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Discourse Phenomena in Typological Perspective
Edited by Alessandra Barotto and Simone Mattiola
[Studies in Language Companion Series 227] 2023
► pp. 65–89

Chapter 4
The use of interjections as a discourse phenomenon

A contrastive study of Chuvash (Turkic) and Wan (Mande)

| CNRS-LACITO,
| CNRS-LACITO,
| University of Picardie Jules Verne,
This study describes and compares two conventionalized uses of interjections in traditional narratives in Chuvash (Turkic) and Wan (Mande). First, interjections are shown to be associated with a quotative function: they help signal instances of reported speech. The use of interjections interacts with the grammatical marking of reported speech: the presence of an interjection is negatively correlated with the presence of a grammaticalized quotative element. Second, in Chuvash, but not in Wan, interjections are used, outside the context of reported speech, to emphasize an event’s intensity or duration. We relate the absence of an intensifying function in Wan to competition between interjections and ideophones. The two phenomena shed light on the interaction between interjections and language-specific grammatical and lexical resources.
Keywords: interjections, Mande, Turkic, reported speech, narrative grammar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The quotative function
    • 2.1Interjections help signal reported speech
    • 2.2In the context of reported speech, interjections tend towards initial positions
    • 2.3The prosody of quotative uses
  • 3.Functions outside reported speech
    • 3.1The intensifying use in Chuvash
    • 3.2The prosody of the intensifying use
    • 3.3Absence of the intensifying use in Wan
  • 4.Heterogeneity among interjections
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 1 March 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.227.04nik
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