Stonebreaker Language/Grammar/Prepositions

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Prepositions

Work in Progress These are the little words like 'on', 'in', 'at' In the generic sense, these are more correctly referred to as 'adpositions'. In English, they can be used to modify a verb or noun or to complement verbs, nouns, adjectives or other adpositions.

In Stonebreaker, adpositions tend to be used to modify verbs, creating a phrasal verb. Examples include: Imidna: to go in Sulmitna: To put on Kumvenna: to come together.


Cases

The scope of the preposition is modified by tbe case of the object of the sentence. Where movement is indicated (for example into, out of, through) the Dative case is used. Where there is no movement or the preposition describes the status of the object, the Ablative, Accusative or Genitive case is used, depending on the meaning. This can be a little confusing, and is best shown through real examples:


Arka imid Barldomol (Dative): Arka goes into the Tavern

Arka imei Barldomom (Ablative): Arka is in the Tavern

Arka Immit Mela Baggirtol or't: Arka puts an Apple into her bag (Apple is the subject and so is in the Accusative case, Bag is in the Dative case)

Arka imavoy Baggirtom Lordbugor: Arka looks in Lordbug's bag (Here Bag is in the Ablative case and Lordbug is in the Genitive)

Note the combination of two adpositions, im (in) and a (at) to convey the idea of 'to look in'

However:

Arka imkerk Mela Baggirtom Lordbugor: Arka looks for (searches) an Apple in Lordbug's bag

Here, imkerkna means 'to search in' which takes the Ablative (nothing is moving here). The thing being searched for is the subject of the sentence and so takes the Accusative case.

By using the correct cases, many concepts can be expressed without the use of prepositions. For example:

Arka avoy Ekk fekel Harnquistom: Arka looks at the axe made by Hanquist

Here the adposition 'a' (at) before the verb voyna modifies 'to see' to mean 'to look at'. This takes the Accusative (as the object of the sentence - in this case, the axe). Harnquist is expressed in the Instrumental case which conveys the meaning that the axe was made by him. Note that that in Stonebreaker, the Instrumental case is identical to the Ablative (used to express the concept of 'from').

Arka don Ekk Lordbugol: Arka gives the axe to Lordbug (Dative case to express 'to')

Putting these together:

Arka avoy Ekk fekel Harnquistom Lordgugol: Arka looks at the axe made by Harnquist for (to) Lordbug

Takng this further:

Arka don Lordbugol Ekk Harnquistom: Ark gives Lordbug an axe from Harnquist (one of Harnquist's axes - in the sense of made by him)

Contrast this with:

Arka don Lordbugol Ekk Harnquistor: Arka gives Lordbug Harnquist's axe (an axe belonging to Harnquist)

Note that the sense of the sentence is conveyed by the case of the nouns, not the word order.