Positionals - Myávádhrásva

Alurhsa grammarians classify all words that indicate the position or location of something, whether in space or time, as myávádhrásva, which literally means "where-indicator-words", or Positionals. These include the categories which Indo-European languages usually refer to as prepositions and adverbs, although only those adverbs indicating position, location, or time. Adverbs of state or condition have been dealt with under the Descriptives section.

Positionals are often, but not always, used with an object, whether noun, descriptive, or verb. As such, these positionals usually cause their object to assume a particular case or form. In general, noun cases after positionals are used to indicate either motion towards, static location, motion through or within, or motion from. Certain positionals may indicate affectedness.

The rules are:

· Motion from the object requires the object be in the Ablative.

· Motion towards the object, or in benefit of the object, requires the object be in the Dative.

· Motion through the object, or especially throughout the object, requires the object be in the Instrumental.

· Static location in, at, on, with, etc., the object, requires the object be in the Genitive/Locative.

· Direct conflict with or effect on the object requires the object be in the Accusative.

Some examples at this point might be useful:

Qíëdô ghel zh'íthlánáç (He comes from the city) - ghel (from) requires the ablative in íthlán (city) because the motion is from there.

Áláná ráyô eshnún zh'íthlánánÿ (Alana looks towards the city) - eshnún (towards) requires the dative in íthlán (city) because the motion, in this case her looking, is towards there.

Póndrálÿ zhë sálekán be zhë sívnänÿ (I put the book on the table) - In this case, be (on) requires that sívnä (table) be in the dative, because the motion is towards the table as the book is being placed there.

Zhë sálek lhôñ be zhë sívnäyá (The book is on the table) - Here, be (on) requires that sívnä (table) be in the genitive/locative, because there is no motion, only the static location of the book.

Zhë sálek tálô be zhë sívnäç (The book falls off the table) - Although this may seem unusual to most English or other Indo-European speakers, the ablative case for table indicates to an Alurhsa that while the book started out on the table, it is moving from there.

It is to be noted that many positionals may take different cases depending on the intended meaning. tsye (in) is a perfect example of this. It will take the dative if the motion is into, the genitive/locative if the location is static in, the instrumental if the motion is inside or throughout, and the ablative if the motion is from within. So it is important not only to see the meaning of the preposition, but the case of its object, as both together determine the meaning and relationship.

Below is the list of prepositions in the Alurhsa language, and the case or cases they normally use, along with descriptions of the meaning assigned depending on the case of the object. The most common case usage and meaning is listed first.

