Prepositions in Konkani

ayk aamcigalaw

2021-05-11 07:16 (updated 2021-06-17 22:41)

A preposition is a word that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else. Examples of prepositions in English include words like after, before, on, under, inside and outside. They turn up in all but the simplest sentences.

In aamci, the end of a noun changes to make a prepositional form of the word. It’s not just a suffix, though – sometimes the word gets changed in the earlier parts, too. The suffix can depend on the gender of the noun involved.

Some simple ground rules for the suffix are:

The suffix for feminine nouns is distinct and usually contains an ay [1] sound.
The suffix for neuter nouns ending in -a is the same as that for the masculine nouns ending in -u and usually contains an aa sound.
The suffix for neuter nouns ending in -Anh and masculine nouns ending in -aw changes that aa sound to an A sound.

Let's consider some prepositions in turn. If you want to jump straight to a particular preposition, use one of the links immediately below. The later links refer to patterns that prepositions follow, and some examples.

To

In this section, we'll consider to in the sense of apply to. Let's consider some nouns of different genders, and see how the prepositional forms are constructed. The nouns are:

peskaati (knife) – a feminine noun.
phaattoru (stone) – a masculine noun.
pustaka (book) – a neuter noun.
baTaTaw (potato) – another masculine noun. Due to its -aw ending, the prepositional suffix is slightly different.
ushshAnh (pillow) – another neuter noun. Due to its -Anh ending, the prepositional suffix is slightly different.

The following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for to look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
To the knife	peskaati (F)	peskaat	ayka	peskaatayka
To the stone	phaattoru (M)	phaatr	aaka	phaatraaka
To the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aaka	pustakaaka
To the potato	baTaTaw (M)	baTaT	Aka	baTaTAka
To the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	Aka	ushshAka

Note that sometimes the prefix isn't just the first part of the noun, but morphs slightly: phaattoru phaatr

With

In this section, we'll consider with in the sense of using. We'll use some of the same nouns as used in the previous section, but introduce a new one:

cimTaw (tongs) – a masculine noun.

The following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for with look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
With the knife	peskaati (F)	peskaat	aynA	peskaataynA
With the stone	phaattoru (M)	phaatr	aanA	phaatraanA
With the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aanA	pustakaanA
With the tongs	cimTaw (M)	cimT	AnA	cimTAnA
With the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	AnA	ushshAnA>

Note that sometimes the prefix isn't just the first part of the noun, but morphs slightly: phaattoru phaatr

On

Using the same nouns as in the preceding sections, the following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for on look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
On the knife	peskaati (F)	peskaat	ayri	peskaatayri
On the stone	phaattoru (M)	phaatr	aari	phaatraari
On the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aari	pustakaari
On the potato	baTaTaw (M)	baTaT	Ari	baTaTAri
On the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	Ari	ushshAri

Note that sometimes the prefix isn't just the first part of the noun, but morphs slightly: phaattoru phaatr.

There is a variation relating to usage of this preposition. Sometimes, a slightly longer ending is used:

ayri aycayri
aari aacayri
Ari Acayri

It's often used where the affected noun is a person or a pet animal, or with plurals, e.g. haanhvanh mitraancayri kopplawnh I got angry with my friends.

In

In addition to the nouns used in the preceding sections, we'll introduce a couple more:

rooku (tree) – a masculine noun.
loNi (butter) – a feminine noun.

The following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for in look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
In the butter	loNi (F)	loNi	ayntu	loNiayntu
In the tree	rooku (M)	rukk	aantu	rukkaantu
In the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aantu	pustakaantu
In the potato	baTaTaw (M)	baTaT	Antu	baTaTAntu
In the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	Antu	ushshAntu

Note that sometimes the prefix isn't just the first part of the noun, but morphs slightly: rooku rukk. For feminine nouns (as in loNi above) the entire noun is used, rather than a prefix taken from it.

