TEONAHT PARTS OF SPEECH: D. PREPOSITIONS AND POSTPOSITIONS

Teonaht features mostly prepositions; postpositions occur in subordinant clauses with the obligatory reversal of word order (see the section on Sentence Syntax), but here I will be dealing primarily with the positions that precede nouns.

The following information can be found on this page:

locative prepositions,
deictic prepositions,
temporal prepositions,
causal/resultative prepositions,
relational prepositions,
prepositions conjoined with verbs.

1. Locative Prepositions

a. Static and Motive

These describe a physical relationship in terms of location. There are two kinds--"static" and "motive"--distinguished by the suffix y in the latter. Static prepositions indicate a fixed location; motive imply movement rom one location to another. Most of these differences are defined by whether or not the preposition functions adjectivally or adverbially, and Teonaht easily turns a locative preposition into an adjective if its static, and an adverb it its motive:

le betõ cel, "the within boy," "the boy inside."
le beto cely ennyve, "the boy inside eats," "the boy eats inside."
Le htyme preb, "the prior story." Le htyme preby denib, "the story told before."

STATIC	MOTIVE
cel, "in," "inside." The chair is in the room. Cel il bav li tomasel.	cely, "into." You walk into the room. cely il bav sy atwa.
cov, "out," "outside." The tree is outside the room.	covy, "out of." You take the sofa out of the room.
nar, "on," "upon." The dish is on the table.	nary, "on," "upon," "up on." The cat gets up on the table.
eryn, "around," "about." The sea is around the city.	erryny, "around," "about." The man walks around the city ramparts.
uop, "above." The stars are above.	uopa, "up," "up to." you run up; you take the kite up.
ob, "over," "across." Almost the same meaning as uop, but with a sense of being immediately above: "the lid is over (on) the pot."	oby, "over, across." Passing horizontally across something: "the bird flies over the fields."
hsob, "below," "beneath," "under." You are under water.	hsoby, "down," "down under," "down to." You dive below the surface.
amna, "behind" The garage is behind the house.	amny, "behind" The boy runs behind the garage.
preb, "before," "in front of." Saturday is before Sunday, and the woman stands before the tribunal.	preby, "before." He put the gift before her.
ar, "at." The man is at the station.	ary, "at," "to," "toward." William aimed an arrow at the apple. You are going to New York.
tand, "from." My father is from Spain. The gift is from me.	tandy, "(away) from." The cat ran from the dog.
elwa, "away (from)." The man is away from his desk.	elwy, "away." He's going away to Spain.
darn, "along," "beside," "against," "by," "next to." Formed from dar, "near"; The cabinet is against the wall, the book is by her bedside.	darny, "along," "beside," "against," "by," "next to." Put the spoon next to the fork. The horses gallop along the river.
zeaamna, "beyond," "far from." A modification of amna, "behind," and ze, "far": "The farm is beyond the field."	zeaamny, "beyond," "far from." The bird flew beyond view.
iksa, "between." The cow is between the trees.	iksy, "between." The lovers get between the sheets.
adme, "among," "within." This differs from cel/cely in referring to a container that is a collective or a conglomerate, like people, or water: "The fish is in (adme) the water.	admy, "among," "into," "into the middle of." He walked into the midst of the crowd.
hyn, "throughout." Mistakes are throughout the book.	hyny, "through." The rat ran through the maze; we went through the tunnel."

NOTE: the motive form of the preposition relies on a contrast between a moving subject and a non-moving object. How would you distinguish between "the boy runs behind the girsl" (the girls are in motion and so is the boy) and "the boy runs behind the girls" (the girls are not in motion but the boy is)? By using the static form with the first and the motive form with the second:

Amnal gwendan le betõ lotteo
Behind (static) the girls the boy he runs.
Amny il gwendan le betõ lotteo
Behind (motive) the girls the boy he runs.

In other words, stasis and motion are only relative to each other. So how do you express motion away and motion towards in Teonaht? From behind or to behind?

Ary, tandy, and elwy are motive prepositions that describe motion towards or away from something. But the other motive forms themselves can express either motion towards or motion away through combinations with other prepositions.

tanttely, "from within/inside."
tanttovy, "from without/outside."
tannamny, "from behind."
tannoby, "from overhead."
tanuuopa, "from above."
tanhhsoby, "from underneath."
tamppreby, "from before."
tanddarny, "from alongside."
tanniksy, "from between."

