Spatial Relations

How to relate the position of our surroundings & objects.

Hîsyêô does not use specific prepositions for concepts like "inside," "under," or "behind." Instead, it uses a Locative Nucleus Construction.

The Structure

To describe a specific position relative to an object, you use the generic location preposition hoî (at/in/on), followed by a content word representing the specific position (top, bottom, inside) acting as the nucleus, followed by the possessive connector yê (of).

Formula:

Latin

 hoî + [Position Word] +  yê + [Reference Object]

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ɂɽɟ + [Position Word] +  ɀʇ + [Reference Object]

aStK ulNfu

 hAi + [Position Word] +  ye + [Reference Object]

Literal translation: "At the [top/bottom/inside] of the object."

Position Words

While these words may belong to other word classes (such as modifiers or verbs), when placed in this specific syntactic slot, they function as the nucleus of the phrase to define location.

English	Hîsyêô	Usage Example	Literal Meaning
Top / Summit	solwôc	hoî solwôc yê niwos	At the top of the house
High / Above	cên	hoî cên yê niwos	At the high-point of the house
Bottom / Base	tûndû	hoî tûndû yê niwos	At the bottom of the house
Low / Below	sêl	hoî sêl yê niwos	At the low-point of the house
Inside / Interior	lîmîen	hoî lîmîen yê dibo	At the inside of the box
Outside / Exterior	wokto	hoî wokto yê dibo	At the outside of the box
Front / Anterior	fôhon	hoî fôhon yê nîmû	At the front of you
Back / Posterior	soden	hoî soden yê nîmû	At the back of you
Side / Flank	sôbo	hoî sôbo yê oûtô	At the side of the car

Linear Prepositions

In addition to the "free" spatial words above, Hîsyêô has two specific prepositions used for describing linear relationships in both space and time. These are used when the relationship is sequential rather than purely positional.

Preposition	Meaning	Usage
ilik	Preceding / Before	Used for things that come before the reference point in a line or sequence.
cihôû	Succeeding / After	Used for things that come after the reference point in a line or sequence.

Latin

 nîo  li  totsi  ilik  noyo. He stands preceding me (in line).

 nûs  ke  li  gô  cihôû  lono  ôfo. We will be [there] after today.

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

 ƨɟɽ  ʓȷ  c̆ɐȷ  ɽȷʓ̑ȷ  ƨɀ: He stands preceding me (in line).

 ƨ́ʄ  ɔɿ  ʓȷ  ꜿı  ꞇȷɂıɽʄ  ʓƨ  ɽıɤ: We will be [there] after today.

aStK ulNfu

 nia  lj  tTsj  jljK  ny. He stands preceding me (in line).

 nuS  kq  lj  go  cjhou  ln  of. We will be [there] after today.

Additional Examples

Latin

The cat is under the table.  mocko ( li  gô)  hoî  tûndû  yê  mîêbil. (The cat is located at the bottom of the table.)

Wait inside the car.  kûu  motsi  hoî  lîmîen  yê  oûtô. (Wait at the interior of the car.)

He stood in front of me.  nîo  li  totsi  hoî  fôhon  yê  noyo. (He stood at the front of me.)

ɽʋʄꜿɟʌ

The cat is under the table.  ƶ̄ɔ ( ʓȷ  ꜿı)  ɂɽɟ  c̃ʄʌʄ  ɀʇ  ƶɟɽʇʋ͊ȷ: (The cat is located at the bottom of the table.)

Wait inside the car.  ɔʄɽʃ  ƶ̆ɐȷ  ɂɽɟ  ʓɟƶɟɽ̃ɿ  ɀʇ  ɽɽʄcı: (Wait at the interior of the car.)

He stood in front of me.  ƨɟɽ  ʓȷ  c̆ɐȷ  ɂɽɟ  ɤıɂ̃  ɀʇ  ƨɀ: (He stood at the front of me.)

aStK ulNfu

The cat is under the table.  mCk ( lj  go)  hAi  tuNdu  ye  miebjL. (The cat is located at the bottom of the table.)

Wait inside the car.  kur  mTsj  hAi  limiqN  ye  auto. (Wait at the interior of the car.)

He stood in front of me.  nia  lj  tTsj  hAi  fohN  ye  ny. (He stood at the front of me.)