With the time word m ɛlɛmɔ ‘morning’ as the LM of ri With a nominalised verb as the head of the LM of ri

45 ‘I have found worms ALL over the meat.’ elicited data i.e., all over the surface of the meat, boundary, contact, and completeness invoked. 4 The preposition ti and its functions The preposition ti has usages in three different domains: 1. in domain of location of a situation in space: physical location space, time space or thought space 2. in the topicality domain of certain adverbial clauses, specifically ‘if’ and ‘when’ clauses 3. in the domain of the TAM system on the verb. 4.1 Domain of location of a situation in various spaces The preposition ti means location of a situation with respect to the boundary of an LM in various spaces. The space can be a purely positional, or a location in time, or, more abstractly, a location in thought. For ti+LM PPs, just as for ri + LM PPs, the LM is not regarded as a container. Note here the contrast between ti and ri both of which invoke the boundary, as against to which always invokes a container.

4.1.1 Location in physical space and ti

When used in the domain of physical location space, the preposition ti has the meaning of ‘about’ or ‘over’, or perhaps more loosely ‘on’, in the purely situational sense with no connotation whatever of ‘weight-bearing’. In this respect ti contrasts with kolɔ, which often does have a sense of weight-bearing in its usage. 46 ‘The knife that he wore ROUND his waist.’ Tumbo 3.1 In 47 the physical location space invokes the boundary of the LM, and complete coverage. gɔ gɔ SUB yɛ y- NC3- POSS bobogɔ bobogɔ waist ti ti ABOUT bɔrɔ bɔrɔ wear nyɛ nyɛ 3sg OBJ kyɛng 0- kyɛng NC5 knife tiri tiri meat ri ri ON binyamɔ binyamɔ worms byela byela find mɔɔ m ɔɔ 1sg. PERF 47 kolɔ nkyia yɔ londɔ nyɛ ti nyoli kɛng ngwola taa nyɔ kolɔ 0- nkyia yɔ londɔ nyɛ ti nyoli kɛng ngwola taa nyɔ for NC7 blood it PERF fill 3sg OBJ OVER body so much like goat 3sg EMPH ‘If you saw this drunk man, you will be afraid because blood, it was filling covering him, ALL over his body so much, like a goat which has had its throat cut.’ Tumbo 6.1. The underlined part of the data could be translated as ‘The blood, it has filled covered him, all over his body so much like a goat which has had its throat cut .’ Here, the LM in the ti+LM PP is the surface of the body of the man, i.e., the boundary of that body. So the blood has ‘filled’ or ‘covered’ all over the surface of that body. The blood has contact all over the whole boundary of the LM body. The verb ‘fill’ makes specific, the full extent of the coverage. In Mpyemo, this word for ‘fill’ does not necessarily mean that a 3D volume has to be filled which seems to be the sense which the word ‘fill’ is usually understood in English.

4.1.2. Location of a situation in time space and ti

48 ‘On his return, he meets a boy who comes out with his sister.’ Tumbo 1.4. i.e., during the time of his return, he meets…

4.1.3 Location of a situation in thought space

49 bingyena biɛ i duma ti kyɛng bi- ngyena biɛ I duma ti 0- kyɛng NC8 thought 3sg POSS it fall ON NC5 knife ‘His thought, it fell ON the knife.’ Tumbo 3.1 i.e., ‘He thought ABOUT the knife.’ wɛ wɛ 3sgP OSS .NC1 kali kali sister bɛ bɛ with duɔ duɔ come.out nyɛ nyɛ REL momorom mo- morom little man kɛkɛɛ kɛkɛɛ child nu nu certain nɛ nɛ thattowith boma boma see reflex a a 3sg mɛ mɛ 3sgP OSS .NC6 mɛmpula mɛmpula return Ti ti ifwhen gɔ gɔ SUB yɛ yɛ 3sg INAN OBJ kying kying neck kyɛgɔ kyɛgɔ cut bɔ bɛ -ɔ 3pl - PERF wɔ wɔ 2sg OBJ sa sa do, make i i it biɔng 0- biɔng NC7 fear , gɔ gɔ SUB nii nii this further mɛnyɔgi mɛnyɔgi corn beer mori mori person bɛ bɛ 3pl ɔ ɔ 2sg ti ti ifwhen trajector trajector