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Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexation

Abstract

The study of hierarchical argument indexation systems shows that while the ranking of both 1st and 2nd person over other arguments is robust and reliable, it is impossible to find any compelling crosslinguistic evidence for one or the other ranking of the two Speech Act Participants, and rare to find a consistent ranking even within a single language. This paper assembles and reviews historical changes in the indexation of the “local” categories (1→2 and 2→1) in a number of Tibeto-Burman languages. We see that the fundamental deictic ranking SAP > 3 is conservative, and inverse marking to emphasize that ranking has been reinvented several times in the family. Changes in the marking of local categories are more diverse, but two phenomena recur independently in different languages and branches: a tendency for the 1→2 form to be uniquely marked, sometimes with forms which are not synchronically relatable to anything else in the paradigm, and a contrasting tendency for the 2→1 form to merge with the marking of 3→1. I propose that these tendencies reflect what I call sociopragmatic effects, i.e. the socially delicate nature of any and all natural utterances involving both the speaker and the addressee.

Abstract

The study of hierarchical argument indexation systems shows that while the ranking of both 1st and 2nd person over other arguments is robust and reliable, it is impossible to find any compelling crosslinguistic evidence for one or the other ranking of the two Speech Act Participants, and rare to find a consistent ranking even within a single language. This paper assembles and reviews historical changes in the indexation of the “local” categories (1→2 and 2→1) in a number of Tibeto-Burman languages. We see that the fundamental deictic ranking SAP > 3 is conservative, and inverse marking to emphasize that ranking has been reinvented several times in the family. Changes in the marking of local categories are more diverse, but two phenomena recur independently in different languages and branches: a tendency for the 1→2 form to be uniquely marked, sometimes with forms which are not synchronically relatable to anything else in the paradigm, and a contrasting tendency for the 2→1 form to merge with the marking of 3→1. I propose that these tendencies reflect what I call sociopragmatic effects, i.e. the socially delicate nature of any and all natural utterances involving both the speaker and the addressee.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part I. Setting the stage
  4. Synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to typological hierarchies 3
  5. Part II. Foundational issues
  6. Chapter 1. Evolutionary Phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants 31
  7. Chapter 2. The Obligatory Coding Principle in diachronic perspective 59
  8. Chapter 3. Deconstructing teleology 111
  9. Part III. Hierarchical effects and their origins
  10. Chapter 4. The development of referential hierarchy effects in Sahaptian 131
  11. Chapter 5. Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old Irish 191
  12. Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement 217
  13. Chapter 7. The direction(s) of analogical change in direct/inverse systems 257
  14. Chapter 8. Are the Tupi-Guarani hierarchical indexing systems really motivated by the person hierarchy? 289
  15. Chapter 9. Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages from the Proto-Salish middle 309
  16. Part IV. Conflicting hierarchical patterns and how to deal with them
  17. Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexation 345
  18. Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy Hierarchy 377
  19. Chapter 12. Generic person marking in Japhug and other Gyalrong languages 403
  20. Author index 425
  21. Language Index 429
  22. Subject Index 433
Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony
This chapter is in the book Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.121.10del

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part I. Setting the stage
  4. Synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to typological hierarchies 3
  5. Part II. Foundational issues
  6. Chapter 1. Evolutionary Phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants 31
  7. Chapter 2. The Obligatory Coding Principle in diachronic perspective 59
  8. Chapter 3. Deconstructing teleology 111
  9. Part III. Hierarchical effects and their origins
  10. Chapter 4. The development of referential hierarchy effects in Sahaptian 131
  11. Chapter 5. Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old Irish 191
  12. Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement 217
  13. Chapter 7. The direction(s) of analogical change in direct/inverse systems 257
  14. Chapter 8. Are the Tupi-Guarani hierarchical indexing systems really motivated by the person hierarchy? 289
  15. Chapter 9. Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages from the Proto-Salish middle 309
  16. Part IV. Conflicting hierarchical patterns and how to deal with them
  17. Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexation 345
  18. Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy Hierarchy 377
  19. Chapter 12. Generic person marking in Japhug and other Gyalrong languages 403
  20. Author index 425
  21. Language Index 429
  22. Subject Index 433
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