by Max Wheeler
en vist (literary) compared to, in comparison with
14.2.2 SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS DERIVED FROM GERUNDS/PARTICIPLES
durant during
mitjançant (literary) by means of, through
no obstant (literary) despite (= malgrat)
salvant, salvat (literary) except for, save, barring
14.2.3 PREPOSITIONS WHICH ARE USED EITHER AS SIMPLE, OR AS COMPOUND
Some prepositions have alternative simple and compound forms (the compounds nearly all with de). All of these are derived from other parts of speech: nouns, e.g. vora (de) ‘near’, ‘beside’ from vora ‘edge’; from participles, e.g. llevat (de) ‘except’, from llevar ‘take off’; or, in most cases from adverbs, such as darrere ‘behind’. In Catalonia, spontaneous speech generally prefers the compound forms, and these are obligatory (i) when the complement is a personal pronoun, e.g. davant d’ella ‘in front of her’, (ii) when the preposition is separated from its complement, e.g. darrere mateix de l’església ‘right behind the church’. Balearic speech, and the written language, especially in more formal styles, prefer the simple forms. When they are used as compound prepositions with de, and their complement is a personal pronoun, they more often take a form of the corresponding possessive adjective in place of the expected de + personal pronoun. For example, davall nostre ‘below us’, sobre meu ‘on me’, (see 7.5).
Derived from nouns:
vora (de) near, beside
a part (de) apart from
Derived from gerunds/participles:
llevat (de) except
tret (de) except
tocant(a) with respect to (tocant a is regularly compound in the sense‘right next to’)
Derived trom adverbs:
damunt (de) on, over
darrere (de) behind
davall (de) (Val., Bal.) under
davant (de) in front of
deçà (de) this side of
dellà (de) that side of, on the far side of
dejús (de) (North Catalonia) under
dins (de), dedins (de), dintre (de) inside, within
fins (a/en) up to, until
sobre (de), dessobre (de) on, above, over
sota (de), dessota (de) under, beneath
Note also the prepositional expressions a la vora de, al damunt de, al davant de, al darrere de, al defora de, al dessota de, frequently used alternatives to vora (de), damunt (de), etc.
Further information on fins
When fins is used in a temporal sense (‘until’), it is generally followed by a only when the following time expression would have a on its own account, so No arribaran fins dissabte ‘They won’t arrive until Saturday’ (compare Arribaran dissabte ‘They will arrive on Saturday’), but No arribaran fins a la tarda ‘They won’t arrive until the afternoon’ (compare Arribaran a la tarda ‘They will arrive in the afternoon’), Hi estic fins a les set ‘I am here until 7 o’clock’.
Similarly, in a locative sense, fins is followed by an expression for ‘place at which’, and these, as we have seen, often include a (sometimes en, though expected en is often omitted):
He llegit fins a la pàgina 50. I’ve read up to page 50.
Fins(a) on aneu? How far are you going? (lit. up to where …)
Vés fins (a) dalt. Go up to the next floor.
Volem pujar fins (en) aquella ermita. We want to climb as far as that hermitage.
In expressions other than those of time and place, and in counting expressions (‘up to but not beyond’), fins is always followed by a:
fins al dia 30 inclusivament up to and including the 30th
Te’n donaran fins a catorze. They’ll give you up to fourteen of them.
Ha insistit fins a aconseguir-ho. She insisted until she obtained it.
14.3 COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS AND ‘PREPOSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS’
Syntactically, compound prepositions consist of a noun, adverb, prepositional or other phrase, which is followed by a prepositional phrase complement introduced by a or, in the majority of cases, de. Unlike the prepositions mentioned in the previous section (14.2.3), here the a or de element is omissible only in very special circumstances (including generally before the complementizer que in the standard language as in 14.1.5).
14.3.1 COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS DERIVED FROM NOUNS AND FROM WORDS OF MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORIES
cap a towards, around/approximately
Before adverbs of place beginning with unstressed a or e-, and before demonstratives beginning aqu-, the form cap is used alone: cap aquí ‘towards here’, ‘over here’, cap amunt ‘upwards’, cap avall ‘downwards’, cap enrere ‘backwards’, etc.
Quan vagis cap a casa, avisa’m. When you go home(wards), let me know.
Vindré cap a les nou. I’ll come about nine o’clock.
com a as, as being, in one’s role as
(Note difference from com ‘as’, ‘like’.) However, if a definite or indefinite article, or a demonstrative adjective follows, a is omitted.
Va ser invitat com a president de l’associació.
He was invited as president of the association.
El bandegem com a indesitjable.
We exclude him as undesirable.
Com a comerciant no té cap garantia.
As a trader she has no guarantee.
Dóna-li mil pessetes com a paga i senyal.
Give him 1000 ptas as a deposit.
Se la van partir com a bons germans.
