Adposition Type

Word

Case

Meaning

Example(s)

Intrative

ier/uor

Inessive

'between, amidst, among, betwixt'

Myviäsä yie uor viisiel 'I sit between, among these trees'
Iereli vesien 'I am living among, amidst them'

Antessive

yie/yio

Elative

'before, behind, ere'

Yienea ölppuo 'I hide behind him'
Ollünotün yio söhii ila 'I must leave before winter'

Postessive

ten/ton

Superessive

'after, following, in front of, before'

Olünotätu ton däluil o 'I will return after winter'
Niemauai ten recvie 'I lay down in front of a/the fire'

Circumessive

mela/molä

Elative

'around, surrounding, encircling'

Airva niemelü mela lialas 'We all sang around a/the fire'
Saiaan lödealün mela puurun 'A/the river is flowing around an/the ait'

Ultraëssive

cvaa/cvää

Superessive

'beyond, past, over'

Saiaiuai cvaa vesta 'He/she dwells beyond a/the river'
Veintauai ryn cvaa tähdäsää vää 'I do not travel beyond that mountain'

Proculative

cai/cäu

Ablative

'far from, distant to'

Cailiease myuäuvä cäu viaa 'I built houses far from a/the forest'
Nääcuno cairie tässonä 'Smoke rose far from me'

Apudessive

tai/täu

Adessive

'near, by, next to, adjacent to, close'

Viildaar tai däumä 'He/she swam near a/the coast'
Smienn silrrier tai nerie 'A/the fox sleeps near a/the aspen tree'

Essive

ahti/ähtu

Instrumental

'as, in the role of'

Ilöhösu ahti elasa 'He/she fought as a warrior'
Preilanease salüs ahti oäluo 'I liked flowers as a child'

Comparative

siel/suol

Ablative

'like, akin to, as'

Lölöror suol ormmuon 'He/she runs like a deer'
Iente y tilcaare esse tinvi vi 'This rock is as sharp as a spear'

Similative

sela/solä

Ablative

'than, in comparison to'

Siocorä solä hallar mita vi 'He/she is smarter than an/the owl'
Siliea tiüdoärä solä palnne mita vim 'Foxes are faster than ants'

Themative

a/ä

Benefactive

'of, concerning, about'; preposition

Poucä a ilianiel eintie 'He/she wrote a book about birds'
Lireann a aniaua siyl vim 'Songs about love are beautiful'

Possessive

i/u

Genitive

'of' [relation or possesion]; preposition

Valireanüs i Vaiean tolääuo 'A/the great King of the Oceans has died'
Preillean u myvyn preiuina 'The flowers of a/the tree are blooming'

Partitive

mi/mu

Subessive

'of, per' [of a whole, subset]; preposition

Tari mi preilleanien seris vim 'Three of the flowers are blue'
Sölma mi vüsoän tävä 'Several of the sheep ran away.'

Preterative

tean/toän

Elative

'except, aside from, besides'

Preilleanien iinasiilü tean seris vim 'The flowers are blue besides the red one'
Neliese neliinütia tean oälää 'I like all fruit except apples.'

Terminative

sie/sio

Lative

'until, up to, as far as'

Ela myndäärä saiainia sie sahöia sea = 'They all live from the forest up to a/the river'
Lennia sie ilivie vaitiaasa ie = 'He/she works until dawn every day'

Revertive

siyr

Superessive

'instead of, in lieu of, against, opposite to'

Siyrrie näuhtun 'He is fighting against me'
Uvu tilcalü siyr eraa 'I have a bow instead of a spear'

Conjunction

Meaning

Example(s)

ö

'and' (in between phrases or clauses)

Ilian lialia ö aliaaiö tässo 'The birds sing and the sun rises'

sui

'and' (in between single elements)

Iliea sui löllea myuäuväun vestara 'Birds and deer live in a/the forest'
Sui ealea sui aliaaiö ciliena henndiellö 'Both the moon and the sun shine brightly'

muo

'or' (in between phrases or clauses)

Muo vestar muo tolääl 'Either I live or I die'
Neliese öccuos vä muo tuiso pillisa ena va ti? 'Does he/she eat fruit or does he only drink water?'

tiou

'or' (in between single elements)

Aila hviäso tiou neliaani öccös otä 'We can eat fish and or apples'

syr

'but, however, yet'

Lirianese lialii syr liriese lialii vaa 'I sing songs but I do not sing all songs'

io

'so, therefore, thus, then', also used with the conditional mood for conditional statements

Lea vin e, io neruil 'I am tired, so I will sleep.'
Lea vin sai, io neruil 'If I am tired, then I will sleep.'

