Classical Arithide adpositions
Due to the extensive inflectionary marking in Classical Arithide, the number of adpositions in common use is very few, although for purposes of scansion, some archaic ones can still be seen in poetry, sometimes in redundancy; the adpositions were revived, however, in Modern Arithide, as postpositions.
Appendent adpositions
The appendent adpositions (or postpositions), so called because they are appended to the connective case of nouns, are in more widespread use than the standalone prepositions. Forming discrete nouns from the root which carry specific positional or lative denotations, they include the following common ones:
- ānos, ān temporal locative, not added to nouns denoting time; this effectively makes a new noun, which is then declined accordingly
- Taitiān ūliāno medeon. When it is night we shall wait for it to be day (lit. for daytime). (Casubus)
- Filān eiēs nis obissimna. His wine disappears (lit. tends to disappear) when he is with his friends (lit. when he is a friend).
- Serrānis syndrēs itor evta. The sins of power (lit. of when powerful) reveal the man.
- dolos, dolō "around"
- Alladolō siethē sena. There are flowers around (surrounding) the city. (See also the next section)
- dunios, duniō "out of"
- Steptaduniō sōpedēs nagi ena konege. "Out of the fortress the soldiers rushed like a wave." (Osces, The Baenian Wars)
- innos, innum "top"
- Epsolinnum lārēs sena. There is a clock on (top of the) building.
- cf. Epsolum lārēs sena. There is a clock on (the face of etc. but not the top of) the building.
- iros, irae "towards"
- Fēnus abitirae abulae! (We) will march towards the abode of the gods! (Haratus, Orations)
- iros, iri "within, inside" (inessive marker)
- Inne roimiri kithiri flēgos faeos pēda. "In this frail body there lies a robust mind." (Haratus, Orations)
- isos, isae "against, counter"
- Kodhisae sōpedēs solmē toite. The soldiers fought (lit. battled) bitterly against the enemy.
- men, menum "in front of"
- Egnī viringa dagemenum dakte. The black sedan stopped in front of the house.
- stera, strera "beside"
- Savlus orestrera rodēor ariftimna. Grass grows better beside a river. (Proverb)
- tandos, tandum below"
- Saluntandum augulē soni. (We) live meagrely under the heavens. (Pladisian, Verses)
In each of the above cases appending the noun form of the adposition forms an adpositional noun that is usually a circumlocution of another noun (e.g. saluntandos "the place under the heavens", instead of saluntandum, is an alternative of halagum "on earth, in the mortal world").
Standalone adpositions
Most standalone adpositions govern a designated case or several designated cases; the latter situation indicates multiple, usually related, meanings canvassed under the preposition concerned.
- ansa + accusative "before (adverbial)"2
- Ōssi ansa dōno enespem. She had hoped that her son would return before she died. (i.e. she is still living, but has given up)
- cf. Ōssi ansa dōn enespem. She had hoped that her son would return before he died. (i.e. son still living, but she has given up)
- ansa + temporal locative ablative (see previous section) "before (independent)"2
- Ōssirānōn ansa dōno enespem. Before she died, she had hoped that her son would return. (i.e. she is dead)
- cf. Ōssirānōn ansa dōn enespem. Before he died, she had hoped that her son would return. (i.e. son is dead)
- dolō + ablative "around"
- Dolō allior siethē sena. There are flowers all about the city. (See also the previous section.)
- paro or par + ablative "about, regarding"
- Par kossinātēn zierrēn nam dialōn fēnus segera. Of humans who have fallen (lit. fallen humans) and the rise of the gods (I) write. (Daldaian the Younger, Songs)
- syba + accusative "after (adverbial)"2
- Leidro syba fādou dōno Tētio te illossa. The father wants to name his son "Tētios" after he is born.
- syba + temporal locative ablative (see next section) "after (independent)"2
- Leidrānōn syba okkor saiera kurrebi. Since he was born (lit. since birth) he has always quarrelled with his sister.
- sīs/sīn + ablative "by (agentive)"
- Sīs avnossātōn pitōn durste. (They) were planted by a man whom we do not know.
- sīs/sīn + instrumental "with (accompaniment)"
- Sīn filet (etel) eurīs vagate. (He) had gone to the park (together) with his friend.
- te + accusative direct quotation particle
- Leidro syba fādou dōno Tētio te illossa. The father wants to name his son "Tētios" after he is born.
2
The difference between the adverbial and the independent variants of these clauses is that the latter must refer only to the subject of the sentence, while the former can apply to the topic or the subject, however desired.
