Article In: Linguistics in the Netherlands 2026
Edited by Remco Knooihuizen, Marloes Oomen and Alex Reuneker
[Nota Bene 3:2] 2026
► pp. 1–
Common ground management in Imbabura Kichwa
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Abstract
A novel analysis is proposed for four enclitics found in the Imbabura Kichwa language (Ecuador). The analysis,
which presents the markers as operators used for the management of the Common Ground and the Question Under Discussion, is based
on original fieldwork data and shows that previous analyses of the enclitics are incompatible with the Imbabura Kichwa markers. In
the paper, I argue that the analysis is not only empirically preferable but also theoretically more sound, by proposing that the
conversation analysis notion of epistemic authority, broadly employed in descriptive studies of epistemicity, should be formalized
and understood as the ability of speakers to contribute to the common ground by answering the immediate question under
discussion.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.A CG and QUD model of discourse
- 3.The enclitic =ka
- 3.1The evidence against =ka as a topic marker
- 3.2=ka as a CG marker
- 4.The enclitic =mi
- 4.1The incompatibility of IK =mi with previous analyses
- 4.2=mi: Proposing for the CG
- 5.=mari and verum
- 6.=chari: Updating the QUD
- 7.Conclusions and implications
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
- Author queries
References
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