The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 44

Vole-nevole = _w.i.l.l.y-nilly_.

Volonte = _Willingly_, _readily_.

248 (_c_). From the above list we see that the adverb is often used in Esperanto in place of a preposition and its complement (par. 252).

Examples.--_Si estas nigre vest.i.ta_ = She is dressed in black. _Li donis al mi du silingojn page por la libro_ = He gave me two s.h.i.+llings in payment for the book. _Forme gi estis simila al krono_ = In shape it was like a crown. _La libro estas angle skribita_ = The book is written in English. _Hamleto estas tradukita Esperanten_ = Hamlet has been translated into Esperanto. Note that in the word _Esperanten_ the accusative of movement is used figuratively. (par. 67).

PREPOSITIONS.

The following is a list of the 34 simple prepositions, showing the paragraphs under which remarks and examples of their use will be found:--

Par.

Al _To, towards_ 259 (1).

Anstatau _Instead of_ 259 (2).

Antau _Before, in front of_ 259 (3).

Apud _Beside, close by_ 259 (4).

Ce _At, with_ 259 (5).

Cirkau _About, around_ 259 (6).

Da _Of_ 259 (7).

De _Of, from, by_ 259 (8).

Dum _During_ 259 (9).

Ekster _Outside_ 259 (10).

El _Out of_ 259 (11).

En _In_ 259 (12).

Gis _Till, as far as_ 259 (13).

Inter _Between_ 259 (14).

Je _(Indefinite)_ 259 (15).

Kontrau _Against, opposite_ 259 (16).

Krom _Besides, except_ 259 (17).

Kun _With_ 259 (18).

Lau _According to_ 259 (19).

Malgrau _Notwithstanding_ 259 (20).

Per _By means of_ 259 (21).

Po _At the rate of_ 259 (22).

Por _In order to, for_ 259 (23).

Post _After, behind_ 259 (24).

Preter _Beyond, past_ 259 (25).

Pri _Concerning, of, about_ 259 (26).

Pro _Because of, for_ 259 (27).

Sen _Without_ 259 (28).

Sub _Under_ 259 (30).

Super _Above, over_ 259 (31).

Sur _On_ 259 (32).

Tra _Through_ 259 (33).

Trans _Across_ 259 (34).

PREPOSITIONS (Prepozicioj).

249. Prepositions express the relation between words, showing how some thing, action, or quality stands in relation to some other thing, action, or quality.

Examples.--_La riveroj fluas al la oceano_ = Rivers flow towards the ocean. _Li mangas antau la tagmezo_ = He eats before midday. _Nia domo staras ekster la arbetaro_ = Our house stands outside the plantation.

250. Every preposition, but one, in Esperanto has a fixed and definite signification, and great care must be taken to use the preposition which gives the meaning we wish to convey. A careful examination of the list of prepositions in par. 259 will show the errors we should make by translating the English preposition into its apparent corresponding one in Esperanto.

251. The preposition je is the only one in Esperanto without a definite meaning. It should be used only when we have to employ a preposition and are uncertain which we ought to select. We can, however, omit the preposition, and put its complement (noun or p.r.o.noun) in the accusative case, provided no ambiguity is likely to arise through the presence of other accusatives in the sentence, as:--Li gojas je tio, or, Li gojas tion = _He rejoices at_ (or, _over_) _that_. There is no Esperanto preposition which gives exactly the English meaning of "at" or "over" in this sense. We might, perhaps, say that these words are part of the verb "to rejoice at,"

or, "to rejoice over." The nearest Esperanto preposition would be pri or pro = _about_, or, _because of_, and we could say Li gojas pro tio = _He rejoices because of that_ (see Rule 14, par. 94).

(_a_). Je, with the nominative, is generally used before the complement of the adjectives "deep, high, long, thick, wide," but the accusative without a preposition is equally correct.

Examples.--_Profunda_ (_alta_, _longa_) _je kvin futoj_ (or, _kvin futojn_) = Five feet deep (high, long). _La rivero estas larga je kvindek metroj_ (or, _larga kvindek metrojn_) = The river is fifty metres wide. We could, however, say, _La rivero havas kvindek metrojn da largo_ (or, _da largeco_).

252. Adverb for preposition.--An adverb is often used instead of a preposition and its complement (par. 248 (_c_)).

Examples.--_Li parolas sage_ = He speaks with wisdom, instead of, _Li parolas kun sageco_. _Li estis frapata perfortege_ = He was being struck with great violence, instead of, _Li estis frapata kun perfortego_.

253. Preposition omitted.--Not only the preposition Je (par.

251), but also other prepositions, are frequently omitted in Esperanto where we use them in English; but in such case (as stated in par. 68) their complements must be in the accusative to show the omission. Care, however, must be taken that the omission does not make the phrase ambiguous.

Examples.--_Li venos la mardon proksiman_ (or, _en la mardo proksima_) = He will come next Tuesday. _Mi iros Madridon_ (or, _al Madrido_) _morgau_ = I shall go to Madrid to-morrow. _Mi lin vidis la dekan_ (or, _en la deka_) _de Julio_ = I saw him on the 10th of July. _Ni restis en la veturilo du horojn_ (or, _dum du horoj_) = We remained two hours in the carriage.

(_a_). Prepositions are also always omitted between two substantives, when the word nomata = _named_ could be understood (par. 106 (_d_)), as:--

_La urbo_ (_nomata_) _Parizo_ = The city of (named) Paris. _La monato Septembro_ = The month of September. _Li uzadas la lingvon internacian_ (_nomatan_) _Esperanto_ = He uses the international language Esperanto.

(_b_). The preposition el = _of_, _out of_, is sometimes omitted in such an expression as:--

_Tri miaj parencoj_ = Three of my relatives (_or_, three relations of mine).

254. Prepositions as prefixes.--Prepositions are frequently used as prefixes, and when the compound word is a verb, the preposition is often repeated before the indirect complement of the verb.

Examples.--_Mi eliris el la korto_ = I went out of the courtyard. _Li eniris en la cambron_ = He entered (into) the room. _La birdo deflugis de la arbo_ = The bird flew from the tree. _Li eliris el la domo_ = He went out of the house. Or we could say, _Li iris el la domo_, omitting the joined preposition.

255. Prepositions and case.--In contrast to prepositions in English, which govern the accusative case, all prepositions in Esperanto govern the nominative case. If the complement of a preposition is in the accusative case, this is owing not to the preposition, but to the rule that the accusative is used to show the direction or place towards which movement (physical or otherwise) is made (par. 67).

256. Preposition and the accusative of direction.--As already stated in par. 67, the accusative is used when direction (physical or otherwise) is implied towards something. But if the word towards which such movement is implied is the complement of a preposition, then such word is in the nominative or accusative, in accordance with the following rules:--

(_a_). If the preposition denotes of itself movement, its complement will be in the nominative, in accordance with Rule 8 that prepositions govern that case.

(b). If the preposition does not of itself denote movement, then movement is shown by placing its complement in the accusative (par. 67).

257. Prepositions denoting movement.--The following two prepositions denote movement, and consequently their complement is never in the accusative:--Al = _To_, _towards_. Gis = _Up to_, _as far as_.

As regards the others, the following are those in general use, whose complement takes the accusative of direction when motion towards something is implied:--Antau = _Before_. Cirkau = _Around_, _about_. En = _In_. Kontrau = _Against_. Sub = _Under_.