One noun phrase, one postposition
Postpositions are invariant words that follow noun phrases. A phrase takes at most one postposition, and postpositional phrases appear before the verb.
Worked examples
koma ne = at home
kina na = toward the settlement / to the settlement
hara ni = from the high place
frimo to = during winter
mi tu kon kan-ka. = I will sing with you.
tihi tan taku-pa. = left because of angerKey contrasts
Keep ne strictly spatial and to strictly temporal. Keep kon for companions and kes
for means. Keep na flexible, but let the following noun decide whether it is spatial,
temporal, or dative.
Ordering under load
When more than one PP appears before the verb, keep the order shallow and stable instead of memorizing a deep hierarchy.
mi firoko ne frimo to kan-ka. = I will sing in the concert hall during winter.
mi makubi a na frimo to dona-pa. = I gave the book to him during winter.
tama tihi tan akudoko na taku-pa. = The child went to the waterfall place because of anger.The default habits are:
- put spatial or recipient phrases before temporal phrases
- put causal phrases before directional phrases
- keep the most local modifier nearest the verb it belongs to