Fernenst
In front of. Opposite. Facing. 'Fernenst the church' means right in front of the church, or directly opposite it. The preposition that English does without - 'in front of', 'opposite to', or 'over against' do the same work in three words rather than one.
Etymology
From Scots 'fornent' / 'forninst', a Northern English and Scots preposition documented through Older Scots into modern speech. Built from 'for' (in front of) + 'nenst' / 'anenst' (an older 'over against'). The standard English preposition 'against' shares the underlying second element, but the Ulster Scots compound preserves the original 'in front of' sense that English lost.
In a sentence
"The new shop's fernenst the post office - you'll see the sign from the road."
Historical notes
Fernenst is one of the small, precise Ulster Scots prepositions that English-elsewhere has not bothered to keep. The standard English equivalent - 'opposite', 'facing', 'directly in front of' - is always longer and never quite as exact. Modern Ulster Scots speakers may use 'fernenst', 'forninst', or 'fernenst' depending on speech community; the meaning is identical. Heard mostly in older speech and in dialect writing; younger Ulster speech tends to use 'across from' or 'opposite'.
Alternate spellings
forninst · fornent
Sources
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), entry FORNENT prep. · dictionary
- Macafee, Caroline. A Concise Ulster Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1996. · dictionary