Asteran Prepositions

Asteran has a full case system, so prepositions do not need to carry every meaning by themselves.

The case gives the basic grammatical direction:

Asteran prepositions refine the meaning. They specify the spatial, temporal, social, or ritual relation.

Prepositions stand before the noun phrase.

Basic structure:

Preposition + Adjective + Noun + Genitive Possessor

Example:

mel sacrawul farenul nanēn
= inside my sacred room
Literally: inside sacred-LOC room-LOC of-me

Case Alone vs. Preposition + Case

Example noun:

faren
= room

Without a preposition

These are general case meanings.

With mel = inside

So the difference is:

farenul
= in/at the room, generally

mel farenul
= specifically inside the room

The preposition makes the relation more precise.

Spatial Prepositions

Spatial prepositions usually combine with dative, ablative, or locative.

The order below always follows:

Dative → Ablative → Locative

mel — inside

tal — on, on the surface of

or — above, over

num — under, beneath

car — near, beside

ham — between, among

For plural:

ham farenīl
= among the rooms

mir — in front of

dar — behind

Path Prepositions

Through, across, and along should be separate. I agree.

These take the accusative, because the path is treated as the thing crossed or traversed.

Examples:

fer farenam
= through the room

lar farenam
= across the room

sel farenam
= along the room / along the length of the room

With adjectives:

fer sacrawam farenam
= through the sacred room

lar sacrawam farenam
= across the sacred room

sel sacrawam farenam
= along the sacred room

Social, Ritual, and Abstract Prepositions

These do not double with the basic spatial prepositions.

Examples:

sam astorō
= with the cantor

lun cordō
= by means of the chord / using the chord

ol astorō
= by the authority of the cantor

ren astorai
= for the cantor / on behalf of the cantor

tas malgam
= against the fracture

Important distinction:

sam = with someone/something, accompanied by
lun = using something as an instrument
ol = by authority, agency, or sanctioned power
ren = for someone / on behalf of someone
tas = against someone/something

Temporal Prepositions

Temporal prepositions are separate from spatial prepositions. So mel does not mean “during.”

Example noun:

rital
= rite

Examples:

cai ritalul
= before the rite

dol ritalul
= after the rite

ris ritalul
= during the rite

ten ritalai
= until the rite

sen ritalō
= since the rite