Assertion, presumption and presupposition
An account of the erstwhile nominalizer YUM in Khalkha Mongolian
Kathleen Ahrens | Hong Kong Polytechnic University
In this paper, we analyze the clitic YUM (< ‘thing’) in Khalkha Mongolian which, in different syntactic
contexts, reinforces assertiveness or expresses different shades of presumption or presupposition. The former holds for
declaratives where the presence of YUM conveys the speaker’s strong subjective commitment. In question clauses, YUM is used to
indicate the speaker’s subjective and often strong guess, sometimes to the point that the speaker presupposes that the proposition
actually obtains. In subordinate clauses, YUM may fulfill the same function or serve as a structurally necessary nominalizer for
adjectival predicates without introducing any semantic opposition. In declaratives marked as immediately perceived, YUM conveys
inference via assumptive reasoning. We thus analyze YUM as a marker of subjective speaker conviction that within the Khalkha
Mongolian declarative system is opposed to both simple factuality and overt evidential marking.
Keywords: assertion, presumption, presupposition, inference, evidentiality
Published online: 23 January 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.18050.bro
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.18050.bro
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