o yis     Postpositions

Frames of reference

The Istran languages use a mixture of absolute, intrinsic and relative frames of reference for describing the location and orientation of objects in relationship to each other, and to the speaker. Unlike languages - such as Ramajal - where the relative frame of reference (left, right, ahead, behind) predominates, O Yis speakers make heavy use of an absolute frame of reference (northwards, southwards, eastwards, westwards) for much of the work of locating objects; maintaining an internal compass is an integral part of speaking the language.

The relative frame of reference is restricted, in the horizontal plane, to objects that are within touching (or spitting) distance. Vertical frames of reference, however, are relative to the height of the speaker's eyes (above, below), or are intrinsic to an object (on top of, beneath).

The intrinsic frame of reference further assumes that most immobile objects face south, and thus have their backs facing north; for those objects that have an obvious main entrance, that side is considered to be the front of the object while the opposite side is referenced as the back.

The origins of postpositions

Almost all O Yis postpositions can trace their origins back to complete words: the four anchors of the absolute reference system are derived from the words for ice (northwards), morning (eastwards), warm water (south) and evening (west) - given the history of the Istran Society as seafarers who spent as much time on the water as they did on land, the choice of references can be understood.

The origins of the postpositions for above (skywards) and below (seawards) are equally obvious. Less obviously, almost all Istran languages employ a vertical metaphor to represent the passage of time: the sky represents the future while the sea represents the past. O Yis speakers view time as equivalent to light, sinking from the bright sky to the dark ocean depths. Movement and location through the temporal plane is assumed to be relative to the now, unless a different point in the time-stream is indicated by the speaker.

A range of postpositions have also developed from the words for various body parts; these include the nose (for 'the front of'), tail (the rear of), face (opposite), eyes (in front of), rear (behind), heart (inside), belly (acquisitive), hands (benefactive, instrumental), fingers (measurement and accompaniament), and thumbs - from which arose the passive marker. The wind indicates that which is outside or beyond, while the breath lies on the cusp of internal and external: that which touches.

Motive and spatial postpositions

When describing place or motion, an O Yis speaker will generally include information on the absolute direction of movement or position (north, south, east, west) in addition to relative details (at, near, by, towards, away from, along):

• iT   itz - at, beside, near, north of
• ipjam   ipjam - at, beside, near, east of
• il   il - at, beside, near, south of
• icven   icven - at, beside, near, west of
• iTjid   itzjid - north to, towards
• ipjamid   ipjamid - east to, towards
• illid   illid - south to, towards
• icveNid   icveŋid - west to, towards
• iTjer   itzjer - north from
• ipjamer   ipjamer - east from
• iller   iller - south from
• icveNer   icveŋer - west from
• iDblez   idzblez - north along, by, via
• ipjamblez   ipjamblez - east along, by, via
• ibez   ibez - west along, by, via
• icvebez   icvebez - south along, by, via
• ix   ix - at, on, touching
• itoT   itotz - above, over
• izaurz   izaurz - below, under
• ihuTjid   ihutzjid - out of
• jabjid   jabjid - into

Examples

As can be seen, the 'at/near' postpositions are the default forms, with movement towards, away from or along an object modifying those defaults. While the directional postpositions are always used when motion between two objects is being described, the 'at/near' postpositions are only used between two movable objects. When one of the objects is immovable, and can thus be used as the base for intrinsic references, a second set of postpositions is used.

For an immovable object, where the object has no obvious entrance:

• ifuiD   ifuidz - north of
• idem   idem - south of

For an immovable object with an obvious entrance:

• itvim   itvim - the back of
• ifjaf   ifjaf - the front of

For the movable object:

• ibvad   ibvad - behind, at the rear of
• ivoal   ivoal - ahead of, at the front of
• itosjid   itosjid - up to, below
• izaurzjid   izaurzjid - down to, above

For any of the objects:

• icper   icper - opposite, across from, facing
• iblez   iblez - to the side of, beside
• itoxol   itoxol - on, on top of, resting on, touching
• ihuT   ihutz - outside, surrounding
• jab   jab - in, inside, surrounded by

Temporal postpositions

There are a number of methods for ordering events within a time frame, of which the temporal postpositions are just one facet: other methods include nominal and verbal temporal quantifiers, verb articles, verb auxillaries and time-related noun phrases.

• itojid   itojid - a long time before, approaching
• ito   ito - before, forthcoming
• ixol   ixol - during, at
• izau   izau - after, preceding
• izaujid   izaujid - afterwards, a long time after

Grammatical postpositions

A final group of postpositions play a role in building noun and verb phrases, and clauses. This group includes words that in other languages could be thought of as conjunctions (such as 'and' and 'or'):

• Di   dzi - of, for (measuring)
• igly   igly - for (acquire)
• irt   irt - for (direct benefit)
• rette   rette - for (situational benefit)
• ijer, jer   ijer, jer - from (partitive)
• itau, tau   itau, tau - concerning, by
• irat, rat   irat, rat - with, using
• iDim, Dim   idzim, dzim - and, with, accompanied by
• iqer, qer   iqer, qer - or, alternatively
• ibek, bek   ibek, bek - like

Where there are alternate forms of the postposition, the i- form is used to coordinate (list) nouns while the short form is used for coordinating other parts of speech (such as verbs and quantifiers).