Prepositions

Πρυωθεσιήν

17.1 Preposition Classes

Alashian has three classes of prepositions, based on their declensional and syntactic peculiarities.

The clitic prepositions form the smallest (but oldest) class, containing just three forms: λι- li- marking possession (“of”) as well as a few other miscellaneous functions, βι- bi- marking instrument or manner (“with, by”), and χι- xi- marking recipient (“to, for”). All three are attached directly to word that immediately follows: λικαττώ likattā “of a cat”, βεαυτού be'awtū “by car”, χεεμώ xe'emā “to/for mother”. The prefix vowel changes to /e/ (i.e., be-, le-, xe-) when followed immediately by a glottal stop.

The primitive prepositions are all prepositions that cannot (in the modern language) be subdivided into smaller morphemes; they are thus true prepositions and not noun phrases serving a prepositional function. This includes many common forms such as βνε bne “from”, ιв̄ 'iv “in”, ηυν hun “with”, τωτ tāt “below”, and βην bēn “between”. These are all independent words, although they are typically unstressed.

Finally, there are the phrasal or nominal prepositions. These are forms that clearly consist of multiple morphemes and incorporate nouns appearing in their construct state; the noun within the phrasal preposition thereby forms a construct with its object, such that the prepositional relationship is fundamentally a genitival one. This class includes such forms as ηαλ μακκούν hal məkhūn “instead of” (lit. “in [the] place of”) and βιλέτζε bileče “because of” (lit. “by [the] word of”). Many primitives in the modern language were once phrasal, such as ηαλαδεί haladī “by [in passive sentences]” from Classical Alashian ηαλ ιαδεί hal yadī, literally “on/by the hands of”.

17.2 Preposition Declension

17.2.1 Object Agreement

Most primitive and phrasal prepositions agree with their direct object in number. Since most prepositions were originally of nominal origin (if not still clearly nominal), the prepositions themselves once had independent number marking. However, for logical reasons, this number would often match the number of the direct object. Consider, for instance, the prepositional phrases τωτ υνάτζ tāt 'unəč “under the tree” 1 (ηάτζ həč “tree”) and τώτε νατζζιήν tāte nəčhien “under the trees”; the Alashian preposition τωτ tāt “under” comes from the Proto-Semitic noun *taḥt-um “underside”, so in a pre-literate direct ancestor of Alashian these two phrases were likely expressed as *tařti han-hetṣi (lit. “[on the] underside of the tree”) and *tařtī han-hetṣīn (lit. “on the undersides of the trees”). The plural agreement marker for prepositions is thus cognate to the masculine plural construct marker of nouns, and at some point became generalized to prepositions with plural objects regardless of the semantics.

For most primitive prepositions, the plural is formed by adding *-e to the singular form: ιв̄ 'iv “in” → ίв̄ε 'ive, ηυν hun “with” → ηύνε hune, βην bēn “between” → βήνε bēne. This is generally quite regular, although a few irregular forms exist, such as ένεδ̄ 'eneḏ “in the opinion of, according to” → ένδε 'ende. If the singular form ends in a vowel, however, there is no distinction between singular and plural: είρυ 'īru “around, about” → είρυ 'īru, βνε bne “from” → βνε bne.

Phrasal prepositions tend to use actual construct plural endings, since they incorporate an actual productive noun. Once again, this agreement typically ignores the semantics of the literal expression: ηαλ μακκούν hal məkhūn “instead of” → ηάλε μακκυννή hale məkhunnē, βιλέτζε bileče “because of” → βιλετζή bilečē.

Clitic prepositions do not show any object agreement.

17.2.2 Pronominal Declension

Much as in most of the other Semitic languages, when the object of an Alashian preposition is a personal pronoun, the preposition and pronoun collapse together into a single word, generally referred to as a declined preposition. The three preposition classes each have slightly different means of declension.

