Directionals and Spatial Deixis

Deictic Pronouns

The deictic pronouns distinguish proximal, distal (general), as well as three levels of elevation (above, below, equal). Cross-cutting this distinction is a distinction between visible and non-visible, and within the latter between known to the speaker and not known to the speaker.

Though not analyzed here as such, these forms are at least historically complex. The visible forms include the locational verb me. The consonant is lengthened in the Tubbe dialect but retained as a single consonant in the other dialects (e.g., siname). The morph s- indicates that the speaker knows the location, but this morph is not productive elsehwere in WP morphology.

The final -(m)e may be dropped in casual speech. Thus, sinam = sinamme, daum = daume.

Although the system includes only three directional distinctions, in practice the equal level term (-mau-) is treated as an axis perpendicular to the up-down (dau-pau) axis. Crucially, this is not a water-based system. That is, the system does not reorient when the deictic center is moved with respect to water. Thus, from inland Puntaru is paume 'below', and from Puntaru (near the coast) the beach is also paume. The WP system thus contrasts with water-based systems which distinguish up versus down the coast (up versus down river). In WP both directions along the coast are indicated using the same term. Compare the Tobelo (West Papuan, ISO 639-3 tlb) directional suffixes -uku ‘up the coast’ (out of the bay) versus -ilye ‘down the coast’ (into the bay). The Tobelo terms also describe an axis which is perpendicular the seaward-landward axis, but in Tobelo the two opposing directions along this axis are differentiated. In WP these directions are not differentiated.

The distinctions between between visible/non-visible and speaker knowledge/lack of knowledge are eloquently manipulated in discourse. The following example was uttered while walking along a beach. The is pointing out the location of a trail which enters the village. The trail is not yet visible but the speaker knows well the location of the trail, though the hearer does not.

smaume    ta    pi-mia
over.there  before  1pl-ascend
'let's ascend from that (precise) place over there'

sinam kaweni ging tang saukang kalung
there  children  3pl on  look  here.and.there
'they looked around at the children there'

The lack of knowledge forms are commonly used to express that a speaker knows only the general location, not the precise location. For example, in reply to a question about the location of a certain thing or person, a speaker may use the form paume 'he/it is down there (somewhere)' or inamme 'he/it is there (somewhere)'. If the precise location is known, such as the specific house where the person or thing is located, then the speaker will use the forms spaume or sinamme instead.

Deictic pronouns may occur with a co-referential adjunct nominal or postpositional phrase. tabaku saina wang tubbi tobacco that.one Vcomp light 'light that cigarette'

Deictic pronouns may also co-occur with the deictic determiners si 'this' and sing 'that'.

kabi      an     wang    spaugu     si
trad.house  which  exist  down.there  this
'this traditional house down there'

aname sinamme       sing
man   that.over.there  that
'that man over there (not visible)'

Deictic adverbs

The deictic adverbs indicate location but are not pronominal, that is, they do not refer.

Table 2: Deictic adverbs (Tubbe dialect)

	speaker knows	speaker doesn't know
proximal	siga	iga
distal	sina	iga
above	srau	dau
below	spau	pau
same level	smau	mau

habbang mau     aname    horang     sauke-yabe
village over.there people  make.noise  lego-lego.dance
'over there in the village people were making noise dancing lego-lego'

Directional nouns

Used to indicated location with respect to another reference object. These nouns take prefixes (usually ga- '3sg') which refer to the reference object. The identify of the reference object is either established through prior discourse or indicated directly with an adjunct noun phrase.

The forms butang, taggang, pittung, and muang refer to vertical height above or below and object.

The forms bila and lawang refer to position along an inclined slope. (yettu 'tree')

The forms wanang and manang refer to position at the same level, thus indicating the area behind the object or in front of the object, repectively. (bla 'house') Note the similarity with the directional verbs wa and ma.

Some examples

bai kakus  ga-lawang       ga-laking
pig toilet 3sg-area.downhill  3sg-tie
'the pig is tied up in the area downhill of the toilet'

kuri         bla    ga-manang natar
marongga.tree  house  3sg-front     stand
'the marongga tree stands in front of the house'
     (between the speaker and the house)

Directional verbs

With the exception of dia, all of these verbs occur in antonymic pairs. They are also often combined to indicate more complex directions. For example, ma middang 'come back from below' or middang raung 'return from below ascending'

Last modified 5 Jan 2007 by Gary Holton at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

Cite this page:
Holton, Gary. 2007. Directionals and spatial deixis. An Overview of Western Pantar.
Online: http://www.faculty.uaf.edu/ffgmh1/pantar/directionals.html