The complete specification of a spatial relation born by an object or a situation involves the following components:

• a reference point Nd
• a relational notion which indicates the specific relation with respect to Nd, viz. the static local relation of rest at Nd or the dynamic relation of motion towards or away from or past Nd
• a spatial region N^d/h of Nd which specifies more precisely the location.

Of the various ways of coding such a configuration by grammatical means, two will here be reviewed. They share the categorization of N^d/h as a relational noun. The local relation itself, however, may be indicated by a – static or dynamic – verb or by a case relator. Mandarin illustrates the former alternative, Cabecar the latter.