07_Describing Location in Asaxi

Describing Location in Asaxi

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Grammatical Concept: The Proximal Demonstrative Locatives

The proximal demonstrative locatives in Asaxi are used to specify the immediate physical presence of a noun relative to the speaker. To create the meaning of a demonstrative, Asaxi combines the Definite Article (Specific reference) with a Locative Case Prefix (Spatial reference).

• Logic: “This person” is literally constructed as “The here-person.”

Because specific location implies specific identity, this system is strictly tied to definiteness.

This system distinguishes three degrees of distance (spatial deixis):

The Proximal Demonstrative Prefix Inventory

Prefix	Concept	Definition
o-	Proximal	Immediate vicinity (“Here”).
no-	Medial	Middle distance / Near listener (“There”).
ko-	Distal	Far distance (“Yonder”).
gă-	Locative Indefinite	Unspecified location (“Somewhere/Missing”).
ono-	Attainable	A specific place (“not here but accessible”).

Rules

Proximal Demonstratives

The demonstrative prefix is agglutinated directly to the head noun, which must have the correct Determiner (See: 05_Determiners in Asaxi). It then acts as a locative and demonstrative prefix.

1. The Determiner: Indicates specific identification (e.g., “This”).
2. The Demonstrative Prefix: Indicates physical location / proximity (e.g., “Here-”).
3. The Definiteness Split The prefixes operate on a strict logic regarding the article:

• o-, no-, and ko- are Definite-Exclusive. You cannot point to a specific location for a non-specific object.
  • Invalid: anő ko-shá (A person yonder).

1. Indefinite anő + gă- is used when the object itself is not specific (and indefinite).

• Structure: anő gă-[noun]
• Meaning: “A [noun] somewhere.”

1. The Absentive (Definite + gă-) Poetic, non-standard grammar. Used when the object is known/specific, but its location is currently unknown to the speaker.

• Structure: onă gă-[noun]
• Meaning: “The missing [noun]” or “The [noun] who is away.”
• Use Case: Lost items or people currently travelling/absent.
  • Example: “I need onă gă-shá.” (I need the specific person, because they are very special).

Determiners are always optional. They are used for emphasis.

• Valid: Onýj shěso.

• Valid: Onýj o-shěso.

• Standard (Indefinite): gă-shá (A somewhere-person / A person).

• Marked (Definite): onă gă-shá (The missing person / The specific person somewhere).

As adverbs or nouns

As adverbs, o, no, and ko refer to the thing being pointed at physically. (e.g, No. “That thing I’m pointing at”). They’re not nouns.

As an adverb, the word gă stands for “somewhere”. (e.g when someone asks where a thing is, and you don’t know, you say Gă., gesturing wildly at nowhere in particular). As a noun, the word gă (noun) is “somewhere” or “someplace”.

Compound Locative Nouns (The gă Base)

Since gă functions as a noun meaning “someplace” or “area”, it can serve as a head noun for the other locative prefixes. This creates a compound concept of Specific Uncertainty, pointing to a definite “zone” where an object resides, without pinpointing the exact place.

This is distinct from the simple adverb o (Here).

• O (Here): Points to a specific, visible spot.
• O-gă (The Here-Place): Points to the immediate radius or vicinity; useful when an object is present but hidden (e.g., lost keys in a room).

Constraint on Relational Prefixes: Because these compounds (o-gă, no-gă, ko-gă) already inherently define the location of the object (e.g., “The here-place”), they do not take additional Relational Locative Prefixes (like va- “in” or na- “on”). Even though they function as nouns, the spatial relationship is already encoded in their definition as a “place-of-vicinity.”

• Correct: To shěso o-gă ỏnů. (The book is in the here-place).
• Incorrect: To shěso vao-gă ỏnů. (The book is in the in-here-place).

Compound	Literal Meaning	Usage / Nuance
o-gă	The here-someplace	Immediate Vicinity. “It is somewhere right here (within reach).“
no-gă	The there-someplace	Your Vicinity. “It is somewhere near you / in that general area.”
ko-gă	The yonder-someplace	Remote Vicinity. “It is somewhere over in that region / way over there.”
gă-gă	The someplace-place	Unknown Location. “It could be anywhere”

Specifying Presence with ỏnů

When specifying that a subject is located within one of these compound vicinities, Asaxi uses the spatial verb ỏnů (to be in the middle of / to be centered in), rather than vanů (inside) or xiŕa (exist).

• Logic: One is not “inside” a vicinity, but rather “centered” or “amidst” it.