The clitic prepositions use endings that are historically related to the accusative pronouns. This has generally been ascribed to Greek influence. They also have an 'emphatic' form where the full accusative pronoun can be seen. Shown below is the complete declension of χι- xi- “to, for”:

Clitic Preposition Declension
Standard Emphatic Meaning Standard Emphatic Meaning
1 Sg χιή
xie
χιώ
xiyā
to me 1 Pl χάν
xan
χινυώ
xinuwā
to us
2 Sg Masc χάκ
xak
χικυώ
xikwā
to you (m) 2 Pl Masc χάκαν
xakan
χικυνώ
xikunā
to you all (m)
2 Sg Fem χάτζ
xač
χιτζιώ
xičyā
to you (f) 2 Pl Fem χάτζεν
xačen
χιτζινώ
xičinā
to you all (f)
3 Sg Masc χού
χιυώτ
xiwāt
to him/it 3 Pl Masc χών
xān
χιυμώ
xiyumā
to them
3 Sg Fem χών
xān
χιώτ
xiyāt
to her/it 3 Pl Fem χών
xān
χιυμώ
xiyumā
to them

In practice, the emphatic forms of χι- xi- and βι- bi- are increasingly displacing their standard equivalents, while λι- li- has undergone somewhat of a bifurcation, with the standard forms nearly universal in attributive position (cf. the genitive pronouns in the previous chapter) and the emphatic forms generally dominant in predicate/complement position.

The suffixes used by primitive prepositions are the same as the possessive suffixes used by nouns. There is no special emphatic distinction, and actual pronouns cannot be used in place of possessive endings. Note, however, that the plural agreement marker continues to surface between the stem and possessive suffix if the pronominal object is plural. Shown below is the declension of ηαλ hal “on”:

Primitive Preposition Declension
1 Sg ηαλεί
halī
on me 1 Pl ηάλεν
halen
on us
2 Sg Masc ηάλικ
halik
on you (m) 2 Pl Masc ηάλεκαν
halekan
on you all (m)
2 Sg Fem ηάλιτζ
halič
on you (f) 2 Pl Fem ηάλετζεν
halečen
on you all (f)
3 Sg Masc ηαλού
halū
on him/it 3 Pl Masc ηάλειαν
haleyan
on them
3 Sg Fem ηαλώ
halā
on her/it 3 Pl Masc ηάλειαν
haleyan
on them

Phrasal prepositions have two different options for declension which exist in more or less free variation: either possessive suffixes can be added to the nominal component, or the genitive pronoun (declined λι- li-) can be used; in the latter case, the genitive pronoun typically comes immediately before the noun, unless the noun is preceded by a clitic preposition, in which case it comes after. Number agreement continues to be operational. To demonstrate this, both ηαλ μακκούν hal məkhūn “instead of” and βιλέτζε bileče “because of” are shown below:

