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 devided into 'uden' and 'for', thus creating a prepostition complex. This destinction is showen 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 | |
Even though 'udenfor' in one word demands that no ground be stated, the prepotion can still be said to imply a ground. This ground can be found by looking at the person uttering the respective phrase, since the exterioroty expressed by 'udenfor' can be seen as being exterior to something; the boarders of the place where the speaker is located (this is often a room or the like). 'udenfor' and 'uden for' deffer from each other in the way that the latter is follewed by an overtly stated ground, whereas the former only gives an idea of the ground. In this way we can says that udenfor implies a ground which is exterior in relation to the location of the speaker.
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. How far this space goes depends on conventions and the size of the gorund. We can prefer to see the word 'udenfor' in this way as an independent lexeme with the above suggested referent, or we can prefer to see 'udenfor' as implying a pressence of a ground which is the interior of the space occupied by the speaker.
In whatever way we choose to analyze how 'udenfor' gets is meaning, the word will denote location in the same way varying only in terms of extralinguistic factors; 'udenfor' will denote the space which is exterior in relation to the ground, and thus the area occupying the space referred to, changes only according to speaker/hearer and their location when uttering/writing/hearing the respective phrase.
A note on description
Last but not least, one should keep in mind, that it is certainly not every native Danish speaking person who destinguishes between the meaning of 'udenfor' and 'uden for' in the written language. (The destinction is obviously not that relavant when it comes to spoken language.) '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' should not be taken as a description of every native Danes´ usage and understanding of the two forms, I have given descriptions of the usage recommended by "Dansk Sprognævn" together with my own competance as a native speaker of Danish.
In Norwegian we have for instance the preposition 'utenfor' denoting exteriority, signaling the located object being totally exterior to the reference object, it is completely uncontained in 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" singals 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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