“Watching for witness”
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Ilana Mushin
Abstract
Linguistic forms with dedicated evidential meanings have been described for a number of Australian languages (eg. Donaldson 1980, Laughren 1982, Wilkins 1989) but there has been little written on how these are used in social interaction. This chapter examines evidential strategies in ordinary Garrwa conversations, by taking into account what we know more generally about the status of knowledge and epistemic authority in Aboriginal societies, and applying this understanding to account for the ways knowledge is managed in ‘ordinary’ interactions.
Abstract
Linguistic forms with dedicated evidential meanings have been described for a number of Australian languages (eg. Donaldson 1980, Laughren 1982, Wilkins 1989) but there has been little written on how these are used in social interaction. This chapter examines evidential strategies in ordinary Garrwa conversations, by taking into account what we know more generally about the status of knowledge and epistemic authority in Aboriginal societies, and applying this understanding to account for the ways knowledge is managed in ‘ordinary’ interactions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Foreword
- Evidentiality in social interaction 1
-
Introduction
- Evidentials and evidential strategies in interactional and socio-cultural context 13
- Enhancing national solidarity through the deployment of verbal categories 21
- From quotative other to quotative self 57
- Shifting voices, shifting worlds 75
- “Watching for witness” 103
- “Who knows best?” 127
- Nanti self-quotation 155
-
Index
- Index 193
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Foreword
- Evidentiality in social interaction 1
-
Introduction
- Evidentials and evidential strategies in interactional and socio-cultural context 13
- Enhancing national solidarity through the deployment of verbal categories 21
- From quotative other to quotative self 57
- Shifting voices, shifting worlds 75
- “Watching for witness” 103
- “Who knows best?” 127
- Nanti self-quotation 155
-
Index
- Index 193