Of

The following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for of look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
Of the butter	loNi (F)	loNi	aycA	loNiaycA
Of the tree	rooku (M)	rukk	aacA	rukkaacA
Of the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aacA	pustakaacA
Of the potato	baTaTaw (M)	baTaT	AcA	baTaTAcA
Of the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	AcA	ushshAcA

From

Prepositional forms for from depend on whether the word is being used in the sense of I'm coming from home, or whether it implies coming from inside or out of something, as in getting blood from a stone or getting oil from a seed. For the latter sense, use is made of the prepositional form for in and an additional word thaaunu, meaning from, added. (Of course, it's true that when you're coming from home, you're coming from inside the home. However, in most cases you're not focusing on that, but the home as the start point of an A B journey.)

To the nouns used in the preceding sections, let's add:

bee (seed) – a feminine noun.
Dabbaw (box or tin) – a masculine noun.
ghara (house) – a neuter noun.

The following table illustrates how the prepositional forms for from look.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
From the seed	bee (F)	biy	ayntu thaaunu	biyayntu thaaunu
From the stone	phaattoru (M)	phaatr	aantu thaaunu	phaatraantu thaaunu
From the book	pustaka (N)	pustak	aantu thaaunu	pustakaantu thaaunu
From the box/tin	Dabbaw (M)	Dabb	Antu thaaunu	DabbAntu thaaunu
From the pillow	ushshAnh (N)	ushsh	Antu thaaunu	ushshAntu thaaunu
From home	ghara (N)	ghaara	thaaunu	ghaara thaaunu
From London	lanDan (N)	lanDan	thaaunu	lanDan thaaunu

Points to note:

Sometimes the prefix isn't just the first part of the noun, but morphs slightly: phaattoru phaatr
Although ghara means house, ghaara means at home, in the sense of in my house. In this case one is thinking of home as being a start point, and so the sense of from inside isn't used – so just the word thaaunu (meaning from) is needed. If one needed to say from inside the house, one would say gharaantu thaaunu using the standard form for neuter nouns.

Through

The prepositional forms for through follow the same forms as for from in the sense of as from inside, as seen in the following table. First, let's introduce these nouns:

kanDi (window) – a feminine noun.
baagila (door) – a neuter noun.

Phrase	Noun / Gender	Prefix	Suffix	Preposition
Through the window	kaNdi (F)	kaNdi	ayntu thaaunu	kanDiayntu thaaunu
Through the door	baagila (N)	baagl	aantu thaaunu	baaglaantu thaaunu

Near

Prepositional forms for near use the Generic approach with the auxiliary word laaggi .

Before

Prepositional forms for before use the Generic approach with the auxiliary word phooDA .

After

Prepositional forms for after use the Generic approach with one of the auxiliary words upraantA or nantara .

Above / Over

Prepositional forms for above use the Generic approach with one of the auxiliary words oontsa or vairi .

For over, in the sense of covering, just use oontsaari in place of oontsa or vairi – everything else is the same.

Below / Under

Prepositional forms for below use the Generic approach with one of the auxiliary words taggu or toggu .

For under, in the sense of underneath, just use muLaantu in place of taggu or toggu – everything else is the same.

In front of / Facing

Prepositional forms for in front of use the Generic approach with the auxiliary word mukhaari .

For facing, the auxiliary word idoora is used in place of mukhaari – everything else is the same.

Behind

Prepositional forms for behind use the Generic approach with the auxiliary word maakshi .

Next to

Prepositional forms for next to use the Generic approach with one of the auxiliary words baglayka or baazooka .

Generic approach

Many prepositional forms follow a generic format – the noun base (perhaps slightly modified) has appended to it a prepositional suffix and an auxiliary word follows that, making two words in all.

So the final prepositional form is

NOUN BASE + SUFFIX AUXILIARY WORD
– First word – – Second word –

The NOUN BASE is usually the noun less the vowel at its end (e.g. paausu paaus), but sometimes it's the whole noun when feminine (e.g. kanDi, maandri) and sometimes the base is additionally contracted slightly (e.g. phaattoru phaatr, baagila baagl, kaagada kaagd, jevaNa jevN, rooku rukk). There are no hard-and-fast rules for these contractions, unfortunately: they have to be learned individually.

The SUFFIX is determined as follows:

Feminine nouns -ay
Masculine nouns ending in aw and neuter nouns ending in Anh -A
Masculine nouns ending in -u and neuter nouns ending in a -aa

The AUXILIARY WORD to use for each preposition is determined as described in the following section. Note that for some more involved prepositions such as A is taller than B or C is heavier than D there may be multiple auxiliary words – see the section on Comparisons for more details.