They divided it as good brothers. (i.e. being good brothers; com bons germans would mean ‘like good brothers, as if they were good brothers’)
Accepti això com la mostra més viva de gratitud.
Accept this as the most vivid expression of gratitude.
El miraven com aquell qui els havia de salvar.
They looked on him as the one who would save them.
The semantic distinction as above between com and com a, recommended by normative grammarians, is possible only before a noun not preceded by an article or a demonstrative. It is probably not found in spontaneous usage, where the distribution is merely formal: com is used before articles and demonstratives, com a elsewhere, covering the whole range of ‘as’, ‘like’, ‘as being’, ‘in one’s role as’: Discutien com a bojos ‘they were arguing like mad’.
des de from, since (source)
Ens escrivim des de fa dos anys.
We have been writing to each other for two years. (lit. since two years ago)
enfront de facing, opposite versus
entorn de around
gràcies a thanks to
quant a, pel que fa a, respecte a with respect to, as regards
14.3.2 COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS DERIVED FROM ADVERBS
(a) prop de near
a través de across, through
a menys de except
abans de before (time)
arran de level with, immediately after
després de after
dret a towards, in the direction of
enmig de among, amidst
fora de, defora de, enfora de outside, except
lluny de far from
més enllà de beyond, later than
14.3.3 ‘PREPOSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS’ WHICH ARE LEXICALIZED PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
Often, as in (i) below, the nouns in prepositional expressions lack expected determiners; in (ii) we have normally constructed prepositional phrases which take their own prepositional phrase complement. Both groups always have de. Only a selection of examples is given of each type.
a base de based on, consisting in, by means of
a favor de in favour of
a pesar de in spite of
a partir de from, as from, starting from
a causa de because of
de/per por de for fear of
en lloc de instead of
per mitjà de by means of
per culpa de as a (negative) result of
sense sabuda de without the knowledge of
a la dreta de on t
he right of
al cap de at the end of, after
al costat de beside, alongside
al llarg de along
al voltant de around
Note also the unusually constructed de … estant ‘from (source)’ and de … ençà ‘from (since)’. The more normally constructed d’ençà de is used in the same sense; all of these can approximately be replaced by des de:
D’aquí estant es veu la torre.
From here you can see the tower.
De la torre estant se sent la remor del mar.
From the tower you can hear the sound of the sea.
D’un quant temps ençà no es publica.
It hasn’t been published for some while.
15 CONJUNCTIONS
This chapter deals with lexical items which link and establish a relationship between clauses or elements within a clause. The term ‘conjunction’ is applied rather loosely to this whole category, which includes words or phrases that might more appropriately be called adverbs or particles. Modern grammar distinguishes between conjunctions, complementizers, and subordinators in analysing their relevance to the functions of coordination and subordination in complex sentences. Here we describe individual items, retaining the broad division between coordinating conjunctions (15.1), and complementizers (15.2–4). Subordinating conjunctions are treated in the chapters on adverbial clauses (Chapter 33) and conditionals (Chapter 34).
15.1 COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
15.1.1 I ‘AND’
I ‘and’ is used much the same as its English equivalent.
En Pere i la Sara arribaran demà. Pere and Sara will be arriving tomorrow.
Van comprar peres i pomes. They bought pears and apples.
Jo faré els paquets i tu els portaràs a correus. I’ll make the parcels and you’ll post them.
Catalan surnames officially include the paternal followed by the maternal family name, usually linked by i: Josep Pous i Pagès, Agnès Cotoner i Soley. In practice, according to family custom or individual preference, either i or the second surname can be omitted from a person’s usual signature: Manuel Pérez Saldanya, Josep Pla, Clementina Arderiu.
15.1.2 NI ‘NOR’, ‘AND NOT’, ‘NOT …EITHER’, ‘NEITHER’
Ni is the negative form for simple coordination; see also 26.1.2 for further details.
Ella no pot anar-hi, ni jo tampoc.
She can’t go, and neither can I. (lit. nor I either)
The construction ni… ni… is used in distributive expressions (see 15.1.3):
No ho comprenia ni ell ni el seu company.
Neither he nor his companion understood.
15.1.3 DISTRIBUTIVES
As with ni… ni…, distributives are terms that occur in pairs, syntactically expressing an alternative or balanced correlation. The principal cases are:
aquí… allí… here …there …, in one place … in another …
mig … mig … half…half…
ja … ja … now …now …, sometimes …sometimes …
ara … ara … now …now …, sometimes …sometimes …
(sometimes substituted by the more archaic adés …adés… orara … adés…)
sia … sia … either … or, whether it be … or …
fos … fos … either … or, whether it be … or…
entre (que)…i (que)… (variously rendered)
que … que … both …and …
Examples:
Hi hagué una aclamació fervorosa; aquí aplaudien, allí desplegaven banderes.
There was fervent acclaim, with some people applauding and others unfurling flags.
