Leksion Chamoru: Prefix san-

San- is called a directional prefix. However, "directional" doesn't fully explain what it does. San- marks a position rather than a relative location. In other words san- changes "above"/"upon" to "(the) top of"; "outside of" to "(the) outside of"; "behind" to "(the) back of." Here are some examples:

• Hulo' = Up, above, on top of.
  San- + hulo' => Sanhilo' = Above (preposition), (the) top of.
• Mo'na = Front, be first, in front of, forward.
  San- + mo'na => Sanme'na = Front side of, front of.
• Hålom = In, into, inside, enter.
  San- + hålom => Sanhalom = Inside, interior, internal, in, into.

Just giving the definitions to the words might not help too much, so here are some examples in sentences:

• Hu po'lo i yabi-hu gi hilo' lamasa. = I put my keys on (top of) the table.
  Hu po'lo i yabi-hu gi sanhilo' i lamasa. = I put my keys on (the) top of the table.
• Gaige i ga'-hu ga'lågu gi me'nan guma'. = My dog is in front of the house.
  Gaige i ga'-hu ga'lågu gi sanme'nan guma'. = My dog is on the front part of the house. = My dog is in the front yard.
• Siña hao mañodda' pugas gi halom i tenda. = You can find rice in the store.
  Siña hao mañodda' pugas gi sanhalom i tenda. = You can find rice (on the) inside (of) the store (as opposed to on the outside).

The prefix san- is only used with location words, e.g. hålom (in), mo'na (front), lågu (north--Guam, west--Saipan), etc.
San- also follows the rules of vowel harmony. Meaning that in general you "pull back" the first vowel of the root word, i.e.: å to a, o to e, and u to i.