This study presents a revised analysis of evidentiality in Ancash Quechua in a contrastive approach with Common Tibetan. After a brief introduction to both languages and their affiliation, we provide an overview of the Quechua verb as well as the evidential and epistemic systems in this language family. Then we present the previous linguistic descriptions of Quechua’s evidential and epistemic markers, and a revised analysis of the semantic-cognitive values of the evidential =mi . This study shows that the evidential =mi in Ancash Quechua in fact encodes both information source and focus. Unlike in Common Tibetan, the evidential markers are highly restricted in interrogative clauses. However, the perspective shift indicated by evidential markers in interrogative clauses is attested in this language. Largely ignored in previous studies, the absence of overt evidentials plays a significant role in the system, since it may trigger evidential inferences, a mirative reading, an indication of the speaker’s lesser commitment and a lack of definiteness. The comparison of the main differences between the evidential systems of Ancash Quechua and Common Tibetan allows us to shed new light on the distinct evidential notions of information source and information access from a typological point of view.
This paper proposes an analysis of the encoding of mood/reality-status in the Djambarrpuyŋu verb paradigm (djr; Yolŋu Matha: Pama-Nyungan). In Djambarrpuyŋu – as in many other languages in the north of the Australian continent – negative operators pattern with modal operators in that their clausemate verbs obligatorily co-occur with specific (irrealis) morphology. On the basis of novel data, elicited in Arnhem Land, this study comprises the first formal treatment of the semantics of reality status in an Australian language, joining recent work on verbal mood in languages outside Europe (e.g. Matthewson 2010; Krifka 2016; von Prince 2017). Further, it represents a new way of understanding the polarity-conditioned asymmetries with respect to reality status marking, an areal feature in the grammars of northern Australian languages (see Miestamo 2005).
This paper describes the main morphological and semantic characteristics of irrealis inflections in Gu-jingaliya, a Maningrida language from Arnhem Land (Northern Territory, Australia), in light of a reanalysis of its verb conjugational classes. This language has several ways to express different types of irrealis, depending on the conjugational class of each verb. They are expressed through specific verbal irrealis inflections, with a contrast between counterfactual (CF), apprehensive (APPR), and generic (formally unmarked) irrealis (IRR). The respective meanings of these verbal inflections are often dependent on their co-occurrence with certain particles that specify modal information. The analysis of Gu-jingaliya irrealis marking that I propose reveals a dependency between tense (realis) and irrealis inflections, in which the former restrict and predict the latter. Accordingly, a classification of verbs based on tense inflectional patterns allows the formalisation of implicative rules for predicting the expression of irrealis inflections. Data show that irrealis inflections cover different degrees of modal flavours, with IRR and CF being functionally richer than the APPR. This analysis sheds new light on the characterisation of conjugational classes and the morphological interactions between tense and modality markers in Gu-jingaliya.
The paper offers a description of the valency-changing, transitivity- and voice-marking morphology in five dialects of Kara, a Western Oceanic language spoken in New Ireland (Papua New Guinea). In Kara, reflexes of most of the reconstructed valency-changing morphology of Proto-Oceanic are found, as well as a morphological passive formed by means of a suffix - an , which may also be traced back to Proto-Oceanic. Furthermore, some varieties of Kara show evidence of a second passive formation, hitherto undescribed, which utilizes the detransitivized form of bivalent predicates.
This article discusses the expression of modality in Kriol, one of the English-based creoles spoken in the north of Australia. More specifically, we focus on Kriol preverbal modal markers, and explore the semantic principles underlying the system they form. We show that notwithstanding English etymologies, the system of Kriol preverbal modal markers cannot be satisfyingly accounted for uniquely in terms of modal strength or flavour. Several of these markers operate in areas of the irrealis domain where strength-based analyses are partly inoperant. In this respect, the treatment of modality in Kriol aligns well with the semantic organisation of modal markers reported for some other Australian languages.
Il existe de nombreux types de constructions clivées, mais plus généralement, quand on pense aux clivées, les exemples qui viennent à l’esprit sont ceux de la construction dite « it-cleft » en anglais, comme it’s our work that is important ou la clivée en français c’est moi qui suis venu. L’anglais en présente d’autres types connus sous les termes malheureux de « pseudoclefts » et « inversed pseudo-cleft », comme par exemple what is important is our work ou our work is what is important. De fait, il y a autant de définitions des clivées que de types de clivées. La définition de Lambrecht nous semble particulièrement englobante :
Abstract The Senufo languages, including Minyanka, are generally considered as having three tones: high, mid and low. This article points out that the Minyanka dialect spoken in Penesso has only two tones. It goes through the different tone rules attested in this dialect. In the conclusion, it shows up that this Minyanka dialect is not the only Senufo language which has only two tones.