Phrasal Preposition Declension
Possessive Suffix Genitive Pronoun Meaning Possessive Suffix Genitive Pronoun Meaning
1 Sg ηαλ μακκυννεί
hal məkhunnī
ηαλ λιή μακκούν
hal lie məkhūn
instead of me 1 Pl ηάλε μακκυννήν
hale məkhunnēn
ηάλε λάν μακκυννιήν
hale lan məkhunnien
instead of us
2 Sg Masc ηαλ μάκκυννικ
hal məkhunnik
ηαλ λάκ μακκούν
hal lak məkhūn
instead of you (m) 2 Pl Masc ηάλε μακκυννήκαν
hale məkhunnēkan
ηάλε λάκαν μακκυννιήν
hale lakan məkhunnien
instead of you all (m)
2 Sg Fem ηαλ μάκκυννιτζ
hal məkhunnič
ηαλ λάτζ μακκούν
hal lač məkhūn
instead of you (f) 2 Pl Fem ηάλε μακκυννήτζεν
hale məkhunnēčen
ηάλε λάτζεν μακκυννιήν
hale lačen məkhunnien
instead of you all (f)
3 Sg Masc ηαλ μακκυννού
hal məkhunnū
ηαλ λού μακκούν
hal lū məkhūn
instead of him/it 3 Pl Masc ηάλε μακκυννήιαν
hale məkhunnēyan
ηάλε λών μακκυννιήν
hale lān məkhunnien
instead of them
3 Sg Fem ηαλ μακκυννώ
hal məkhunnā
ηαλ λών μακκούν
hal lān məkhūn
instead of her/it 3 Pl Fem ηάλε μακκυννήιαν
hale məkhunnēyan
ηάλε λών μακκυννιήν
hale lān məkhunnien
instead of them
Phrasal Preposition Declension
Possessive Suffix Genitive Pronoun Meaning Possessive Suffix Genitive Pronoun Meaning
1 Sg βιλετζεί
bilečī
βιλέτζε λιή
bileče lie
because of me 1 Pl βιλετζήν
bilečēn
βιλετζιήν λάν
bilečien lan
because of us
2 Sg Masc βιλέτζεκ
bileček
βιλέτζε λάκ
bileče lak
because of you (m) 2 Pl Masc βιλετζήκαν
bilečēkan
βιλετζιήν λάκαν
bilečien lakan
because of you all (m)
2 Sg Fem βιλέτζετζ
bilečeč
βιλέτζε λάτζ
bileče lač
because of you (f) 2 Pl Fem βιλετζήτζεν
bilečēčen
βιλετζιήν λάτζεν
bilečien lačen
because of you all (f)
3 Sg Masc βιλετζειού
bilečeyū
βιλέτζε λού
bileče lū
because of him/it 3 Pl Masc βιλετζήιαν
bilečēyan
βιλετζιήν λών
bilečien lān
because of them
3 Sg Fem βιλετζειώ
bilečeyā
βιλέτζε λών
bileče lān
because of her/it 3 Pl Fem βιλετζήιαν
bilečēyan
βιλετζιήν λών
bilečien lān
because of them

17.3 List of Prepositions

17.3.1 Clitic Prepositions

Preposition Meaning Notes
βι-
bi-
with, by instrumental
λι-
li-
of possessive
χι-
xi-
to, for indirect object marker

17.3.2 Primitive Prepositions

Preposition Meaning Notes
αδ
'ad
until, up to, before
βήν
bēn
between
βνε
bne
from, from inside
δυίλ
dwil
without, except for
είρυ
'īru
around, about 'around' in the physical sense of 'surrounding'; 'about' as in topic
εν
'en
like, as, in the capacity of
ένεδ̄
'eneḏ
according to, in the opinion of
ηαλ
hal
on
ηαλαδεί
haladī
by marks agent of passive verbs
ηυν
hun
with, along accompaniment
ιв̄
'iv
in, inside, into
ιλ
'il
to, towards
ιτ
'it
away from, since
λιβ
lib
against, into (a state) 'into' as in 'transform into' or 'fall into despair'
λίφαν
lifan
next to, facing
κάφ
kaf
over, above
μετώ
metā
after
πρά
pra
contrary to, despite
τώτ
tāt
under, below

17.3.3 Phrasal Prepositions

Preposition Meaning Notes
βιδάλ
bidal
in front of lit. 'at the door of'
βιλέτζε
bileče
because of lit. 'in the word of'
μιμμωρούκ
mimmārūk
behind lit. 'from the far part of'
μιφφάλγε
miffalge
through lit. 'from the middle of'
μιφτών
miftān
outside, to outside lit. 'from the inside of'
ηαλ αρτζείς
hal 'arčīs
beyond lit. 'on the distance of'
ηαλ μακκούν
hal məkhūn
instead of lit. 'on the place of'
λιτώτ
litāt
under, via directional; lit. 'to the underside of'
βώηερ
bāher
over, across directional; lit. 'crossing'
φουνεί ιλ
fūnī 'il
opposite, across from lit. 'faced towards'

1) The form 'unəč rather than nəč for the definite singular state of həč contains a prosthetic vowel common in nominal constructs. Its appearance will be explained in the discussion of nominal syntax.