Auxiliary word usage

The following table shows which auxiliary words are used for particular prepositions.

Preposition	Auxiliary word	Preposition	Auxiliary word
before	phooDA	after	upraantA or nantara
above	oontsa or vairi	below	taggu or toggu
over	oontsaari	under	muLaantu
in front of	mukhaari	behind	maakshi
facing	idoora	next to or beside	baglayka or baazooka
near	laaggi	about	vishaya or badala
around	suttoo	together with	voTTu or saangaati
for	khatira	towards	dikaanA or dikaaka
inside	bittari	outside	bhaaira
like	mhaNkay	via	vaaTTaynA
instead of	badlaaka	according to	pramaaNA
on this side of	aaldikaaNA or aaldikaaka	on that side of	peldikaaNA or peldikaaka

Comparisons

Prepositions involving comparison use the auxiliary word pashi (eng:than) together with an attribute being compared between the two things being linked by the preposition in question. This table illustrates:

Prepositional phrase	Konkani
taller than the house	gharaa pashi deega
heavier than the boy	tsallA pashi zhaDa
fewer than three	tinneencA pashi ooNA
more than ten	dhaancA pashi tsaDa
smaller than an elephant	hastiay pashi saana
larger than a mouse	undraa pashi hawDa

Examples

In the table below, there are some example sentences where the prepositional parts have been underlined.

English	Konkani
This cat is sitting on the mat.	hAnh maadzdzara maandriayri basslAnh.
That dog is in the house.	tAnh suNA gharaantu aassa.
This bird came through the window.	hee pakshi kanDiayntu thaaunu aailee.
This pot is near the hob.	hAnh aaidaana raanniay laaggi aassa.
The knife is near the potato.	peskaati baTaTA laaggi aassa.
This cat came through the door.	hAnh maadzdzara baaglaantu thaaunu aailenh.
This rope is tied to the tree.	hee dori rukkaaka baandlyaa.
Slice the fruit with the knife.	phaLa peskaataynA sheendi.
Put the book in the trunk.	pustaka peTTiayntu davvari.
The soldier is sitting on the horse.	sainiku ghawDAri basslaa.
Apply the thread to the needle.	soota soowayka laayi.
That bird hid in the tree.	tee pakshi rukkaantu nipplee.
That envelope is near the paper.	taw lokoTaw kaagdaa laaggi aassa.
Remove the paper from the box.	kaagada DabbAntu thaaunu kaaDi.
That pen is on the book.	tee likhNee pustakaari aassa.
Break open the coconut with the scythe.	naarlu koytAnA bhayti.
Apply the oil to the lock.	tAla beegaaka laayi.
We smell fragrances with the nose.	aammi parmaLa naankaanA hungtaati.
This mat is under the cat.	hee maandri madzraa muLaantu aassa.
That dog is behind the house.	tAnh suNA gharaa maakshi aassa.
This bird was facing the window.	hee pakshi kanDiay idoora aashilee.
This ladle is in front of the pot.	haw doulaw aaidaana mukhaari aassa.
The whistle is heard after the lesson.	sheeTi paaThaa upraanTA aaikataa.
The light is above the door.	deevaw baaglaa oontsa aassa.
The key is under the mat.	bigaahaatu maandray muLaantu aassa.
Make the rice after the daal.	sheeta daaLiay upraantA kari.
Soak the daal before the rice.	daaLi taandlaa upraantA timbai.
The switch is below the light.	svicca deevA taggu aassa.
The dinner plate is above the small plate.	vaaTTAnh vaaTlay oontsa aassa.
That bird flew behind the window.	tee pakshi kanDiay maakshi ublee.
The girl studies before the exam.	tsallee parikshay phooDA abhyaas'u kartaa.
They slept after the meal.	teenh jevNaa upraantA niddaleenh.
The smoke is above the fire.	dhoowaru ujjA oontsa aassa.
The ash is behind the fire.	gobboru ujjA maakshi aassa.
Before my birthday?	magal'A zaaideesaa phooDA?
The rain fell after one o’clock.	paausu ayk'a ghanTA upraantA paLLaw.

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