Abstract This paper presents a data collection method that has been utilized in fieldwork in Tver Karelia in the Tver Oblast of the Russian Federation. The memory walk method derives from cultural research concerning sensory memory. I have applied it to collect data on bilingual resources in the Karelian lexicon in the environmental context of Karelian villages. The research data contain nine memory walk interviews conducted in 2018. The method is evaluated using keyword analysis to assess the similarities and differences in the received lexical data. In the analyses, each of the interviews (target corpus) was compared with the remaining eight interviews (reference corpus) resulting in a list of keywords that either occur more often or more rarely in the target corpus than the reference corpus. As a result, only a few content words emerged in the analyses. Differences occurred in the use of particles, which are typical to speech data. The differences in the use of particles can be explained by bilingual resources: some speakers tended to use more Karelian and some more Russian words. In conclusion, the method seems to result in fairly consistent data despite the spontaneous nature of speech.
Abstract The current article examines Russian influence on Veps in the light of morphosyntactic change, morphological borrowing and the adoption of new categories. Spoken language has traditionally played a dominating role in the development of Veps and involved extensive variation. Conceivably, there is plenty of both dialectal and idiosyncratic variation in the adoption of Russian characteristics. Actual language contact is based on the intertwining of inherited and borrowed features, and multiple ways of adapting foreign patterns in morphological and syntactic rules. Consequently, the parallel use of Veps and Russian vocabulary and grammar has increased non-Finnic features in Veps. In the current article prefixal verbs are analysed in more detail by a cross-analysis of verbal morphology in Veps and Russian. The borrowing of Russian verbal prefixes in Veps shows that, in principle, lexically ruled grammatical patterns are more easily borrowed than categories that influence morphological paradigms.
Abstract Mansi is a severely endangered minority language spoken mainly by the Mansi, an indigenous people of the Russian North. Traditionally the Mansi were living on fishing, hunting, gathering, and reindeer breeding, but as a result of industrialisation in the region, they gradually moved to urban types of settlements. Since the beginning of the 21st century the heritage language speakers became visible as a distinctive category beside the group of Mansi native speakers. The Mansi heritage language speakers have less proficiency in Mansi, but they are more active and creative in negotiating the position of their language and culture. As a result of the heritage language speakers’ activity, Mansi is not only the language of the kitchen small talks, but also became the language of the contemporary indigenous pop culture.
Abstract In this article, I investigate how the syntax of the Permic languages, Udmurt and Komi, looked during the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. In particular, I compare the Udmurt and Komi translations of the Russian text Speech of Comrade J. V. Stalin, published in December 1937. The main research framework of the article is studies on the language of Soviet Communism, also known as Newspeak, e.g. Thom (1989), Sériot (1985, 1986), and Young (1992). These studies claim that the Russian language of Soviet communism was characterized by heavy syntax, nominalization and elimination of verbs. In this article, I demonstrate how translations of Russian Newspeak into Komi and Udmurt changed the syntax of these languages, particularly in the Komi and Udmurt media of the 1930s. The article shows that the Permiс languages were modified for ideological propaganda purposes by mixing them with the Russian language. I also show how the syntax of the Udmurt and Komi languages affected the accuracy of translations.
Abstract In Finnic languages, transitive verbs have two types of object, indicated by case: total and partitive. In negative clauses, the distinction between total and partitive objects is neutralized, and all objects take the partitive case. When a negative clause contains a positive complement clause, the object of the complement clause may be in the partitive even when it would otherwise be total. In this study, we examine the phenomenon in such complement clauses and test the hypothesis that case marking in complement clauses under negation reflects structural integration between the main clause and the complement clause: the more tightly the clauses are integrated, the more likely are objects to be partitive, when the main clause is negative. This hypothesis is tested with corpus data from six Finnic languages: Livonian, Estonian, Votic, Finnish, Karelian and Veps. The results of our study offer support to the hypothesis and suggest that object marking can reflect structural integration between the main clause and the complement in Finnic languages.
