directionals

Directionals are a grammatical category found in some languages where elements associated with a verb encode information about the direction, path, or endpoint of an action relative to a reference point, typically the speaker or a reference object. They may be lexical items (directional verbs) or bound morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, or clitics) that accompany a main verb or verb phrase. Directionals can indicate motion toward or away from the deictic center, as well as vertical or lateral movement, entering, exiting, or passing through a location.

In use, directionals contribute to the event structure of motion. They can specify the trajectory of the action, the location reached, or the relation between the actor and patient. Some directionals are independent words; others attach to the main verb as affixes or particles. They may interact with tense, aspect, or mood, and can be obligatory or optional depending on the language and the specificity of the motion event.

Typologically, directionals are reported in a variety of systems. They are especially prominent in languages with rich motion semantics, including languages that rely on verb morphology or postverbal particles to convey spatial information. Some languages encode directionals as a closed class of items with fixed meanings, while others use more flexible constructions that combine a verb with one or more directional elements to produce a range of path meanings.

Examples are language-specific, but broadly include: a directional verb meaning “to go toward” or “to come from,” and the use of particles or affixes that specify path details such as entering, exiting, moving up or down, or passing through a location, when combined with a main verb.