NOTE: Amny by itself, besides meaning motion behind something, means "to behind." In fact, all the motive prepositions are likewise deictic. So along with the ones given above, Teonaht has more precise locative prepositions derived from nouns of direction or location. For instance, in English we have the expression "in back of," meaning "behind." But we make a distinction between "in back of" and "at the back of"; "before" and "in front of"; "under," and "at the bottom of." The first seven examples on the following chart are based on nouns pertaining to the body, which provide a kind of deictic map. The motive endings ary and andy turn these nouns into prepositions that can function adjectivally or adverbially. Actually, what we have here are nouns with postpositions that then function prepositionally. Please note that there is no genitive construction in phrases like "the top (head) of his job"; this would be construed as Kemppary lõ ofikya le zef elo euan--"Top towards his job the man went." I.e., the man was promoted. Likewise: Milnnary il sanda esy euan; "back towards the store please go" (i.e., go to the back of the store). This is not the same as going "back" to the store. The store has a physical back, just like a human. In many cases, the motive forms function adverbially and are put before the verb: Le kohsa dehsvvary teo, "the dog to the left ran."

Noun	Static	Motive (motion towards)	Motive (motion away)
limna "front," "chest"	limnar, "front," "at the front," "frontal." The front door; the cafe is at the front of the store; a frontal attack.	limnnary, "forward," "to the front." One steps forward; please go to the front of the store (limnnary il sanda).	limnnandy, "from the front." He's bringing it from the front.
milna, "back"	milnar, "at the back" The back alley; the cabboose at the back of the train	milnnary, "backward," "to the back" The train moves backward; please move to the back	milnandy, "from the back" The sound comes from the back of the house.
hsinva, "lefthand."	hsinvar, "left," "at the left." The left ear; the house is to the left.	hsinvvary, "to the left." Please move to the left.	hsinvvandy, "from the left." There's a frisbee coming in from the left.
dehsva, "right hand."	dehsvar, "right," "at the right." The right eye; the canal to the right of the street.	dehsvvary, "to the right." Turn right at the corner.	dehsvvandy, "from the right." They attacked from the right.
kempa, "head."	kempar, "top," "summit," "at the top." The top room; your room is at the top of the stairs.	kemppary, "to the top." He went to the top of his job.	kemppandy, "from the top." The leaves are falling from the top of the trees; He fell from the top of his job.
ytna, "foot."	ytnar, "bottom," "at the foot of." The bottom leaf. At the bottom of the well.	ytnnary, "towards the bottom." He tumbled down.	ytnnandy, "up from below." They're bringing him up!
kolva, "bowels," "innards," "heart"	kolvar, "inside," "at the heart of." At the core of his being; in the bowels of the earth.	kolvvary "into the depths of." He's going to the heart of the matter; into the center of the galaxy.	kolvvandy, "out of the depths from." Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to thee.

Likewise, we have the following nouns of spatiality and direction:

Noun	Static	Motive (Motion Towards)	Motive (Motion Away)
mea, "north."	mear, "northern."	meaary, "northward."	meaandy, "from the north."
hsoma, "south."	hsomar, "southern."	hsommary, "southward."	hsommandy, "from the south."
arim, "east."	arimar, "eastern."	armmary, "eastward."	armmandy, "from the east."
vearim, "west."	verimar, "western."	veammary, "westward."	veammandy, "from the west."
harym, "here." (in T. a noun) Here is beautiful. Here is my house.).	harimar/harmar, "here" (adjective). The car here, the present car.	harmmary, "hither."	harmmandy, "from here."
hova, "there" (noun).	hovar, "there" (adj.).	hovvary, "thither."	hovvandy, "from there."
vika, "home."	vikar, "at home."	vikkary, "homewards"	vikkandy, "from home."
hea, "land," "country."	hear, "in one's country." vohear, "expatriate."	heaary, "towards one's country."	heaandy, "away from one's country."
gohea, "wilderness."	gohear, "in the wild."	goheaary, "wildward."	goheaandy, "from the wild."
tesa, "city."	tesar, "in the city," "urban." vottesar, "hick."	tessary, "to the city."	tessandy, "from the city."
merimek, "sea."	mermmekar, "at sea."	mermekary, "seaward."	mermekkandy, "from the sea."
takrem, "earth."	takremar, "on land."	takremary, "landward."	takremmandy, "from the land."
ve, "sky."	vear, "in the sky," "airborne."	veaary, "skyward."	veaandy, "from the sky."