Example sentences for gă compound locative nouns

1. o-gă (Immediate Vicinity)

Context: Describing a specific person who belongs to the immediate area (a local) reading, but can’t be seen.

To onă o-gă shá shěsonů. SUBJ DEF.WARM PROX-place person book-EPEN-ACT.BE The person from around here reads.

2. no-gă (Medial Vicinity)

Context: Stating that the specific book is located somewhere near the listener.

To onýj shěso no-gă ỏnů. SUBJ DEF.COLD book MED-place the-middle-of.ACT.BE The book is somewhere near you.

3. ko-gă (Distal Vicinity)

Context: Observing the person somewhere in the distance reading.

To onă ko-gă shá shěsonů. SUBJ DEF.WARM DIST-place person book-EPEN-ACT.BE The person from way over there reads.

4. gă-gă (Indefinite Vicinity)

Context: Stating that a book is just somewhere (it’s lost, can’t be seen).

To onýj shěso gă-gă ỏnů. SUBJ DEF.COLD book LOC.INDEF-place the-middle-of.ACT.BE The book is in a somewhere-place (anywhere).

Syntactic Structure

The construction follows the standard Noun Phrase order, with the locative prefix attaching directly to the head noun.

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Formula: [Definite Article] + [Locative Prefix]-[Noun]

Example Construction:

Asaxi	Gloss	Free Translation	Meaning
onă shá	DEF.WARM person	The person	Specific person (neutral)
onă o-shá	DEF.WARM PROX-person	The here-person	This person (right here)
onă no-shá	DEF.WARM MED-person	The near-person	That person (there)
onă ko-shá	DEF.WARM DIST-person	The far-person	That person (over yonder)
anő gă-shá	INDEF LOC.INDEF-person	A somewhere-person	A person somewhere
onă gă shá	DEF.WARM LOC.INDEF-person	The somewhere-person	The missing person (The one who is lost)
anő shá	NDEF person	A person	Some person

Relational Locative Prefixes

Spatial Verbs (Verbs as Prepositions)

Grammatical Concept: Spatial Action

Static spatial relationships can be converted into Transitive Actions using the Universal Verbalizer -ů.

• Mode: These verbs use the Performance Infix (-n-) because they describe the function of occupying a space.

The Spatial Verb Inventory

Root	Verb	Meaning
va	vanů	To be inside / To enter / To occupy.
pă	pănů	To be outside / To exit.
na	nanů	To be on / To cover.
hù	hùnů	To be behind.
ỏ	ỏnů	To be in the middle.
ba	banů	To be beside / To flank.
pa	panů	To be in front of.
xa	xanů	To be above / To hover.
pù	pùnů	To be below / To underlie.
gă	gănů	To wander / To go somewhere.

Rules

1. Compound Prefixes (Stacking)

Relational prefixes merge with Proximal Demonstrative prefixes to create a specific coordinate. The relational prefix always occupies the first slot.

• Logic: [State] + [Location] + [Object]
• Formula: [Relational] + [Proximal] + [Noun]

2. Hiatus Resolution (The -w- Bridge)

To prevent vowel hiatus when attaching a Relational Prefix to a Proximal Prefix (which all start with vowels or glides), the semivowel -w- is inserted between them.

• Construction: va (inside) + o (here) → vawo-
• Example: onýj vawo-shěso
• Literal: “The inside-here-book.” (The book located inside this specific area).

3. Indefinite Usage (The gă Combination)

When the specific location is unknown, the Relational Prefix combines with the indefinite prefix gă-. This describes an object located in a specific type of spatial zone (e.g., inside), but at an unspecified location.

• Example: vagă-shěso (An inside-somewhere-book).

Example Sentence

Context: Describing a book that is known to be inside a library, but the exact shelf is unknown.

Anő vagă-shěso [library] xiŕa. NDEF inside-somewhere-book [library] EXIST A book (which is) somewhere-inside exists (at the) library.

[bird] xa-[sea] [fly]nů bird above-sea fly-EPEN-ACT.BE Lit. The bird flies the above-sea. (The bird is flying above the surface of the sea)

The Relational Prefix Usage scenarios

Disambiguation (Removing Relative Clauses)

In English, distinguishing between two identical objects usually requires a clunky “relative clause” to specify which one you mean. Asaxi turns this location into an adjective-like state.

• Context: There are two books. One is on the table, one is inside a bag. You want the one in the bag.
• Standard English: “No, not that one. Give me the book that is inside.” (9 words)
• Asaxi Logic: “No. Give [inside-book].” (3 words)
  • Economy: You eliminate “that is” or “which is.” The object’s location becomes its name.

