Re: Bulletin from Pralakhute Ngox Rob Zook Fri, 03 Apr 1998 15:01:37 -0600 Hi all, Now for the second part of my proposed Space-Time words in Vulcan. Spatial Grammar: Just as you can specify the location of some event in time, you can also specify it's location in space. Again, one can do this in reference to the location of the speaker, or in reference to the location of some other event. Demonstratives/Degrees of Deixis: In Vulcan one has a set of particles for verbally "pointing" to a existent thing. One calls these Demonstratives. They point to something "out there" in reference to the speakers location. Demonstrative: i- this here (short distance location) e- this near (short distance location) not visible a- that there (medium distance location) o- that there (medium distance location) not visible u- that yonder/far away (long distance location) Example 4,3,1: ranka a-le'matya ran -ka a- le'matya kill-! [that there]-le'matya "Kill that (visible) le'matya" The demonstrative particles also specify a subjective distance, and whether or not the speaker can see the extensional entity, as well as general location. Direction: One can also specify more specific locations by giving directions from your position. Vulcan has a set of prefixes which can give more specific locational reference. Directionals: static dynamic yi- in front (of) - forward ye- behind - backward ya- on the left (of) - leftward yo- on the right (of) - rightward yu- above - upward y*'- below - downward wi- north (of) - northward we- south (of) - southward wa- east (of) - eastward wo- west (of) - westward wie- within/between - into lou- surrounding - orbiting/revoluting mai- transfixing/inside - passing thru hei- next to - (moving) while next to diu- bordering - (moving) along the border of tci- adjacent (to) - along thu- towards - arriving at qia- away from - departing from rei- inward (from) - approaching gae- outward (from) - receding coi- tangential (to) - passing by tsu- coincident (with) - (moving) to intercept/coincide with To specify a location relative to oneself then one combines the necessary directional affixii and add the suffix -he to indicate the word refers to a location. When directions point to nothing specific, the speaker assumes the position as the referent. Unless otherwise specified in the sentence, then the location belongs to the object. For more than one object one must use more specific grammar. Example 4,3,2: iw'riaq o-whl'q'nhi titotuhe iw'-riaq o -whl'q'n-hi he -[occupy space] that yonder-Vulcan -[acc.] yi -yo -yu -he [front]-[right]-[above]-[locative] "That Vulcan yonder lies to my front, right, and above me" One can also say the action/stateless version as: . Example 4,3,3: in'riaq d'malluhi pihe in'-riaq d'mallu-hi pi -he it -[occupy space] d'mallu-[acc.] [north]-[locative] "The d'mallu lies north of me" One can say the action/stateless version as: . When an object references the location as itself, then the locative and directional particles belong around it: Example 4,3,4: li iw'imroi wei'ah'Hrak'he surak li iw'-imroi wei' -ah'Hrakh -'he surak [past] he -walk within-"the forge"-[locative] surak "Surak walked within/inside of the desert" This one represents the sense of doing an action within a specified space, rather than the sense of entering it. Each directional also has a "dynamic" aspect in which it can modify a verb, to describe in what direction the action takes place. Almost invariably this action takes the form of a movement. In which case one uses one of the other suffixes, instead of the location suffix -he. Example 4,3,5: iw'imimroi waspokha le'matya iw'-imimroi wa -spok -ha le'matya he -walk+[intensive reduplication] [east]-Spock-[dative] le'matya "The le'matya ran eastward to Spock" Example 4,3,6: li iw'imroi wei'ah'Hrakh'ha surak li iw'-imroi wei -ah'Hrakh -'ha surak [past] he -walk [within]-"the forge"-[dat.] surak Example 4,3,7: One can also specify a location relative to something else, in which case one applies the prefixes to the something else, along with the suffix -he, to indicate a reference to a location. Then the word with the locative suffix acts as the location for the object of the sentence. Even when you specify a entity as the location, it does not occupy the subject place, but belongs always to the object. The speaker still assumes the subject place. Example 4,3,7: in'riaq le'matyahi yeyuspokhe in'-riaq le'matyahi ye -yu -spok -he it -[occupy space] le'matya-[acc] [behind]-[above]-Spock-[locative] "The le'matya was above and behind Spock" In informal Vulcan one might also say this as: yeyuspokhe le'matya which would mean essentially the same thing in a less than complete sentence. If on wishes to locate the subject in relation to the object, then one only has to add the directional prefixes and -he locative suffix to the object word, around any other object suffixes. Example 4,3,8: th'prala itikomi'hihe th'-prala i -ti -komi -hi -he I-speak [this here]-[front]-human-[direct object]-[location] "I speak in front of this human" When you have an actual subject and object, and you want to locate either object or subject in relation to some third entity, and not each other, then you must give the location entity the directional particles and the locative suffix. Then you must also index the locational entity with a number, and index the subject/object located with the same index. In this way one can locate both the subject and object with two different locations. You can also, indicate a that an object or subject in a succeeding clause, uses a location in a preceding clause, by specifying a location index. This means that within a sentence, each location index must have a unique number. Example 4,3,9: th'prala xri'spokhi xri'atile'matyahe th'-prala x -ri'-spok-hi I -speak [index]-1 -Spock-[direct obj.] x -ri'-a -ti -le'matya-he [index]-1 -[that there]-[front]-le'matya-[locative] "I speak to Spock who's in front of that le'matya there" As opposed to , which would mean "while in front of a le'matya, I speak to Spock". Subjective Distance/Interval: One can also specify a subjective distance if one does not use a demonstrative. For example you rarely use a demonstrative when describing a location for an event in the past. The following particles refer to a distance, unless the context specifies otherwise, like in the following section on Dimensionality. Distance/Intervals: fi- very short fe- short fa- medium fu- long fo- very Example 4,3,10: th'prala spokhi fihe th'-prala spok -hi fi-he I -speak Spock-[direct obj.] [very short distance] "I speak to Spock (who was a very short distance away)" One might also want to speak in terms of the edges of a location. In which case one can use the spatial event contours: Spatial Event Contours: -hui- perfective, beyond the place of -rie- continuative, throughout the place of -fea- initiative, on this edge of -kao- achievative, at the point of -ksi- completive, at the far end of -xou- anticipative, up to the edge of -tco- superfective, too far beyond Example 4,3,11: th'd'va'num titc'te'hi ah'huiHrakhe th'-d'va'num titc-te-'hi I -search live-[gerund]-[direct object] ah' -hui -Hrak ["the forge"-1]-[beyond the place of]-["the forge"-2] "I will search for life beyond the place of the great desert" Example 4,3,12: iwe's'titc ah'reiHrak le'matya iwe'-titc ah' -rei -Hrak they-live ["the forge"-1]-[Throughout the place of]-["the forge"-2] le'matya le'matya "Le'matya live throughout the great desert". Finally, one can use a couple of special particles for spatial concepts not covered by the above: Spatial Modifiers: ngi- nowhere ha- everywhere za- entire interval Example 4,3,13: liri th'imroi zafu'ah'Hrak li -ri th'-imroi [past]-[very long time] I -walk za-fu-ah'hrak [whole interval]-[long interval]-["the forge"] "long ago I walked the entire long length of the great desert" Rob Z. -------------------------------------------------------- The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced. -- Frank Zappa