NOTE: These are the most common idioms; you can conceivably take any word expressing place and suffix these postpositions to get motion towards and away. But it is also just as easy to say aryil tesa lo euan, "he goes to the city"--if less colorful. The above list is growing.

3. Temporal Prepositions

These describe a temporal relationship rather than a physical one:

he, "during," "through," "while":
     You sleep through the symphony, you awake during the intermission, you leave while she's singing.

pereb, "before" (an action)
     You pray before sleeping (the use of -rem distinguishes this form from the conjunct forms described below); This construction is very close to preby as adverb in the locative prepositions.

amna, "after" (an action).
     Same thing. You brush after eating.

NOTE: pereb and amna can also express the temporal adverbs "early" and "late," "sooner," and "later." See the section on Adverbs.

4. Causal and Resultative Prepositions.

These two prepositions mark cause and effect:

ev, "by," "through," "with," "for" (causative: means of).
     Der evil toysdov ely kabma, "with the knife she killed him. Evil elnnaowy elry celeuan, "I went in through the window."

ta, "for," "then" (a variation of to, "for"--see below under "Relational Prepositions"; it can function adverbially, as it often precedes adjectives, marking them as results of an action:
     Der ta hsorit ely wyhsta, "she shouted him deaf."
     It also functions as a conjunction, introducing effect clauss, like "that" or "then." But since it also precedes object complements in verbs of naming, regarding, etc., it is here listed as a resultative preposition:
     Der ta Tebnar eltso aittarma., "We named him Harry" (lit. "Him for Tebnar we named." Der ta dovnaka tsokke, "we took him for a fool."

These "general purpose" prepositions describe relationships between objects that in an inflected language would be denoted in its cases.

e, "to." Used only with verbs of giving. Ary is used to mean "toward," "to." Ary Nyuuork esry euan, "I'm going to New York." But essed il imuif aiba yvvergo, "I give this gift to you."

to, "for." The direction a gift, an action, or an intention is going: Toal tamolin li kweco aiba, "For my children [is] this meal." On one's behalf: To Tebnar ain ryddey, "For Tebnar I do it."

sa, "for," "to." Used with the gerund/infinitive in result clauses: Il hovik elry htelve sa gombrerem gnadol ri. "The house I left for buying meat of," i.e., "I left the house to buy meat." This construction is also used with nouns to express intention: Sa nirrilbet der elry kabma, "I killed him for money." The distinction between to and sa is a very fine one; suffice it to say that to seems to be used of people and sa of things or actions.

ri, -ri, rin, "about," "concerning," "in reference to," "of." It is usd mainly to connect the infinitive to its direct object: ril hman remelfennyve ry dihs, "of the bread your eating I want"; i.e., "I want you to eat bread." It can also be used as a postposition in a subordinant clause (as can all prepositions): sa gombrerem gnadol ri, "for buying of meat.". Rin is more broadly used to express reference in oblique constructions: rin fyl pamuo õl Nany ely den, "about your sickness me Mother told," "Mother told me about your sickness." But it can also be used the way we use "about," to mean "concerning": rin al ebo li kyam, "about my life the book," i.e., "the book is about my life." In titles: Rin Prebddeynon (Latin: De portentis), "On Portents."

vûl-, "concerning," "with respect to," "-wise." Used almost always adverbially, and prefixed to the noun. It is used the way we might use -wise in an expression like jobwise he's hopeless, meaning "he has great trouble finding or keeping a job." This is very common usage: vûljjano rykkloyka, "speech-wise I stumble, i.e., "I'm not very good at speaking." vûlkempa ryttafwo,, headwise I hurt; "I have a headache."

forto, "against" (an argument, an enemy). Often takes the place of "with" in English where "with" is used adversatively: forto der elry dovma, "I argued with him; Fortõl elo wyhsta, he shouted at me.

pom, "with." Used very much as it is in English. Used with the gerund/infinitive, though, it gives progressive force: pom htindelrem y, I am with singing, I am singing.

hil, "without." Used much as it is in English.

õm, "of," "from" (partitive genitive: a portion of). Used with "a piece of apple, a flock of geese."

