gie [gyè] prep.
indicates a direction: towards; to:
Rhie ígho gie Ozo ― “Take the money to Ozo”
.
gbè [g͡bè] prep.
against:
Ọ mu uhunmwun gbe ẹkhu ― “He hit his head against the door.”
ke4 [ké] prep.
1. (occurs with verbs of motion, such as yo, rre, dee, etc.) indicates source or origin of motion: from:
Igue ọ ke rri iwinna: “It is from the village that he comes to work.”
;
2. general “source” notion (i.e. in respect to time and place).
Ẹgogo eva ẹre ọ ke winna: “He has been working from 2 p.m., i.e. he has been working since 2 p.m.”
kue3 [kùé] prep.
on, over, at:
Amẹ sa kue Ọzo ukpọn ― “Water spilled on Ozo’s cloth”
.
Ekhae tue kue otọ ― “Sand poured on the floor”
. It is realised as
kui in clause-final position:
Vbe ọ sa kui ― “Where did it pour?”
and as
kuọ before mwẹn or mwan:
Amẹ tue kuọ mwẹn ― “Water poured on me.”
lele3 [lèlé] prep.
1. along; with:
Ọ viẹ lele ẹre dee ― “He is crying along with him as they approach”
(i.e. either he alone is crying or they are both crying);
2. after:
Ọ rhulẹ lele ẹre dee ― “She is running after him as he approaches”
(i.e. he is ahead of her, and not running. If he were also running with her, then the meaning of lele in the sentence would be “along” or “with” rather than “after”).
na3 [nã́] prep.
A variant of the
prep. ne which introduces the recipient or beneficiary in a sentence with verbs such as rhie, mu, viọ, etc. na is used when the complement NP does not immediately follow it:
Ọ rhie ígho ne Ozo: “He gave money to Ozo”
;
Ozo ẹre ọ rhie ígho na ― “It is Ozo that he gave the money to.”
ọghe [ɔ́ɣé] prep.
1. possessive particle: of; belonging to:
ọghe Ozo ― “Ozo’s”
;
ọghe ima ― “ours”
;
2. pertaining to, concerning:
ọghe owiẹ ― “pertaining to the moming”
;
uyinmwẹn ọghe ẹghẹnẹdẹ ― “behaviour of the old days: traditional behaviour.”
It combines with pronouns and pronominals to form expressions such as:
ọghuẹ ― “yours”
(e.g.):
ọghọe/ ọghẹe ― “his/hers/its”
;
ọghomwan ― ours
;
oghiran ― theirs
;
ọghua ― “yours”
pl.; etc.
vbe1 [ʋè] prep.
in, at, on (depending on the noun with which it occurs):
vbe odẹ ― “on the way”
;
vbe ọwa ― “at home”
;
vbe owiẹ ― “in the morning”
, etc.
vbé1 [ʋé] prep.; conj.
as, like (occurs with only nouns and noun phrases as its complement; clausal complements are introduced by vbene):
Ọ guan vbe erhae ― “He talks like his father.”
Ọ khian vbe ọmwan ne ẹi mwẹn orhiọn ― “He walks like somebody without strength.”
yè [yè] prep.
expresses location: on, at, in (depending on the noun that occurs with it):
yè owa ― “at home”
;
yè aga ― “on the chair”
;
yè uvun ― “in the hole”
; etc. (when it occurs at the end of a sentence, or after its complement, its form is yi): Owa ẹre o rhie ẹre yi. Vs. Ọ rhie yè owa; 2. when it occurs before the object pron: mwẹn or mwan, it becomes yọ:
Ọ tota yọ mwẹn owa ― “He resides at my house.”