2. Immediate Contrast

When moving multiple objects in a complex space, English requires repetitive prepositional phrases. Asaxi handles this with prefixes, making the sentence flow faster.

• Context: describing the layout of a strategy game or a messy desk.
• Standard English: “The soldier behind the wall shoots the soldier on the hill.” (11 words)
• Asaxi Logic: “The [behind-soldier] shoots the [on-soldier].” (6 words)
  • Economy: The brain processes “[behind-soldier]” as a single unit (Subject), rather than processing “The soldier” (Subject) + “behind the wall” (Adjectival Phrase).

3. Specific Uncertainty

• Context: A prisoner has escaped his cell. You know he is still inside the building complex somewhere, but you don’t know where.

• Standard English: “I need to find the prisoner who is hiding somewhere inside.” (11 words)

• Asaxi Logic: “I seek [in-somewhere-prisoner].” (3 words)

  • Economy: The prefix va- (inside) + gă- (somewhere) instantly labels him as “currently contained in an unknown location” without a relative clause.

Omission Rule: Relational Locative Prefixes are semantic, not syntactic. They are omitted whenever the topological state of the noun (being in, on, or under something) is irrelevant to the speaker’s intent. They are strictly used for spatial clarity.

Spatial Verbs (Verbs as Prepositions)

Grammatical Concept: Spatial Action

In Asaxi, static spatial relationships (location) are treated as Transitive Actions. Rather than using a “to be” verb coupled with a preposition (e.g., “The book is on the table”), Asaxi converts the relational spatial prefix into a main verb using the Universal Verbalization system. (see: 06_Verbs in Asaxi)

Syntactically, the location acts as the Direct Object of the sentence. The subject actively “occupies,” “tops,” or “flanks” the object.

• English Logic: Subject + is + [Preposition] + Location.
• Asaxi Logic: Subject + [Location-Object] + [Spatial-Verb].

The Spatial Verb Inventory

These verbs are derived directly from the Relational Locative Prefixes by adding the verbalizer -ů.

Root	Verb	Gloss	Translation
va	vanů	in-ACT.BE	To be inside / To inhabit / To occupy
na	nanů	on-ACT.BE	To be on / To touch-top / To cover
hù	hùnů	behind-ACT.BE	To be behind
ba	banů	beside-ACT.BE	To be beside
pa	panů	front-ACT.BE	To be in front of
xa	xanů	above-ACT.BE	To be above (No contact)
pù	pùnů	below-ACT.BE	To be below
gă	gănů	somewhere-ACT.BE	To wander / To go somewhere.
pă	pănů	out-ACT.BE	To be outside of / To exit
ỏ	ỏnů	middle-ACT.BE	To be in the middle of

Syntax and Economy

When using a Spatial Verb, the Relational Prefix is omitted from the object noun. Because the verb explicitly defines the relationship, adding a prefix to the noun would be redundant.

• Structure: [Subject] + [Location/Object] + [Spatial Verb]

Example Sentences

Vocabulary:

• shěso (Book) - Cold Noun
• tobo (Table) - Cold Noun

1. “On” (Contact) Context: The book is lying on top of the table.

To shěso tobo nanů. SUBJ DEF.COLD book DEF.COLD table on-EPEN-ACT.BE Lit. The book “ons” the table.

2. “Below” (Under) Context: The book is lying on the floor underneath the table.

To shěso tobo pùnů. SUBJ DEF.COLD book DEF.COLD table below-EPEN-ACT.BE Lit. The book “underlies” the table.

3. “Beside” (Proximity) Context: The table is located next to the book.

To tobo shěso banů. SUBJ DEF.COLD table DEF.COLD book beside-EPEN-ACT.BE Lit. The table “flanks” the book.

Note on usage: Physicality constraint

The Spacial Prefixes as well as verbs derived from them are only ever used to describe physical locations. They will not, for example, be used to say “Humans live in a society”.

• incorrect: yomåshá yośýstèm vanů. Lit. Humans are inside a societal system. (Like, trapped inside a physical system?! Oh no…)
• correct:
  1. To Yomåsháwa sèyośýstèm sháwa xiŕa. Lit. Humans are creatures belonging to a societal system.
  2. To Yo băyomåshá śýstèm xiŕa. Society is a man-made system.

For occupying in an abstract sense (Eg. being in a system, story, movie, dream etc.), use the appropriate NPCP. (See 15_NPCP and The Agglutinative Block for more information.)