A Direction expresses the orientation of a stationary figure or of a figure’s motion. Prototypical markers¹ are away and back; up and down; off; and out, provided that no specific Source or Goal is salient:

• The bird flew up/out/away/off. 001

• I walked over to where they were sitting. 002

• The price shot up. 003

In addition, transitive toward/towards, for, and at can indicate where something is aimed or directed (but see discussion at Goal):

• The camera is aimed at the subject. 004

• The toddler kicked at the wall. 005

See discussion of away_from at Source.

Distance#

Locus↝Direction is used for expressions of static distance between two points:

• The mountains are 3 km away/apart. (Locus↝Direction) 006

• The mountains are 3 km away_from our house. (Locus↝Direction) 007

This also applies to distances measured by travel time (the amount of time is taken to be metonymic for the physical distance):

• The mountains are an hour away/apart. (Locus↝Direction) 008

Compare Extent, which is the length of a path of motion or the amount of change.

Informal direction modifier in location description#

• They live (way) out past_Locus↝Path the highway/over by_Locus the school (Locus↝Direction) 009.

Cf. Interval#003 at Interval.