Nen assentives and the phenomenon of dialogic parallelisms
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Nicholas Evans
Abstract
A task for ontolinguistics is to delimit the set of grammatical devices sensitive to the speech-act nexus – whether speech-act role (speaker, hearer, etc.), knowledge asymmetries (ignoratives and demonstratives), speech-act goals (imperatives, questions, etc.), or social relations (e.g. honorifics). These devices are co-constructed by speaker-hearer dyads, and a convincing framework for dealing with them needs a typology of dialogic parallelisms: grammatical constructions in which there are tight formal and grammatical links between the contributions of the two parties. In the first part of this chapter I survey a number of known phenomena, including interrogative-demonstrative parallelisms, question-answer parallels, and conjunct/disjunct systems. In the second part I introduce a further, previously unreported example of dialogic parallelisms: assentives are a category used to supply assenting answers to imperatives. In the Papuan language Nen these show tight formal parallels to imperatives. I conclude by arguing for the need for greater attention to dialogic coordination in the shaping of core grammatical morphology. Keywords: adjacency pairs; conversational analysis; dialogism; ignoratives; interaction
Abstract
A task for ontolinguistics is to delimit the set of grammatical devices sensitive to the speech-act nexus – whether speech-act role (speaker, hearer, etc.), knowledge asymmetries (ignoratives and demonstratives), speech-act goals (imperatives, questions, etc.), or social relations (e.g. honorifics). These devices are co-constructed by speaker-hearer dyads, and a convincing framework for dealing with them needs a typology of dialogic parallelisms: grammatical constructions in which there are tight formal and grammatical links between the contributions of the two parties. In the first part of this chapter I survey a number of known phenomena, including interrogative-demonstrative parallelisms, question-answer parallels, and conjunct/disjunct systems. In the second part I introduce a further, previously unreported example of dialogic parallelisms: assentives are a category used to supply assenting answers to imperatives. In the Papuan language Nen these show tight formal parallels to imperatives. I conclude by arguing for the need for greater attention to dialogic coordination in the shaping of core grammatical morphology. Keywords: adjacency pairs; conversational analysis; dialogism; ignoratives; interaction
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Preface xi
- Practical theories and empirical practice – facets of a complex interaction 1
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Part I. Empirical practice
- The embodiment of linguistic meaning 35
- Infants’ encoding of social interaction as a conceptual foundation for the acquisition of argument structure 55
- Referring to colour and taste in Kilivila 71
- Yucatec demonstratives in interaction 99
- Many languages, one knowledge base 129
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Part II. Practical theories
- Nen assentives and the phenomenon of dialogic parallelisms 159
- Evidentiality, modality, focus and other puzzles 185
- Does Searle’s challenge affect chances for approximating assertion and quotative modal wollen ? 245
- The pragmatics of argumentation 257
- Implicature of complex sentences in error models 273
- The semantics of functional spaces 307
- Language index 325
- Name index 327
- Subject index 333
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Preface xi
- Practical theories and empirical practice – facets of a complex interaction 1
-
Part I. Empirical practice
- The embodiment of linguistic meaning 35
- Infants’ encoding of social interaction as a conceptual foundation for the acquisition of argument structure 55
- Referring to colour and taste in Kilivila 71
- Yucatec demonstratives in interaction 99
- Many languages, one knowledge base 129
-
Part II. Practical theories
- Nen assentives and the phenomenon of dialogic parallelisms 159
- Evidentiality, modality, focus and other puzzles 185
- Does Searle’s challenge affect chances for approximating assertion and quotative modal wollen ? 245
- The pragmatics of argumentation 257
- Implicature of complex sentences in error models 273
- The semantics of functional spaces 307
- Language index 325
- Name index 327
- Subject index 333
