places: particularly used of towns (with many exceptions, such as London, New York, etc.), and that in which the speaker lives (if of any size); (also) of small islands.

The sense of on which is relevant is ‘positioned in relation to a place or thing’.

Thus the outbreak on Norfolk Island.

The basic sense of in which relates to position or location is opposed to out of.   You are in town, out of town. In Norfolk Island.  Out of Norfolk Island.

There does seem to be a possibility that the use of island in the name causes a slight problem.  One the one hand the pattern that works with proper names should be unrelenting.

I am in Sydney.

I am in Norfolk Island.

And yet the second one seems unlikely.

I am on Norfolk Island.  That seems better.

At a pinch I am at Norfolk Island.

Trying to discern a pattern in language is always fun, but these prepositions are so adaptable and flexible and have been in use for such a long time in so many different contexts, both physical and figurative, that there are many overlaps.

As native speakers we learn what works and what doesn’t work, but we can also have differing intuitions that lead to arguments if we stop to think about it. And then our heads start to spin and our original fierce convictions become wavering and hesitant.