Chapter 3. A cautious approach to spatial orientation in Tima

Abstract

This study investigates two subdomains within the semantic field of space among the Tima in Sudan: first, topology (and toponymy), and second, frames of reference. Like many European languages, Tima uses adpositions to indicate a goal/location and a source. Furthermore, Tima uses locative prefixes (remnants of a noun class system) to designate an area. With respect to frames of reference, we show that Tima uses a mixed system, availing of all major frames, i.e., absolute, intrinsic, and relative. The data at our disposal suggests that mobility as well as the shape of figure and ground play a role in the encoding of spatial relations in Tima, a hypothesis which needs testing with more data.