ás	dat: up to, until.
be	gen/loc: on, dat: onto, abl: off of.
ber	gen/loc: atop, at the top of, on top of, dat: to the top of, abl: off the top off.
bhésáxne	acc: instead of
cedzá	gen/loc: in the presence of, dat: into the presence of, abl: from the presence of.
cen	gen/loc: at, dat: to, abl: from.
elÿ	abl: out of, instru: out through.
ens	instru: because of.
epná	dat: for, for the benefit of.
eshkï	instru: out of (material).
fájï	acc: in spite of.
gá	gen/loc: after, beyond (static location), dat: after (motion into being after), abl: from after, or after compared to something.
gel	gen/loc: beyond, past.
ghel	abl: from, away from.
gó	gen/loc: while, during (a fixed event that occurs within a timespan), instru: while, during (a continuous event that occurs throughout a timespan).
káns	acc: against.
kél	gen/loc: in front of, with no object: forward.
kils	gen/loc: behind, with no object: backward.
kír	gen/loc: underneath, on the underside of, dat: to the underside of, abl: from the underside of.
kìvá	dat: on behalf of.
kìvense	dat: in favor of.
kóvï	acc: in memory of
les	abl: since.
lù	gen/loc: among, with, dat: into the group of, abl: out from among.
lyív	gen/loc: between, among, dat: into position between, abl: out from between, instru: in all the space between.
móshvá	instru: by, by means of.
nòs	instru: according to.
nòv	abl: about, concerning.
ñóvexne	instru: no matter, notwithstanding
pel	gen/loc: around, about (static location), instru: all around or in motion around.
pó	instru: along, by (with motion), gen/loc: along (static location).
pólef	with verb infinitive, or with el followed by a verb:: in order to, with noun acc: for, in order to.
póv	instru: depending on.
prë	dat: before (time).
sán	instru: across, abl: from across, dat: to the other side of.
shtháwe	gen/loc: beside, next to.
shthezá	dat: past, by (moving past), gen/loc: past, beyond.
thír	gen/loc: at the bottom of, dat: to the bottom of, abl: up from the bottom of.
thírshï	acc: in honor of.
tsye	gen/loc: in, inside, dat: into, abl: out from the inside of.
tye	(used with place names, roads, or other things which are not containers or simple objects) gen/loc: in, at, on, dat: to, instru: through or throughout, abl: from.
úqe	gen/loc: on this side (of), dat: to this side (of), abl: from this side (of).
üste	abl: off (of) world, island, etc.
vás	acc: by (time).
vel	nom: about, circa (w/numbers, time).
veñ	abl: without.
veñùleve	acc: regardless of.
vú	gen/loc: at, in, on (time).
vùn	gen/loc: with.
vùshe	acc: in exchange for.
vúshï	acc: as, in the role of.
xím	instru: through.
xre	gen/loc: near, dat: moving towards, abl: moving away from.
xrevá	gen/loc: nearer.
xrevná	gen/loc: nearest.
yás	dat: back to, back unto.
yásheqe	gen/loc: on the other side of, dat: to the other side of, abl: from the other side of.
yelÿ	abl: back out of.
yesh	dat: back towards.
zháskï	instru: based on, founded on, from.
zó	nom: at the rate of.

Several positionals can also be used with verbs. For example: prë qíëdâ (before coming), ás velánályëv dhën (until you read it). The rules for tense and mood are covered in the section on verbs.

When positionals are used with phrases, the normal case rules often do not apply. Rather, the object should be considered to be the entire phrase, which of course cannot take a case ending collectively, and the subject is placed into the case appropriate for its position in the phrase, either nominative or accusative, depending on verb mood.

There are several ways of translating the English preposition for. Some examples: I bought it for you - Zharelálÿ dhën epná ólyánÿ; I bought it for supper - Zharelálÿ dhën vúshï çalenán; I bought it for cleaning - Zharelálÿ dhën pólef pínyâ. In the first example, the item is intended as a benefit to someone else, so epná is used. In the second, it is intended to play the role of supper, so vúshï is used. In the last example, the item was purchased in order to clean, so pólef is used. When translating English for it is best to think of how the sentence could be reworded using either as a benefit to, in the role of, or for the purpose of. Which of these works best as the rewording will indicate whether to use epná, vúshï, or pólef.

kas (under) is often used with time of day references in places English would use in. For example, kas velúváná (in darkness), or kas lúvensá (in daylight). This turn of phrase is found most often dealing with light and/or darkness references, since gó bléyá or gó bléxná is during the day,depending on whether one means sometime during the day or throughout the day.

zó (at the rate of) is roughly equivalent to Esperanto po: Zharelô shálün zó lhúvá zhë náváráxná. (He bought apples at three for a dollar.) Note that zó goes before the number or rate, and the rate itself consists of a number plus a value in the instrumental. Thus: zó elká zhë bléyxná (four per day), zó delsá zhë vlenáxná (ten per meter).

Note that many of the positionals in the above table may be used without objects, even if this may not make sense according to English syntactic rules. For example: álználÿ yesh - I'm going back that way; Dhe lhôñ üste - He is offworld/offshore. Do not be surprised to hear an Alurhsa end a phrase or sentence with one of these words. The object, in these cases, is generally to be understood from context. Not all positionals are used in this manner. Certain, like kas (under) have locative forms ending in ì, often with modified significance: kasì (downstairs, below).

