njʉ̀m

Phonetic

[ndʒỳm]

English: Translation

side; face; aspect

French: Translation

côté ; face ; versant ; aspect

English: Definition

A spatially or conceptually distinct side, face or aspect of an entity. Depending on the Ground and the context, it may refer to the back of a person or house, any face of a box, the inner or outer face of an object, the reverse side of paper or clothing, one side of a landscape feature, or one aspect of an abstract matternjʉ̌m mò'behind me'njʉ̀m ndœ́'behind the house'njʉ̀m káŋ'the underside/face of the plate' (Dishes)zhà njʉ̀m pépà'this side (face) of the paper' (Paper)njʉ̀m nthúm wwhō pə́nà njʉ̀m pě'the inner face and the outer face of the leaf' (Leaf)á kɔ̌t nttshœ́ njʉ̀mnjʉ̀m'He is wearing his clothes inside out.' (Clothing)zhà njʉ̀m ŋkwɔ̀ŋ'this side/slope of the mountain' (landscape)zhɔ̀ njʉ̀m nnò kà mbɔ̀ŋɔ̀'That side/aspect of the matter is not good.' (Discourse)

French: Definition

Face, côté ou aspect distinct d'une entité dans l'espace ou sur le plan conceptuel. Selon l'entité de référence et le contexte, le terme peut désigner l'arrière d'une personne ou d'une maison, l'une quelconque des faces d'un objet tridimensionnel (p. ex. une boîte), la face interne ou externe d'un objet, le verso d'une feuille de papier ou d'un vêtement, l'un des versants d'un relief, ou encore l'un des aspects d'une question ou d'une situation abstraite.

Part of Speech

noun

Semantic Domain

Location and Directions

Noun Class

Example Sentence

njʉ̌m mò

English: Example Sentence

'behind me'

French: Example Sentence

'derrière moi

Example Sentence

njʉ̀m ndœ́

English: Example Sentence

'behind the house'

French: Example Sentence

derrière la maison

Example Sentence

njʉ̀m káŋ

English: Example Sentence

'the underside/face of the plate' (Dishes)

French: Example Sentence

'le dos de l'assiette'

Example Sentence

zhà njʉ̀m pépà

English: Example Sentence

'this side (face) of the paper' (Paper)

French: Example Sentence

'ceci est le revers du papier'

Example Sentence

njʉ̀m nthúm wwhō pə́nà njʉ̀m pě

English: Example Sentence

'the inner face and the outer face of the leaf' (Leaf)

French: Example Sentence

'la face intérieure et la face extérieure de la feuille'

Example Sentence

á kɔ̌t nttshœ́ njʉ̀mnjʉ̀m

English: Example Sentence

'He is wearing his clothes inside out.' (Clothing)

French: Example Sentence

'Il a porté son habit à l'envers'

Example Sentence

zhà njʉ̀m ŋkwɔ̀ŋ

English: Example Sentence

'this side/slope of the mountain' (landscape)

French: Example Sentence

'ce versant de la montagne'

Example Sentence

zhɔ̀ njʉ̀m nnò kà mbɔ̀ŋɔ̀

English: Example Sentence

'That side/aspect of the matter is not good.' (Discourse)

French: Example Sentence

'Cet aspect de l'affaire n'est pas bon'

Plural form

mə̀njʉ̀m

Dialect

Bamendjou

Custom tags

Gender (9/6)

(dial. var. nshòm [nʃòm]

Morphology

CVC

Notes

Relational spatial noun. A gender 9/6 noun (plural mə̀njʉ̀m). Occurs in genitive-like constructions with a Ground noun (e.g. njʉ̀m ndœ́ 'behind the house', njʉ̌m mò 'behind me'). It may also occur independently when the Ground is recoverable from context (e.g. á njʉ̀m 'he is behind').

Njʉ̀m is broader than English behind or back. It denotes a distinct face, side or aspect of an entity. With Grounds that have an intrinsic front, such as a person or house, it may be interpreted as ‘behind’ or ‘the back’. With multidimensional objects such as a box, any of the distinct faces may be called njʉ̀m. With two-sided objects such as paper, leaves or clothing, it may designate either face, which can be further specified as njʉ̀m nthúm ‘inner face’ or njʉ̀m pě ‘outer face’. The same schema extends to landscapes and abstract matters. Unlike English back, njʉ̀m is not restricted to a single posterior face. It may denote any distinct face of a multidimensional object.

Njʉ̀m exhibits a broad semantic network linking spatial configuration, object orientation, landscape topology and discourse structure. The common semantic denominator appears to be the conceptual opposition between two non-adjacent faces or aspects of the same entity. Prototype: the distinct face or side of a physical object.

Ngemba

njʉ̀m