ABSTRACT
The term adposition covers both prepositions (which precede their associated noun) and postpositions (which follow their associated noun). North Sámi has both prepositions, e.g. gaskkal Guovdageainnu ja Máze ‘between Kautokeino and Masi’ and postpositions, e.g. vári duohken ‘behind the mountain’. In addition, some North Sámi adpositions can function as either prepositions or postpositions (sometimes with a slightly different meaning in each case), e.g. birra máilmmi ‘throughout the world’, máilmmi birra ‘around the world’. Etymologically, many adpositions derive from nouns (e.g. the postposition sajis ‘instead of’ derives from the noun sadji ‘place’). The noun associated with an adposition is typically in the accusative-genitive case. Note that many adpositions can also function as adverbs, e.g. son manai sisa ‘s/he went inside’.
