Adpositions: view article

Shikathi adpositions are usually in the form of postpositions but at times they can be prepositions for a slightly different meaning. In whatever position they are in, they are always attached to the object of the adposition. Here are some examples:

benghn = movement
fānī = house / home
drae / dre = inside / within / into / in

benghn ūmakām fānīdre = I'm going inside the house.
draebengn ūmakām = I'm going in.

[top]The Adposition Dichotomy

Most of the adpositions fall into two groups. The dr-stem group and the s-stem group. While the dr- group means one thing the s- group is the opposite. For example:

benghn ūmakām fānīdre = I'm going inside the house.
draebengn ūmakām = I'm going in.

vs

benghn ūmakām fānīse = I'm going outside the house.
saebengn ūmakām = I'm going out.

Here is a list of the most common adpositions that fit this pattern:

dr-group		s-group
drū	to / towards	sū	from / away from
drae / dre	within / inside / into / in	sae / se	outside / out of / out / beyond
drao / draok	before / in front of / forward	sao / saok	after / behind / back
dri / drik / dryk	on behalf of / for the benefit of	si / sik / syk	against / in opposition to
drō / drok	with	sō / sok	without
drā / dra / drāk / drak	near / by / at	sā / sa / sāk / sak	far / away (from)
drī / drīk	above / over	sī / sīk	below / under
drē	on / on top of / upon	sē	off / off of
druk	next to	suk	accross from
dia	between	sia	surrounding

[top]Additional Adpositions

Below is a list of the adpositions that do not fit the dichotomy:

adpositions
pän	until
shpā	of / belonging to / about (vestige of old GEN case system)
kraes	any
num	through (along the x-axis) / across
tum	through (along the y-axis) / by (process.. eg. step by step, day by day, little by little)
rum	through (along the z-axis) / through (abstract ideas) / by means of
tāgh	around
rebtō	but / but not /except for
tor / tyr / tr	lack of
nē / ne	all / every / each
īn	by means of (vestige of old INS case)
das / dās	because of

[top]Adpositions as Prepositions

As mentioned earlier, adpositions usually show up as postpositions. A noun and postposition translates to adpositional phrases in English. A noun and a preposition is not an adpositional phrase, but rather another noun with a slightly different meaning. For example:

fānī = house
fānīdre = inside the house
draefānī = The interior of the house
draefanīðī = indoors

chōk = the rock
chokdrē = on the rock (*note: not 'chōkdre' which is 'within the rock')
drēchok = surface / tablet (*note: not 'drechōk' which can be a variant of 'draechōk'... 'the core'

Prepositions are more frequently seen attached to nouns when verbalizers (or their nominalized forms) are used. Here are some examples with just the noun 'bengh(i)n' = movement:

benghin akām = to move
draebenghin akām = to enter
saebenghin akām = to exit
saebenghnakaet = an exit
drōbenghn = accompaniment
drōbenghin lator = to accompany
sōbenghn = exclusion
sōbenghin lator = to exclude
numbenghn = transplantation
numbenghin lator = to transplant
drūbenghn = approach
drūbenghin akām = to approach

Many times the meaning of the new word is straightforward when the preposition is attached and attaching any preposition to any noun is fairly productive among speakers of the language, but other times the meaning is not what one might expect and this could cause potential miscommunication with foreigners. For example:

straightforward usage:

fānī = house/home
draefānī = interior
saefānī = exterior / the outdoors

woe-to-the-uninitiated-usage:

saefnī (a variant of saefānī) = the wilderness
saefnīðī = savage
saefnaet = beast / barbarian

draefnī = class (quality of personality) / sophistication / polish / couth
draefnīðī = cultured (having class / couth / polished)
draefnaet = a person who is cultured / bourgeois

Here are some examples of different ways to use the adpositions:

zar ilthī saefanīðī = your mom (is) outside (not necessarily of the house).
zar ilthī fanīse = you mom (is) outside of the house.
zar ilthī saefnīðī = your mom (is) savage.
zar ilthī draefnaet = your mom (is) good people.
zar ilthī draefanīðī = you mom (is) inside (not necessarily in the house).
zar ilthī fanīdre = you mom (is) inside the house.

[top]Adpositions on Verbalizers and Verbal Morphemes

Adpositions on verbalizers

Adpositions on verbalizers are always prepositional. They further modify the meaning of the action. Here is an example

bengn = movement

benghin akām = to move
saobenghin akām = to go behind / to follow
benghn saoakām = to go back / to return

benghin lator = to move an object
saobenghin lator = to move to the back / to put in the back
benghn saolator = to return / take something back

Adpositions on modified verbs

If the word is a gerund, gerundive, or any other form of a modified verb, the adposition stays between the noun and the verbal morpheme. It's also important to note that there could be vowel mutations and/or orthographic changes when this happens.

benghnām = moving
saobenghnām = following
benghinsauām = returning

benghnāl = moving
saobenghnāl = putting something in the back
benghinsauāl = taking something back

Does this make the adposition an 'inposition'? I have no idea.... but it is what it is. Also, a nominalized verb containing an 'inposition' may still have other adpositions (prepositions and postpositions) attached. For example:

shil trash ūmtorlatortō draebenghinsauāmpän. = I didn't see you until I went back in.

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