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 difference between the meanings of those two forms are whether a locomotion or a single motion is denoted. If only the 'i' is used, the verb before it will denote a state and not a motion.
In the following example, locomotion is denoted. Please note, that the first preposition ind is carrying the directional meaning component.
| Jeg |
| jeg |
| I1SG |
| N |
| sætter | |
| sætte | r |
| sittPRED | PRES |
| V | |
| mig |
| mig |
| meREFL |
| PNrefl |
| ind |
| ind |
| into |
| PREPdir |
| i |
| i |
| in |
| PREP |
| stuen | |
| stue | n |
| livingroomOBL | theDEF |
| 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 |
| jeg |
| I1SG |
| N |
| sætter | |
| sætte | r |
| sittPRED | pres.PRES |
| V | |
| mig |
| mig |
| meREFL |
| PNrefl |
| inde |
| inde |
| inside |
| PREP |
| i |
| i |
| in |
| PREPdir |
| stuen | |
| stue | n |
| livingroomOBL | theDEF |
| 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 |
| jeg |
| I1SG |
| N |
| sætter | |
| sætte | r |
| sittPRED | pres.PRES |
| V | |
| mig |
| mig |
| meREFL |
| PNrefl |
| ud |
| ud |
| out |
| PREP |
| i |
| i |
| in |
| PREP |
| haven | |
| have | n |
| garden | DEF |
| 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.
The Norwegian preposition "i" denotes interiority, which can be both partial or total. There is total interiority when the located object is totally contained in the reference object and the other is when the located object is partially contained.
A Norwegian sentence could be "Jenta sitter i rommet", "The girl is sitting in the room". Here the located object is "jenta" and the reference object is "rommet". Here the located object is meant to be totally contained. In the sentence "papirene er i boksen", "the papers are in the box", where the papers are a bit outside the box as well as inside it, so there is partial interiority. "Papirene" is the located object and "boksen" is the reference object.
A third sentence showing the preposition used in a conceptual sense could be "De var i live etter bilulykken", which means "they were alive after the car accident". Here we have a located object, "de", and a reference object "live". However "i live" together form an expression meaning "alive" and you can't say that "live" is a physical location.
"Innenfor" is another Norwegian preposition signaling interiority. Here the reference object is an enclosed space, and the located object is interior to the reference object. An example might be "Butikkene er innenfor det sentrale byområdet", which means "the shops are inside the central city area". Here the located object "butikkene" and the reference object "det sentrale byområdet", are in a relationship of interiority with each other. It is a physically enclosed location here, namely the city area.
"inne i" is an expression signaling that the located object is interior to the reference object, as "hunden ligger i hundehuset", "the dog lies in the dog house". The located object is "hunden" and the reference object is "hundehuset".
"inn i": This is an expression where the located object normally is moving into the reference object, as in "mannen går inn i bilen", which means "the man walks into the car". So here we have an example of locomotion into a physical reference object.
"inni" is an expression signaling like "inne i", that the located object is in the reference object, or that the located object moves into the reference object. So we could well replace "inn i" and "inne i" in the previous examples with "inni".
Back to Motion and Space