Another even more unusual feature is that sometimes positionals standing without objects can take noun-like case endings. This is particularly true with words like úqe (this side of) and yásheqe (the other side of). Thus: Qíëdálv úqenÿ - Come to this side. The only endings used for this are the dative and ablative. The genitive/locative is understood to be the base form of the word.

The next table lists words which are considered positionals by native grammarians, but which are most often used alone rather than with an object. It should be pointed out that technically any positional may take an object, or may be used alone in an adverbial or locational sense. However, the words in the prior table normally do take an object in the case specified, while the words in the following table normally do not. When an object is used, its case always obeys the rules outlined at the start of this section.

ádlún	high, high up.
ánsígvì	at home.
ápreme	once, once upon a time, ago (with nom. of time reference).
áyámás	ever, at any time.
áyelef	sometime.
áyemyá	somewhere.
áyensá	for some reason.
áyexen	someday.
berkasì	upside down.
bertelì	rightside up.
bhésì	instead, in its place,alternatively.
bhórì	on time (at the right time).
delÿ	here, in this area/region.
dúlÿ	yonder, yonder area.
dzalÿ	there, in that area/region.
eshghel	away (direction).
eshkális	northward.
eshkas	down, downward.
eshkivrá	backwards (direction).
eshmáçis	eastward.
eshñelis	southward.
eshtel	upwards, up.
eshveçis	westward.
évárre	finally, at last!
exen	these days.
exnársáme	lately.
gámás	never (from now on).
gáthexán	the day after tomorrow.
gáváme	afterwards, later on.
gelévárre	at long last.
ghelì	away (location).
hólef	when.
ílef	one day (general).
ímás	one day (future).
kámensì	on the ground floor (with gen/loc).
kasì	downstairs.
kaskámì	underground.
kéle	onward, forward.
kélyesh	back and forth.
lháksì	on the left side
mele	then, at that time.
melexen	in those days.
myá	where (relative conj., dialect form).
myává	where?
ñelef	never (up till now).
ñemyá	nowhere.
ñólá	rarely, not often.
ñórsá	at no time, never.
ñóye	no longer, no more.
órüvì	on the shore, coast, or bank (with gen/loc).
pífì	at first, in the beginning (with gen/loc).
preme	before (adv), ago (with nom. of time reference)
prenyáme	recently, just a little while ago.
prëprexná	day before yesterday (alt. form).
prexnává	the day before yesterday.
seváná	forever more, eternally.
sevlá	often.
shthevlá	how often.
sùlì	alone, in private.
svla	soon.
svlarre	as soon as.
táçis	that way, that direction.
táneres	at once, at that moment.
táneresárre	immediately.
telsì	upstairs.
tsekasá	below, beneath, under here.
tsenishì	inland, away from the coast
ttórsá	always, at all times, for all times.
ttòseqe	on every side (with gen/loc)
ttòsnëblé	every day, daily (adv.).
ttòvùne	in total, together.
ttòxíme	widely, vastly, throughout, globally.
túvlórá	here, in this very spot, right here.
úçis	this way, this direction.
úneres	just now, a moment ago.
üsqel	outside, outdoors (with gen/loc or abl, depending on motion)
var	there, in that spot/location.
véshì	in private.
vlór	here, in this spot/location.
vùlef	at the same time (as) (with nom.)
vúr	yonder, yonder spot.
yádíçe	in the other direction (with abl.).
yáshelef	elsewhen, another time.
yáshemyá	elsewhere.
yáshevì	publicly, in public.
yáskì	on the right side (with gen/loc, dat, or abl. depending on motion).

Many of the above positionals are relatively self-explanatory if it is remembered that they are equivalent to English or Indo-European adverbs more than prepositions.

preme and ápreme both can be used where English uses ago. There is no notable distinction in meaning, any preference is purely personal or dialectal. Both function by being placed before the time indication, thus: ápreme zílyev síznâ - six years ago; preme sílá bhóran - two days (48 hours) ago.