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Lesson 8: Prepositions in Dusun (Kata Sendi Nama)

Prepositions in Dusun describe location, direction, and movement — just like in English or Malay. Many of them are formed using fixed phrases like id + [place word]. Others use verbs or particles such as mantad (from), miampai (with), or kumaa (toward).

🔹 Common Prepositions in Dusun

English	Dusun
Outside	id labus
Inside / In	id suang
Above	id sawat
On	id tampak
Under	id siriba
Beside	id toning
Near	id somok
Around	id posorili
From	mantad
Until	gisom
For / To	kumaa

🔹 Examples:

• Ih nopo tungau nga id siriba doh mija → The cat is under the table
• Pinoili dau ih book id tampak doh mija → He put the book on the table
• Yau nopo nga id suang doh walai → She is inside the room
• John nopo nga mantad Ranau → John is from Ranau
• Minihad ih Mary gisom nokorikot hilo id walai → Mary cried until she reached home

These examples show how prepositional phrases in Dusun follow a consistent structure — usually with id (similar to di in Malay) marking location, and optionally followed by doh to clarify the position or relation to the object. However, when expressing direction (e.g., “to the market”), id is not used before the verb, but the destination itself may still be marked with id.