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kyonides- 08-12-2008
Just something silly about adpositions
I always wonder why in some languages no one would place the preposition behind right behind an object (a person, an animal, a thing). So I just planned that Kexyana should actually place behind (zer or zernos) right behind the object and leave in front of just as it is. I'm behind the tree. Noe sen Ilore zer. I'm in front of the tree. (I hope this is correct in English...) Noe sen ver Ilore.

Alonocus- 08-13-2008

It's possible. It makes th definitive article redundant. However, how do I tell that You're behind/in front of the tree, and the Tree isn't behind/in front of you?

kyonides- 08-13-2008

There should be a rule that would say something like "it depends on the current situation". I may need to say that I'm hiding behind a tree, but someone else may say that he has a strange, withered three in front of him. So the speaker's intention would clarify what's the right meaning. If you're talking about sentence order, then it would be SVO. You may even use the VSO construction, too. If you used pronouns and added the respective accusative case (called "objective case" (Fiada beodesa) in Kexyana), you can do something like this: Pronoun (NOM) + Verb + Pronoun (ACC) or Pronoun (ACC) + Verb + Pronoun (NOM)

Alonocus- 08-13-2008

So you're going to be using either context or a different case? You might want to try something similar to Polish Grammar.

kyonides- 08-13-2008

I said earlier that the objective case would be used like an accusative case, but it's also used in verbs as well... Pronoun in objective case Noe - I (sing. masc.), Koe - You (sing. masc.) Noe geraene ge Koe nu posaede dei Noes kenos Nere. I'd like that you could give me some money. Cardinal point in objective case Nirei - to go, Lide - East Noe nirense Lides. I'll go to the East. Verb in objective case Nirei - to go, Nishai - to buy Noe niren nishais nese Nisse. I'm goint to buy this bread.

eldin raigmore- 08-13-2008

Look up Adposition Inposition Postposition Preposition In most languages, either most adpositions are prepositions, or else most adpositions are postpositions. But many prepositional languages have a few postpositions (like "ago" in English); and many postpositional languages have a few prepositions (EDIT: for instance I understand Japanese is a postpositional language but has a preposition or two; perhaps someone on board who actually knows Japanese can tell more?). There are also a few inpositional languages; and some languages with "no dominant type".

kyonides- 08-13-2008

zer(nos) would be an exception in Kexyana since it would be a postposition, maybe even the only one that ever existed...

eldin raigmore- 08-14-2008

Some languages may have some "ambipositions"; adpositions that can be used as either prepositions or postpositions. These may, or may not, have different meanings depending on where they show up; and/or there may, or may not, be rules regarding when they must/may be pre- and when they must/may be post- -positions. Some languages may have some "circumpositions"; basically an obligatorily-paired preposition and postposition. A different phenomenon, that might also get called "circumposition", could happen when a noun-phrase could be the object of both a preposition and a postposition at the same time; and this would mean something different than if either the preposition or the postposition were used alone, or if the preposition were used with a different postposition, or the postposition used with a different preposition. Theoretically, and in conlangs, there's no reason these ideas can't be combined; you could have a particle X that could be a preposition that could be used alone or with a postposition, and could also be a postposition that could be used alone or with a preposition, all under different circumstances or with different meanings. Also, theoretically, and in conlangs, there's no reason inpositions shouldn't be involved. That is, maybe an "ambiposition" could be used as either a preposition or an inposition; or as either a postposition or an inposition. Also, maybe you could have an obligatorily-paired preposition and inposition; or an obligatorily-paired postposition and inposition. Or, maybe you could have a preposition and an inposition that could be used either with or without each other, depending on circumstances and/or meaning; or a postposition and an inposition. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For me, the currently exciting thing about adpositions, is the possibility of including them in a paradigm with nouns or verbs or adjectives (or adverbs?). I know that, diachronically, adpositions like "during" (is that an adposition?) and "ago", can derive from nearly any part-of-speech of a previous phase of the language. But I'm interested in the possibility that sometimes, synchronically, a particular inflection of a root that is the root of one or more major parts of speech (large open word-classes such as nouns, verbs, or adjectives) could produce a surface-form that's an adposition. What does anyone here know about such things in natlangs? Has anyone seen it in a conlang they admire? Or used it in their own conlang?

kyonides- 08-14-2008

New! My conlang will also use and encourage the use of sais (against) as a postposition. Now there are two postposition in Kexyana, sais and zer(nos). By the way, zer is used whenever there is an object present in the clause. If not, then zernos is used instead.

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