Noun – Verb – Adverb.
Different inflectional forms of the same word – and yet an entirely logical sentence.
By way of contrast: Occidentals Orientate Arcticly.
Stated differently:
- One of the terms in English for “getting your bearings” is to orientate – or “find the most important direction (east – i.e., the orient)”.
- And yet, ironically, as the language of an occidental people, native English speakers typically orient by finding North. (Obviously, the Romans and their cardo + decumanus are to blame.)
So. It’s simple really:
- Orientals get their bearings by finding the sun.
- Occidentals get their bearings by looking towards where the bears come from – the arktos (but blame the Greeks for that one).