Chapter 8: PREPOSITIONS

8.1....PREPOSITIONS IN GENERAL: All Goesk prepositions govern the same three cases. A preposition usually indicates motion with an accusative object, static location with a dative object, and an abstract or temporal relationship with a genitive object.

an

onto (w/ acc.)

on (w/ dat.)

on or at (a time) (w/ gen.)

at

to (w/ acc.)

at (w/ dat.)

for the purpose of (w/ gen.)

as (w/ gen.)

bie

right up to (w/ acc.)

next to (w/ dat.)

in return for(w/ gen.)

gegen

to the opposite side of (w/ acc.)

opposite, facing (w/ dat.)

in spite of (w/ gen.)

in

into (w/ acc.)

in (w/ dat.)

because of (w/ gen.)

mid

towards (w/ acc.)

with (w/ dat.)

during (w/ gen.)

nai

up to (w/ acc.)

near, by (w/ dat.)

until (w/ gen.)

ut

out, out of (w/ acc.)

outside (w/ dat.)

except (w/ gen.)

a) Some Goesk prepositions translate the same with either dative or accusative objects. Such instances are noted below by marking a preposition's translation with (d.) when its meaning is dynamic, and (s.) when its meaning is static.

auf

up (d.) (w/ acc.)

up (s.) (w/ dat.)

in/into a system (w/ gen.)

aufan

against (d.) (w/ acc.)

against (s.) (w/ dat.)

against, opposed to (w/ gen.)

boeftin

behind (d.) (w/ acc.)

behind (s.) (w/ dat.)

after (w/ gen.)

brod

all over (d.) (w/ acc.)

all over (s.) (w/ dat.)

throughout (a time or event) (w/ gen.)

durx

through (d.) (w/ acc.)

through (s.) (w/ dat.)

with (by means of) (w/ gen.)

NOTE: With a dative object, "durx" means "through" without motion, as tunnels, wires, or veins course or run "through" things. In Goesk, the verb that indicates this motionless "coursing" or "running" is "flieten." In other contexts, "flieten" means "flow."

fram

from (d.) (w/ acc.)

from (s.) (w/ dat.)

from (a time) or made of (w/ gen.)

fyrn

far from (d.) (w/ acc.)

far from (s.) (w/ dat.)

versus, as opposed to (w/ gen.)

lu

along (d.) (w/ acc.)

along (s.) (w/ dat.)

along with, in addition to (w/ gen.)

need

down (d.) (w/ acc.)

down (s.) (w/ dat.)

out of (a system) (w/ gen.)

oer

in front of (d.) (w/ acc.)

in front of (s.) (w/ dat.)

before (w/ gen.)

oovyr

over (d.) (w/ acc.)

over (s.) (w/ dat.)

for (a time) or about or with, when it comes to (w/ gen.)

rum

around (d.) (w/ acc.)

around (s.) (w/ dat.)

like (w/ gen.)

seet

past (d.) (w/ acc.)

past (s.) (w/ dat.)

since (w/ gen.)

toort

across (d.) (w/ acc.)

across (s.) (w/ dat.)

across, from X to X (w/ gen.)

untyr

under (d.) (w/ acc.)

under (s.) (w/ dat.)

according to (w/ gen.)

vicen

between, among (d.) (w/ acc.)

between, among (s.) (w/ dat.)

between (times) (w/ gen.)

voon

off, from (d.) (w/ acc.)

off (s.) (w/ dat.)

without, out of (w/ gen.)

c) The meanings of "fuer" are all abstract.

fuer

for (a goal or purpose) (w/ acc.)

for (a beneficiary) (w/ dat.)

instead of (w/ gen.)

8.2....PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES: Goesk prepositional phrases pattern more-or-less like English ones: they can function adverbially, postmodify nouns and adjectives, and serve as complements for linking verbs.

b) Since prepositions have distinct meanings with genitive objects, Goesk lacks equivalents to phrases such as "instead of mine" or "like Johan's." In this context, the thing that the possessor possesses has to be given a name, or at least a pronoun.

8.3....PREPOSITIONAL MODIFIERS (P-MODS): These each comprise two words. The first word is either "fuer," "doer," or "zeer." The second word is a preposition.

a) P-mods beginning with "fuer" don't have deictic meaning, but p-mods beginning with "doer" (here) or "zeer" (there) do.

b) Many p-mods are idiomutic; some more obviously than others.

c) P-mods pattern like prepositional phrases; they can postmodify nouns and adjectives, and serve as adverbials or subject complements. However, not every p-mod fulfills all four of these roles, as the examples below will show.

d) Some prepositions form p-mods only with "fuer." Remember that "fuer oer" can have spatial or temporal meaning depending on context.

Note these abbreviations: NM for "noun modifier," AD for "adverbial," SC for "subject complement," and "AM" for "adjectival modifier."

e) Some p-mods form only adverbials and subject complements with "fuer," but fulfill all the expected ] syntactic roles with "doer" and "zeer."

f) In normal usage, p-mods with "voon" occur only as adverbials and subject complements.

g) One p-mod, "fuer mid," is adverbial only, and translates as "along." For example, "kumen fuer mid" means "to come along."

h) The remaining p-mods perform all their expected syntactic functions with all three initial words, "fuer," "doer," and "zeer." Remember that "fuer boeftin" can have spatial or temporal meaning depending on context.

CHAPTER NOTES: P-Mods with "zeer" (there) pattern just like p-mods with "doer" (here) and should be easy to derive.

Forming p-mods with the prepositions not mentioned in this section should be similarly easy.

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