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NTNU, LING1113 (2009) - Interiority

The located object is included or contained in the reference object. In Norwegian, interiority of the located object is indicated by the prepositions 'i' and 'innenfor', i having a slightly broader meaning. However, the interiority of the reference object in the located object can also be indicated by the preposition 'omkring'.


(og her kommer det så nogle norske exsempler. Kan mit eksaempel fra dansk stå hernede? Eller blir det fjollet?)

In Danish there are two different options when one wants to express interiority and motion; /motion verb/+ind i and /motion verb/+inde i. The differense between the meanings of those two forms are whether a locomotion or a single motion is denoted.

In the following example, locomotion is denoted. Please note, that the first preposition ind is carrying the directional meaningcomponent.

Jeg sætter mig ind i stuen.
“I will go sit in the livingroom.”
Jeg
jeg
I1SG
N
sætter
sætter
sittPREDPRES
V
mig
mig
meREFL
PNrefl
ind
ind
into
PREPdir
i
i
in
PREP
stuen
stuen
livingroomOBLtheDEF
N


The "I" in the above phrase is anouncing that he will change location from the scene where he is upon uttering, and then enter the interior of the livingroom where he will sit down. The interiority is expressed by the preposition ind together with the preposition i. The directionality is expressed by the locomotion indicated by the preposition ind. Please compare with:

Jeg sætter mig inde i stuen.
“I will sit down in the livingroom. / I will go sit down in the livingroom.”
Jeg
jeg
I1SG
N
sætter
sætter
sittPREDpres.PRES
V
mig
mig
meREFL
PNrefl
inde
inde
inside
PREP
i
i
in
PREPdir
stuen
stuen
livingroomOBLtheDEF
N


Here the "I" is announcing that he will sit down in the livingroom. It is not specifyied whether he will have to change scene in order to sit down in the livingroom, or if he is already in the interiotity of the livingroom announcing that he will sit down. The interiority is expressed by the preposition inde, which does not specify whether the agent changes scene.


The following phrases might seem odd since they express exteriority (ud) at the same time as they express interiority (i):

Jeg sætter mig ud i haven.
“I will go sit in the garden. ”
Jeg
jeg
I1SG
N
sætter
sætter
sittPREDpres.PRES
V
mig
mig
meREFL
PNrefl
ud
ud
out
PREP
i
i
in
PREP
haven
haven
gardenDEF
N


The exteriority expressed by ud indicates that the goal (garden) is exterior in relation to the speakers location upon uttering the phrase which is the reference object in the beginning of the phrase. The i expresses that the speaker when having reasched the goal of the movement will be in the interior of the garden area. and thus the goal becomes the reference object between the word ud and i int the above phrase.

A construction where "ud", together with a verb, denotes singlemotion and is follwed by an interioritydenotiong preposition, is hard to find in Danish. A more common construction would be exterioroty interioroty and a steady location of the located object. For this reason I will use "sit" in its non-reflexive form which does not indicate a sitting down movement, but a state of sitting down. In this way we get a stative verb together with exteriority in relation to the heares location, and interiority in relation to the reference the speakers location. In the beginning of the phrase, the heares location is the reference object (though not overtly expressed, please see our chapter on deixis) and after ude, the garden is the reference object.

Jeg sidder ude i haven.



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