Multilingual Observation | Here / There / Over There — How Languages Place the Gaze

[Words of Space 6]

Vertical orientation. Horizontal orientation. Boundaries. And distance.
By looking at several axes of space, the way language constructs the world has begun to take shape little by little.

However, there is one more major key to space.

— The perspective of where you are viewing that world from.

“Here,” “there,” “over there.”
Though they may look like simple demonstratives, these three actually reveal the speaker’s “placement of perspective.”
Where is the reference point for framing the world?
How far out do you feel as your own “here”?

Even when looking at the same scenery, if the position of the perspective changes, the shape of the world quietly changes.

Today, let’s look at these “words of perspective.”

Japanese: koko / soko / asoko

Japanese demonstratives directly reflect the “distance” between the speaker and the listener.
“Koko” is entirely on one’s own side, “soko” is right by the listener, and “asoko” is a place slightly removed from both people.
Space is gently laid out upon the relationship between the speaker and the listener.

English: here / there / over there

“Here” is the place where the speaker is currently located.
“There” points directly to a “slightly distant place,” regardless of the distance to the listener.
When it becomes “over there,” the gaze slides off into the distance.
The “physical distance” of the space itself takes precedence over the relationship between the speaker and the listener.

French: ici / là / là-bas

“Ici” is the closeness within the speaker’s reach.
“Là” quietly indicates a “point” at a slight distance.
“Là-bas” is where the gaze extends to the “other side.”
The three are softly divided by the direction of the gaze and spatial “depth.”

Indonesian: di sini / di situ / di sana

“Di sini” is by the speaker.
“Di situ” is used for a place that is away from the speaker but close to the listener.
“Di sana” is a place at a distance from both the speaker and the listener.
Space is naturally partitioned by how the speaker and listener “share” their field of vision.

Arabic: هنا (hunā) / هناك (hunāka) / هناكَ (hunālika)

هنا (hunā)
Gently indicates the “space at the speaker’s feet.”
هناك (hunāka)
A place slightly further away, but still within the range of the gaze.
هنالِكَ (hunālika)
The gaze opens up completely to the distance, and the feeling of a “distance beyond reach” is mixed in.
It is as if it includes not just distance, but the difference in the “tension and release” of the field of vision.

Even though we should be looking at the same place, the breadth of “here,” the distance of “there,” and the remoteness of “over there” differ slightly depending on the language.

Where the perspective is placed—that slight difference quietly changes how the world is framed.

Demonstratives are not just words that indicate a location. The stance of where that language “stands in the world” to view things—that very position begins to faintly bleed through.

After looking at the vertical, horizontal, boundaries, and distances of space, if we finally place our perspective, how we 'see' the world reveals itself just a little bit.

Even when looking at the same world, if the place where you stand changes, the scenery you see shifts quietly.

Today, one final question for you.
Where is your 'here' right now?

* The 'Words of Time' series, which we would like you to see along with the 'Words of Space' series ↓

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