Are 'spatial relations' Universals?

Steve MacGregor (stevemac@bud.indirect.com)
9 Jul 1995 14:45:53 GMT

According to gusty@clark.net (Harlan Messinger):

>Similarly for here/there or here/there close by/there far away:
>
> French: ici/la`
> Chinse: zhe/na
> Spanish: aqui'/ai'/alli' (but aca'/alla')
Japanese: koko/soko/ako {I believe this is correct -- Steve}
>
>What other variations exist?

It's always seemed strange that Esperanto has only =one= word for all
three: tie = there; tio = that; tia = that kind; etc.
To talk of something near, you need to stick in the particle "c^i",
which turns the meaning around: c^i-tie = here; c^i-tio = this;
c^i-tia = this kind, etc. I haven't seen anyone attempt to simulate the
three-way distinction of Spanish and Japanese, but it could probably be
done.

-- 
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------------------ Steve MacGregor, Phoenix, AZ
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