Re: Prepositions

Hi everybody,

After an extremely long silence about my conlang, mostly spent researching
and experimenting in my obscure little conlang lab in the corner, I've
finally produced the prepositional system of the language of the Ebisedi.

In their "native" form, each preposition is a 3-syllable word, composed of
a directional syllable, a locational syllable, and ending in the suffix
-ro.

The directional syllable indicate motion relative to the point indicated
by the locational syllable. There are three possible directional
syllables: a- (away from), u- (towards, into), i- (at, coincident with).

The locational syllable describes a position relative to the "center",
which is the location of the noun being modified. There are 5 possible
locations: -Ki'- (above), -bu'- (below, beneath), -cu'- (on, in), -li'-
(around, in the immediate vicinity of), and -ta'- (at a distance from).

Example:
        ili'ro juli'r   - in the immediate vicinity of the house (but not
                          inside)
        ita'ro juli'r   - at a distance from the house
        abu'ro taa'dru  - (climbing) up a tree (starting from below, -bu-,
                          and moving upwards, that is, away from below,
                          a-. Hence, _abu'ro_.)
        uKi'ro taa'dr0  - going above a tree (e.g. a bird flying upwards
                          from a branch). Note this distinction from
                          _abu'ro_: both are moving upwards, but one is
                          upwards towards the tree whereas the other is
                          upwards *away* from the tree.
        uli'ro taa'dr0  - away from, but circling the tree. (E.g., a bird
                          takes off but continues to fly around the tree)
        uta'ro taa'dr0  - away from the tree into the distance.
        ata'ro moo'ju   - closing in on the city from the distance (e.g.
                          an approaching army)
        ali'ro moo'ju   - entering the city from its immediate suburbs.
                          (e.g. the army has already encircled the walls)

I thought this was a very neat system, in addition to the fact that it
conforms to Ebisedian philosophy (in this particular instance, their
obsession with the 5-point model: above, below, at, near, far,
corresponding with their 5 fundamental colors).

Furthermore, these prepositions can be nominalized, and in their nominal
instrumental case, they act as adverbs. For example, _uKi'ra lyy's_ is "to
go up", "to ascend"; in certain contexts, it can mean "to rise up", "to
arise".

Comments? Thoughts? Fan mail? Flames? ;-)


T

--
Debian GNU/Linux: Cray on your desktop.

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