NTNU, LING1133 (2009) - Directionality in Norwegian

Direction is encoded along at least two different different parameters - how it is referentially related and what part of speech it is realised as. There exists projective direction, which is measured relative to a reference, as well as absolute direction. The absolute directions is mostly in the vertical space (up and down), and is of course in reality also simply projective directions with a very, very large reference object (Earth).

As part of speech direction is usually encoded in one of three different ways in Norwegian: as a verb, as a preposition or as a combination of these. Here are some examples of how direction is encoded in Norwegian:

Towards referential object:

mot komme

Away from referential object:

gå dra/fare stikke fra

Up opp stige

Down ned synke

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