Ho han aconseguit, mig per instint mig a dretcient.
They’ve managed it, half by instinct, half deliberately.
Ja brilla el sol, ja els núvols cobreixen el cel.
One minute the sun is shining, the next the sky is covered in cloud.
Ara s’encenen els llums, ara s’apaguen.
The lights keep coming on and going out.
Sia estiu sia hivern, sempre surt a passeig.
Whether it be summer or winter she always takes a walk.
Tenia una paraula per a tots, fossin veïns seus fossin desconeguts.
She had something to say to everyone, whether they were neighbours or people she didn’t know.
N’hi deuen cabre més de vint, entre asseguts i drets.
There’ll be room for over twenty, between sitting and standing.
Entre que plovia i que em trobava malalt, al final no hi vaig anar.
With it raining and my being ill, in the end I didn’t go.
Que vells que nous, n’hi devia haver ben bé un centenar.
Old ones and new ones together, there must have been a good hundred of them.
Many other particular distributive expressions can be made with various grammatical elements:
Α fora feia fred, a dins calor.
Outside it was cold, inside (it was) warm.
A un costat/A la dreta es van arrenglerar els militars, a l’altre/a l’esquerra els civils.
On one side/On the right the soldiers lined up, on the other/on the left the civilians.
Per mi és un geni, per d’altres és un pallasso.
I think he’s a genius, other people think he’s a clown.
Vist des d’aquí sembla verd, vist d’allà té un color més aviat blavós.
Seen from here it looks green, while seen from over there it has a rather bluish colour.
15.1.3.1 Translating ‘both…and…’
Distributive tant … com… and així… com… cover many instances of English ‘both …and …’:
Ha viatjat molt, tant pel seu país com a l’estranger.
She has travelled a lot, both in her own country and abroad.
Portaven armes, així ofensives com defensives.
They were carrying both offensive and defensive arms.
Tant en Miquel com la Sara van estudiar medicina.
Both Miquel and Sara studied medicine.
However, when the elements are joined not just in additive combination but in a way that emphasizes or contrasts them, then ‘both …and …’ is rendered adverbially, by a més a més ‘moreover’ or by al mateix temps, alhora ‘at the same time’:
Trobo que és impressionant i alhora grotesc.
I find it both impressive and grotesque.
Refresca i a més a més alimenta.
It both refreshes and nourishes.
Such constructions overlap with use of the adversative no (solament)…sinó (també) ‘not (only)…but (also)’ (see 15.1.5.2):
Has d’estimar no solament els amics sinó els enemics.
You must love both your friends and your enemies.
15.1.4 O OR’
O is the equivalent of ‘or’ in most contexts:
Deu tenir disset o divuit anys. He must be seventeen or eighteen (years old).
Fes-ho ara mateix, o et castigaré. Do it right now, or I’ll punish you.
but note the obligatory use of ni in negative contexts:
Ho han fet sense queixes ni protestes. They did it without complaint or protest.
Where a sharp alternative is being established o may be reinforced with bé or, more emphatically with si no:
Us telefonaré des de Perpinyà o bé des de la frontera.
I’ll phone you from Perpignan or from the border.
Explica’ns-ho, o si no, et denunciarem a la policia.
Explain to us, otherwise we’ll report you to the police.
(In either of these last two examples the reinforcing bé or si no could be omitted with only minimal change of force.)
Technical and commercial Catalan reproduces the formula ‘and/or’ as i/o; its use is becoming more widespread:
Cal parlar amb el director i/o el tresorer.
You must speak with the manager and/or the treasurer.
15.1.4.1 O sia ‘or (in other words)’
O sia denotes equivalence. (Here sia is an old form of t
he present subjunctive of ‘be’; parallel expressions with current verb forms are also used: o sigui/o siga.)
la pèrfida Albió, o sia Anglaterra
perfidious Albion, or (in other words) England
el protagonista, o sia el personatge principal de l’obra
the protagonist, that is, the main character in the play
15.1.4.2 O…o… ‘either… or’
O…o… occurs regularly as a distributive expression, the equivalent of ‘either …or …’:
O no s’ha explicat bé, o jo sóc idiota.
Either he’s not explained himself properly or I’m an idiot.
O serà a casa seva o se n’haurà anat a comprar.
She’ll either be at home or be out shopping.
In this construction bé (but not si no) may again reinforce o, as explained in 15.1.4.
15.1.5 ADVERSATIVES: PERÒ, SINÓ
While both però and sinó translate ‘but’, particular attention must be paid to the distinctive functions of these two words.
15.1.5.1 Però ‘but’
Però corresponds to ‘but’ establishing opposition between concepts or coordinate clauses (affirmative or negative):
Ho han fet ràpidament però de mala gana.
They did it quickly but reluctantly.
Hem trucat diverses vegades, però no ha contestat ningú.
We have phoned several times, but there was no reply.