Abstract This article examines the usage patterns and declining process of possessive suffixes in Finnic languages. Possessive suffixes are pronoun originated grammatical markers that have cognates in all branches of Uralic language. Alongside their main function as adnominal possessive markers, they are known to have a range of other meanings and functions, such as emphasizing the referent of a personal pronoun. The role of possessive suffixes has also been significant in the development of reflexive and possessive-reflexive pronominal constructions. Even in languages where no longer in use, possessive suffixes have left their mark on these constructions. In Finnic languages, the use of possessive suffixes has either ceased or it is on decline, though the details of the declining process display variation across the languages. Several stages of decline can be observed, and they are accessed by comparing the same or similar text material, as well as grammatical descriptions of Finnic languages.
Abstract This paper investigates the causal meanings arising from reported discourse in non-standard written online communications among six Uralic languages: Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Komi, and Udmurt. Unlike previous studies focusing on non-locutionary functions of quotative markers, this study scrutinizes cases in which reported discourse preserves its locutionary function of presenting speech or thought but discursively conveys the additional meaning of reason or purpose. The results show that additional causal meanings are found across all languages of the sample in the contexts in which non-clausal quotative markers introduce reported discourse. The meaning of reason and purpose can be overtly marked by causal markers like reason and purpose conjunctions or implied in the context. On both occasions, a discourse unit presenting reason or purpose almost exclusively follows a discourse unit to which the reported justification is presented. Quotative particles among these Uralic languages show a preference for reported discourse conveying reason, except for the Permic self-quotative particles, which are attracted more to reported speech and thought conveying purpose.
Abstract The paper is focused on the syntactic properties of genitive modifiers in Beserman Udmurt. Apart from the canonical genitive construction with obligatory possessive marking, genitive preposed to the head and head-adjacent (not separated by higher constituents), Beserman allows the structures where the genitive is non-adjacent to the possessum, the possessive suffix is absent, and the possessed nominal may be replaced by an anaphoric pronoun or a question word. Following Edygarova (2010) and Usacheva & Arkhangelskiy (2016), I propose to analyze these constructions in terms of external possession. The genitive in such constructions often has a meaning of a personal locative in terms of Daniel (2003). Thus, I claim that there are two different syntactic positions for the genitive. One of them is a position inside the NP, and another one is external to the NP. On occasion, both positions can be simultaneously filled in spontaneous speech.
This text introduces a special issue of the journal Faits de Langues . Our aim is to demonstrate to the wider community that a multimodal approach in which we integrate all forms of semiotic expression into our analyses is possible. All the articles in this issue characterize the processes that underpin their orchestration. Gesture studies are now an emerging, dynamic field in which researchers adopt different theoretical approaches and apply a variety of methods. In all cultures, in all situations, in all populations, throughout human history and throughout life, the construction of meaning is informed by the available and coordinated semiotic resources we use. Whether considered a part of or a partner to language, gesture in particular is shared with others in the course of social interactions and therefore constitutes an important semiotic resource that can no longer be ignored.
Abstract The linguistic contribution of representational gestures has long been the focus of Gesture Studies, but descriptions of other gesture types and of their functions are much more scarse, notably when it comes to pragmatic gestures that play a discourse function. Yet, whereas representational gestures are interesting for the study of their semantic features, discursive gestures reveal the information structure of linguistic messages as well as the foregrounding of some parts of speech. The present study proposes an analysis of four gesture types: beats, points, hand flips and closing hand gestures. They share the function of highlighting discourse units and the hypothesis proposed here is that they do not have the same scope in doing so. Beats and points are local highlighters which emphasize lexical items (words or NPs), whereas hand flips and closing hand gestures frame larger discourse units like Inter-Pausal Units or Turn-Constructional Units, that can be considered as forming oral paragraphs, as well as Intonation Phrases to a lesser extent. The prosodic study of the speech uttered in synchrony with these four gesture types sheds a new light on some of their functions which have so far been described in a qualitative way. It allows us not only to make connections between gestures that are often considered separately, but also to differentiate them.
Abstract This text introduces a special issue of the journal Faits de Langues. Our aim is to demonstrate to the wider community that a multimodal approach in which we integrate all forms of semiotic expression into our analyses is possible. All the articles in this issue characterize the processes that underpin their orchestration. Gesture studies are now an emerging, dynamic field in which researchers adopt different theoretical approaches and apply a variety of methods. In all cultures, in all situations, in all populations, throughout human history and throughout life, the construction of meaning is informed by the available and coordinated semiotic resources we use. Whether considered a part of or a partner to language, gesture in particular is shared with others in the course of social interactions and therefore constitutes an important semiotic resource that can no longer be ignored.
