Prepositions and Directions for Diinlang Part Two

Some further thoughts on directives and the related field of prepositions. I find it helpful to envision a cube. There are six directions that we can be from the cube: Above, below, left, right, beyond and before. We can also be outside the cube or inside it. The cube has six surfaces, although these surfaces may have an outside or inside.

Suppose, for Diinlang, we designate each of these eight parameters with a single syllable word. These are:

Up/ Loh

Lev/ Deks

Van/ Hin

In/ Eks

These are, respectively, up/ down, left/ right, front/ back, in/ out. Some of these may change, since eks and deks are similar in sound.

Up refers to height and positive vertical distance in general. It can take the diminutives and augmentative suffixes to become “upta” and “upko”, meaning “high/ very high” or “not-high”. “Lohko” would mean shallow and “lohta” would mean “deep”.

These words can also take –ha and –ho to create comparative and superlative forms: loh, lohha, lohho = low, lower, lowest.

The above terms assume egocentric relative directions are being used. In other words it treats the side of an object nearest to the viewer as the front, the farthest as the back etc. When it is necessary to indicate the “proper left” or an equivalent the objective marker “-em” can be added. The starboard side of a ship is therefore “deksem”. Something in front of a bird would be “vanem”. It may be simpler and clearer to instead suffix with pronouns so proper left is “zelev”. This also gives us “tulev” = “your left” and “milev” =“my left”.  

The suffix “-ru” indicates a static place or surface. Therefore the top of an object is upru, the left side/ surface is levru, the underside lohru etc.

When dimensions need to be expressed the syllable “leng” is added. In English the question “how high is the plane” can be ambivalent. It may mean the distance from bottom to top or its distance above the ground. In Diinlang the first would be “ke upleng?” and the second “ke up?” or “ke upta?”. “Uplengta” means “tall” and “uplengko” means “short”. “Width” is “spanleng”, with “spanglengta” being thick or wide and “spanlengko” being narrow or thin. Horizontal depth or thickness is “traleng” from the word “tra” for “through”. A thin wall would be “tralengko”.

Another suffix is used to indicate movement in one of these directions. In a previous blog I suggested “-ki” for this. “upki” is therefore “upwards”, “inki” is inwards and “levski” leftwards. It would be useful to have an afferent and efferent form of “ki”. This could compactly convey such actions as something rising towards a point of reference or something rising away. “-ka” and “-ke” cannot be uses since “ke” is already in use. Possibly “-aki” and “-eki”?

“-pas”, derived from “pass” can be used to form additional turns. “Uppas” would mean to go over so has the meaning “across”. “inpas” and “ekspas” would mean “entrance” and  “exit”.

These directives would work with some prepositions. In previous posts I have called “del” a generic conjunction. In practice its use may be more specific, having the meaning “of”, “from” (to indicate origin) and possibly “for”. It will see frequent use with directive phrases. “Vanen del ze aves” = “In front of the bird/ to the bird’s front”. “Up del ship” =”above the ship”.

“On” is used similarly to how it is used in English, but has the added sense of being in contact with something. Something can be on surfaces other than the top. Something could be “up on” or “on up(ru)” but also could be “on van” or “on lev”. “On” also has some of the applications of the English word “at”. You can say you will meet “on a bridge” but also “on the café”. This can be thought of as being “on the same location as...”

“Ad” in Diinlang means “to” and “apo” is “from”. These are from ISV and may be used instead of or in addition to afferent and efferent forms of “-ki”. “Upki ad mi”= “asending to me”. “Upki apo mi” = “rising up away from me”. These words can be used with some of the other suffixes suggested in this blog. “Adki”= “towards”, “apoki” = “from-wards”, “in ad” = “into”. “eks ad” = “out to”, “eks apo”=“out from”.

“Veng” means “near” and is used in many of the instances that “at”, “by”, “on” or “in” might be used in English. The use of these prepositions in English is eccentric and can be confusing to the learner. Diinlang generally uses “veng” for indicating near or outside a location or “in” for a location within something.