-id, id-, di-, "of" (possessive genitive: shows possession). This can be a pre- or postposition, and is often prefixed and modifed to express the genitive case, rather than used as a preposition. See nouns and their genitives.

Teonaht modifies the meaning of common verbs by uniting them with prepositions. As we say "go up," "go down," "get up," "get on," "run up," "run down," "show up," "show forth," etc., so does Teonaht have a range of verbal constructions with the preposition. We've already seen how pom and hsob function (as bom and tsob) to make the equivalent of our present and past participle (see the section on verbs). In the list below, prepositions prefix the verb. (note abbreviations: vt., "volitional transitive"; vi., "volitional intransitive"; nt., "non-volitional transitive"; ni., "non-volitional intransitive"; at., av., "ambi-volitional."

With euanrem, "go":

celeuanrem, vt/vi. in go: "enter," "embark upon."
coveuanrem, vt/vi. out go: "leave," "emigrate."
preveuanrem, vt/vi. before go: "precede," "lead."
oveuanrem, vt/vi. up go: "climb," "ascend," "be promoted to."
hsoveuanrem, vt/vi. at. under go: "dive," "delve," "discover."
areuanrem, vt. toward go: "aim at," "attack."
amneuanrem, vt. behind go: "betray."
pomeuanrem, vt. with go: "accompany."

With derem, "do":

celddeyrem, vt/vi. in do: "get involved with, cooperate with."
coddeyrem, vt/vi. out do: "do in solitude, conduct in secret."
prevddeyrem, vt/vi. before do: "prepare."
ovddeyrem, vt. up do: "erect, build, put up."
hsovddeyrem, vt. down do: "raze, tear down, destroy."
amenddeyrem, vt. behind do: "eclipse, put in shadow."
pomddeyrem, vt/vi. with do: "act together."

With fenrem, "put, place":

celffenrem, vt. in put: "insert."
coffenrem, vt. out put: "expel."
preffenrem, vt. before put: "prefer."
obffenrem, vt. above put: "praise, laud, canonize."
hsobffenrem, vt. below put: "denigrate, reduce, disdain."
arffenrem, vt. at put: "put in proper place, set (the table)."
amffenrem, vt. behind put: "place behind, last; forget"
pomffenrem, vt. with put: "put together with (something else).

With parem, "be":

celbbarem, vt. in be: "be privy to."
covbbarem, vt. out be: "be untouched by, be external to, indifferent to."
prevbbarem, vt. before be: "precede, succeed at, be the best at."
ovbbarem, vt. above be: "be on top of, subjugate, oppress."
hsovbbarem, vt/vi/ni. below be: "be the foundation for, be relied upon, suffer."
arbbarem, vt. at be: "intend (something)"
amenbbarem, vt. behind be: "be an instigator for."
pombbarem, vt. with be: "accompany, tend to, nurture."

With lisned, "get."

Here is an example of a non-volitional conjunct verb; Lisrem is used to express the Teonaht passive:

prebllisned, nt. before get: "be put in front of," "get promoted to."
ovllisned, ni. up get: "be raised, be helped."
hsovllisned, ni. under get: "be buried, be oppressed."
arllisned, nt. towards get: "be directed at, advised to/in."
amenllisned, ni. behind get: "be overlooked."
pomllisned, nt. with get: "be joined with, be married."

Tebnar tandy lõ pelme il karo elo cofen.
Tebnar, from his mind the thought did he expel.
Tebnar banished the thought from his mind.

BUT:

Tebnar covy lõ pelme il karo elo fen.
Tebnar out of his mind the thought did he put.
Tebnar put the thought out of his mind.

ALSO:

Tebnar tandy lõ pelme il karo covnnelo fen.
Tebnar from his mind the thought out did he put.
Tebnar BANISHED the thought from his mind. (Emphasis is on the prefixed element.)

Pamnerik il naivvohsy nely hsobfen.
Pamnerik the teacher did she disdain.
Pamnerik disdained/thought ill of the teacher.
Pamnerik il naivvohsy hsobnnely fen
Pamnerik the teacher under did she put.
Pamnerik REALLY disdained the teacher.

Obviously, I have yet to embark on the complex wordmaking that this function gives me, and these conjunct or prepositional verbs have yet to acquire their subtle meanings. As Teonaht grows in vocabulary and usage, more will be generated with more idiosyncratic meaning. But I'm at the beginning here.

Cofenef oba mûngi!
"Spit out that gum!"

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