Recycling through perspective persistence in Monsang (Trans-Himalayan)
Reconstructing the desiderative from a reported intentionality construction
In a reported intentionality construction, intentionality is expressed as reported speech/thought (‘s/he
says/thinks, <I will go>’). The quoted clause must contain a first person form and refer to the future. Reported
intentionality displays perspective persistence and an accompanying apparent form-meaning mismatch, as it structurally marks the
speech-act participant perspective of the volitional agent despite idiomatically translating only from the perspective of the
current speaker. While this construction has been examined in languages around the world, this is the first treatment for the
Trans-Himalayan (or Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman) language family. Monsang (South-Central; Northeast India) is shown to have a
reported intentionality construction of the cross-linguistic type. In addition, there is a desiderative construction in the
language that does not display perspective persistence but is argued to reconstruct back to a reported intentionality
construction. Further evidence from synchronic and diachronic quotative constructions in Monsang is presented that illustrates the
prominence of quotative-derived expressions of intentionality in Monsang verbal morphology.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1The reported intentionality construction
- 1.2Reported intentionality and related constructions in Trans-Himalayan
- 2.Reported intentionality in Monsang
- 2.1Reported speech/thought in Monsang
- 2.2Reported intentionality construction in Monsang
- 3.From the reported intentionality construction to desiderative marking
- 3.1Reconstructing the Monsang desiderative to a reported intentionality construction
- 3.2Functional difference
- 4.Reported speech and the expression of intentionality in Monsang
- 4.1Synchronic use of reported speech to indicate intentions and motivations
- 4.2Future constructions derived from reported speech/thought
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (31)
Aaron, Uche E.
1996 Grammaticization of the verb ‘say’ to future tense in Obolo.
Journal of West African Languages 26(2). 87–93.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Adelaar, Willem F. H.
1990 The role of quotations in Andean discourse. In
Harm Pinkster &
Inge Genee (eds.), 1–12.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bradley, David
2003 Lisu. In
Graham Thurgood &
Randy J. LaPolla (eds.),
The Sino-Tibetan languages, 222–235. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bybee, Joan L., Revere D. Perkins & William Pagliuca
1994 The evolution of grammar : Tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chafe, Wallace L.
1980 The pear stories: Cognitive, cultural, and linguistic aspects of narrative production. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chelliah, Shobhana L., David A. Peterson, Tyler P. Utt & Evaline Blair
2019 Lamkang verb conjugation.
Himalayan Linguistics 18(1).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
De Vries, Lourens
1990 Some remarks on direct quotation in Kombai. In
Harm Pinkster &
Inge Genee (eds.), 291–309.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
DeLancey, Scott
2013 Creolization in the divergence of Tibeto-Burman. In
Nathan Hill &
Thomas Owen-Smith (eds.),
Trans-Himalayan linguistics: Historical and descriptive linguistics of the Himalayan area, 41–70. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
DeLancey, Scott
2015 The historical dynamics of morphological complexity in Trans-Himalayan.
Linguistic Discovery 13(2). 60–79.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gentens, Caroline, María Sol Sansiñena, Stef Spronck & An Van linden
Güldemann, Tom
2008 Quotative indexes in African languages: A synchronic and diachronic survey. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Haokip, Pauthang
2018 Agreement in Kuki-Chin languages of Barak Valley.
Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics 5(2). 159–210.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Konnerth, Linda
2014 A grammar of Karbi. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon PhD thesis.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Konnerth, Linda & Chikari Tisso
2018 Karbi texts: A fully glossed corpus of different genres.
Himalayan Linguistics Archive 17(2). 117–472.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Konnerth, Linda & Chikari Tisso
2019 Karbi texts: Original recordings of a corpus of different genres. London: SOAS, Endangered Languages Archive.
[URL].
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Konnerth, Linda & Koninglee Wanglar
2019 Person indexation in Monsang from a diachronic perspective.
Himalayan Linguistics 18(1).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matisoff, James A.
1986 Hearts and minds in South-East Asian languages and English: An essay in the comparative lexical semantics of psycho-collocations.
Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 15(1). 5–57.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matisoff, James A.
2003 Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and philosophy of Sino-Tibetan reconstruction. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McGregor, William B.
1994 The grammar of reported speech and thought in Gooniyandi.
Australian Journal of Linguistics 14(1). 63–92.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Noonan, Michael
2006 Direct speech as a rhetorical style in Chantyal.
Himalayan Linguistics Journal 61. 1–32.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ozerov, Pavel
2019 Person indexation in Anal.
Himalayan Linguistics 18(1). 26–53.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Reesink, Ger P.
1993 ‘
Inner speech’ in Papuan languages.
Language and Linguistics in Melanesia 24(2). 217–225.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rumsey, Alan
2001 On the syntax and semantics of trying. In
Jane Simpson,
David Nash,
Mary Laughren,
Peter Austin &
Barry Alpher (eds.),
Forty years on: Ken Hale and Australian languages, 353–363. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Saxena, Anju
1988 On syntactic convergence: The case of the verb ‘say’ in Tibeto-Burman.
Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 141. 375–388.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Saxena, Anju
1995 Unidirectional grammaticalization: Diachronic and cross-linguistic evidence.
STUF-Language Typology and Universals 48(4). 350–372.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Serzisko, Fritz
1987 The verb ʻto sayʼ in Ik (Kuliak).
Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 111. 67–92.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Singh, Naorem Saratchandra
2006 A grammar of Paite. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Spronck, Stef
2015 Reported speech in Ungarinyin: Grammar and social cognition in a language of the Kimberley Region, Western Australia. Canberra: Australian National University PhD thesis.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Spronck, Stef & Daniela Casartelli
2021.
In a Manner of Speaking: How Reported Speech May Have Shaped Grammar.
Frontiers in Communication 6
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.