pulo

'because, for, since'

Neriel ila pulo lea vin e 'I must sleep because I am tired'

tisa

'although, in spite of, though'; usually used with ka

Tisa lea vin vaa, ca neruil 'Although I am not tired, I will sleep'

paica

'unless, excepting that, if not, saving that'; used with the conditional mood

Paica lea vin sai, io neruil vaa 'Unless I am tired, I will not sleep'

ai

'that'; relativizer; marks beginning of relative clause, quote, appositive, thought, or any other content clause

Smea ai iina vi e neriin 'A/the fox that is red is sleeping'
Smea ai iina vi e salta 'A/the fox said that it is red'

iollu

'to the point/extent that, such that'

Lieccaa vin e iollu neruil 'I am so tired that I will sleep.'

Interrogative

Meaning

Example(s)

ti

A particle that is placed at the end of a clause that marks it being a polar question

Ilian lialans va ti 'Are the birds singing?'

sun

'what, what thing'; interrogative pronoun, thus is inflected for case. It also can function as a general determiner, e.g., ilie sun 'what bird'.

Sui ease tyduon vä 'What killed him/her?'
Aia sunu öccös otä va 'What [things] can we eat?' (lit. 'we can eat what [pl]')
Aia nelies sun öccös otä va 'What fruits can we eat?' (lit. 'we can eat what foods')

süsiö

'who, what person/being'; interrogative pronoun

Süsiö nelariesi öccä vä 'Who ate my fruit?'

siiva/suuvä

'where, what place'; interrogative pronoun, mainly used with locative/directive cases

Smea suuvälä vestesä va 'Where does a/the fox live?' (lit. 'a/the fox lives at where')

süüna/süünä

'when, what time'; interrogative pronoun, mainly used with locative/directive cases

Ilian süünälä lialia va 'When do the birds sing?' (lit. 'the birds sing at when')

sysia/sysiä

'how many/much, what quantity of'; interrogative quantifier (cf. 5 Modifiers and Numerals § 5.2 Numerals and Quantifiers § 5.2.1 Quantifiers); thus agrees in harmony

Ilien sysia lialana va 'How many birds are singing?'

siilö/suulö

'how, what way/method, using what', interrogative pronoun, mainly used with relational cases.

Suulüs lialan va 'How do you sing?' (lit. 'you sing by means of how')

silliö/sulliö

'why, what reason', interrogative pronoun, mainly used with relational cases.

Eas suuluol cülmun vä 'Why do you love him/her?' (lit. 'You love him/her for why')

Temporal Adverb or Conjunction

Meaning

Example(s)

vessi

while, at the same time as, when'

Tähänä vessi öccää 'I ate when/while I finished traveling'
Öccär vessi 'I ate at the same time'

ten

after, following'

Tähänä ten öccää 'I ate after I finished traveling'

yie

before, earlier, previously'

Tähänä yie öccää 'I ate before I finished traveling'
Öccää yie 'I ate already, earlier'

tiele

now, currently'

Öcönä tiele 'I am currently eating'

eve

still, yet, nonetheless, even now'

Öccä eve 'I still eat'

sölli

rarely, hardly, scarcely, seldom'

Öccää sölli 'I rarely eat'

söl

often, commonly, frequently'

Öccösää söl 'I commonly eat'

tähdä

near, nigh, close, soon, in the near future'

Öccuil tähdä 'I will soon eat'

üsui

far, distantly, later, in the distant future'

Öccuil üsui 'I will eat later'

tiosä

just, recently, in the near past'

Öccää tiosä 'I just ate'

Particle

Meaning

Example(s)

ylce/ylco

'even, surprisingly, in fact'

Preillyn ylce seris vim 'Even some flowers are blue'

yvö

'too, as well, also'

Preillyn yvö seris vim 'Also some flowers are blue'
Preillyn seris vim yvö 'Some flowers also are blue'
Preillyn seris yvö vim 'Some flowers are blue also'; slight semantic change

ena/onä

'only, just' (same as the word for "one")

Neliaani ena öccui 'I eat only apples'
Ilmea tiaase soädäädiä pillisara eta sea 'Humans only drink saltless waters'

vaa/vää

'no, not'; general negator for all elements, may answer questions

Neleani öccui vää 'I do not eat apples'

cyli/cylu

'yes, aye, indeed, verily'; usually used for intensification and answering a question, but a more common affirmation for answering a question is with copular/existential verb vi, e.g., Vi/Taa 'It is/exists'

Öccuin cylu 'I am indeed eating'