Postpositions (simple atemporal relations)

Qohenje has a wealth of postpositional elements that mostly have a cluster of senses, of which the primary or basic sense is spatial, the secondary, temporal, and other abstract senses may also be associated in accordance with the pervasive metaphorical applications of the more basic domains to abstract notions. The most common of those metaphorical associations are listed below.

Note that while some of these forms are fixed, many are the ATT forms of full lexemes (the gloss shows which are which).

	SPATIAL	in(side)			SPATIAL	out(side)
	TEMPORAL	during			TEMPORAL	at times other than
	ABSTRACT	included in; covered by			ABSTRACT	excluded by; overlooked by
	SPATIAL	within (touching)			SPATIAL	on the outside (surface) of
	TEMPORAL	at exactly the same time as			TEMPORAL	—
	ABSTRACT	in the same way as			ABSTRACT	in contrast to
	SPATIAL	in front of			SPATIAL	behind
	TEMPORAL	—			TEMPORAL	—
	ABSTRACT	logically leading to			ABSTRACT	logically following from
	SPATIAL	to/on the left of			SPATIAL	to/on the right of
	TEMPORAL	—			TEMPORAL	—
	ABSTRACT	—			ABSTRACT	—
	SPATIAL	above/over			SPATIAL	below/under
	TEMPORAL	before			TEMPORAL	after
	ABSTRACT	with respect to / regarding			ABSTRACT	against/in opposition to
	SPATIAL	near to			SPATIAL	far from
	TEMPORAL	at about the time of			TEMPORAL	--
	ABSTRACT	with/accompanying			ABSTRACT	as opposed to /rather than
	SPATIAL	far above			SPATIAL	far below
	TEMPORAL	long before			TEMPORAL	long after
	ABSTRACT	—			ABSTRACT	—
	SPATIAL	through			SPATIAL	covering, spanning, overarching
	TEMPORAL	before, during and after			TEMPORAL	throughout
	ABSTRACT	by means of			ABSTRACT	subsuming
	SPATIAL	away from			SPATIAL	on (top of)
	TEMPORAL	since			TEMPORAL	at the beginning of
	ABSTRACT	as a result of			ABSTRACT	giving rise to/causing
	SPATIAL	towards			SPATIAL	along/across
	TEMPORAL	until			TEMPORAL	during
	ABSTRACT	leading to / causing			ABSTRACT	—

 

The metaphorical associations

Jihira-Tejlijan logic equates certain abstract domains with spatial models, but not always in ways that parallel English.

Left-right scales

Quality and control are generally conceived of horizontally, with better / controlling being on the right, and worse / controlled on the left.

Vertical scale

Time, curiously, is conceived of in vertical terms in Qohenje. The cognitive model is perhaps that of a falling object. "Above" equates with before, earlier, while below equals after, later. This can be seen in the standard usages of the postpositions listed above. One's age is hence higher (= younger!) or lower (= older!) quite against English logic!

Front-back scales

English uses the front-back scale for time, whereas Qohenje only regards logical consequence along this axis: that which is known, given or prerequisite is "behind", while that which follows, results or depends is "in front". Note again that this is not in keeping with English logic, which tends to view things the other way round (the consequences follow = come after , their causes in English...)