NTNU, LING 1113 (2009) - Exteriority
In both of the following examples the car is located in space exterior to the ground. The difference between the two phrases is, that when exteriority (or "outside-ness") in general is denoted, we need one preposition in Danish; 'udenfor'. If a ground is overtly present in the construction, the preposition 'udenfor' must be divided into 'uden' and 'for', thus creating a prepositional complex. This distinction is shown below:
| Bilen | |
| bil | en |
| carSBJ | theDEFSG |
| N | |
| holder |
| holder |
| holdPRES |
| Vitr |
| udenfor |
| udenfor |
| outside |
| PREP |
| Bilen | |
| bil | en |
| carSBJ | theDEFSG |
| N | |
| holder |
| holder |
| holdPRES |
| Vitr |
| uden | |
| ude | n |
| out | - |
| PREP | |
| for |
| for |
| of |
| PREP |
| huset | |
| hus | et |
| houseOBL | theDEFSG |
| N | |
'udenfor' is intransitive. It implies the presence a Ground. The reference object if not denoted otherwise is the place where the speaker is located. 'Uden' on the other hand is a two place predicate, that is, the Ground is overtly expressed.
One might also see the word 'udenfor' as the location, in this way denoting that specific area which is exterior in relation to the room or general location of the speaker. The extension of the space referred to by 'utenfor is a again dependent on conventions and the size of the Ground. Syntactically speaking 'utenfor' can be described as an adverb while 'uden' is a preposition.
A note on description
Last but not least, one should keep in mind, that it is certainly not every native Danish speaking person who distinguishes between 'udenfor' and 'uden for' when in comes to spelling which might be the reason why 'udenfor' can occur in the same text with as well as without an overtly expressed ground, and the same goes for 'uden for'. That is the two forms are often interchanged. The above discussion of 'udenfor' and 'uden for' looks at the difference in meaning introduced by the intransitive versus a the transitive use of this spacial expression. Danish spelling conventions are not our concern here.
In Norwegian we have the preposition 'utenfor' denoting exteriority, signaling the located object being exterior to the reference object.
"Han står utenfor huset" which means "He stands outside the house. The located object is "han" and the reference object is "huset".
"Utenfor" can also signal social exclusion, for instance in the sentence "Han er utenfor i klassen", which means that "he is not included in the class when it comes to being a part of the social group". We don't have any physical locations here. A third example can be "De er utenfor livsfare", which means "they are safe;" it denotes them being out of danger of dying: there we have "utenfor" signaling to be safe, it isn't any physical location that "they" are exterior to.
We also have the two expressions "ut fra" and "ut av".
"ut av" signals the located object moving out of the reference object. "Han går ut av huset", meaning "He walks out of the house". The located object "Han" and "huset" stand in a relation of exteriority. We have a path and locomotion; walking.
"Få mer ut av dagen", means "get more out of the day". Here we don't have any physical location, but we have a sentece meaning that one should grip the day, make the day meaningful to oneself.
"Ut fra" is an expression signaling that the located object is moving out from the reference object. "Barna sprang ut fra skolen", means "The children ran out from school". The located object is "Barna" and "skolen" is the reference object. Here we have the physical location, and the located object moves so that it after moving is exterior to the reference object.
An example where "ut fra" is used in a conceptual sense is in the sentence "Jeg går ut fra det", which means "I assume that".
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