Chapter 10
From similarity to evidentiality
Uncertain visual/perceptual evidentiality in Yurakaré and other languages
Sonja Gipper | University of Cologne | Australian National University, Canberra
This chapter argues that the synchronic uses of the Yurakaré (isolate, central Bolivia) polyfunctional suffix ‑shi plausibly reflect a diachronic path of semantic extension, first from a derivational suffix expressing similarity to an uncertain visual/perceptual evidential, and from there to an inferential evidential. Evidence for this claim comes from the correlation of the properties of the synchronic uses with well-known tendencies of semantic change, and from a sociolinguistic analysis of the synchronic uses of ‑shi. A cross-linguistic comparison further shows that there are various other languages with a similar evidential marker. For some of these languages, similar paths of diachronic development are plausible.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background on Yurakaré, method and data
- 3.The synchronic uses of ‑shi
- 4.Sociolinguistic distribution
- 5.Cross-linguistic perspective
- 6.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgments
-
Abbreviations
-
Notes
-
References
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