7. Description of reciprocal situations in Lao
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N.J. Enfield
Abstract
This article describes the grammatical resources available to speakers of Lao for describing situations that can be described broadly as ‘reciprocal’. The analysis is based on complementary methods: elicitation by means of non-linguistic stimuli, exploratory consultation with native speakers, and investigation of corpora of spontaneous language use. Typically, reciprocal situations are described using a semantically general ‘collaborative’ marker on an action verb. The resultant meaning is that some set of people participate in a situation ‘together’, broadly construed. The collaborative marker is found in two distinct syntactic constructions, which differ in terms of their information structural contexts of use. The paper first explores in detail the semantic range of the collaborative marker as it occurs in the more common ‘Type 1’ construction, and then discusses a special pragmatic context for the ‘Type 2’ construction. There is some methodological discussion concerning the results of elicitation via video stimuli. The chapter also discusses two specialised constructions dedicated to the expression of strict reciprocity.
Abstract
This article describes the grammatical resources available to speakers of Lao for describing situations that can be described broadly as ‘reciprocal’. The analysis is based on complementary methods: elicitation by means of non-linguistic stimuli, exploratory consultation with native speakers, and investigation of corpora of spontaneous language use. Typically, reciprocal situations are described using a semantically general ‘collaborative’ marker on an action verb. The resultant meaning is that some set of people participate in a situation ‘together’, broadly construed. The collaborative marker is found in two distinct syntactic constructions, which differ in terms of their information structural contexts of use. The paper first explores in detail the semantic range of the collaborative marker as it occurs in the more common ‘Type 1’ construction, and then discusses a special pragmatic context for the ‘Type 2’ construction. There is some methodological discussion concerning the results of elicitation via video stimuli. The chapter also discusses two specialised constructions dedicated to the expression of strict reciprocity.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- 1. Introduction 1
- 2. The semantics of reciprocal constructions across languages 29
- 3. Semantics of Khoekhoe reciprocal constructions 61
- 4. Reciprocal constructions in English 75
- 5. Reciprocal constructions in Indo-Pakistani Sign Language 91
- 6. Mundari reciprocals 115
- 7. Description of reciprocal situations in Lao 129
- 8. Reciprocal constructions in Mah Meri 149
- 9. The coding of reciprocal events in Jahai 163
- 10. Reciprocals in Yélî Dnye, the Papuan language of Rossel Island 177
- 11. Reciprocals in Rotokas 195
- 12. Expression of reciprocity in Savosavo 213
- 13. To have and have not 225
- 14. Strategies for encoding reciprocity in Mawng 233
- 15. Reciprocal-marked and marked reciprocal events in Kuuk Thaayorre 251
- 16. Reciprocal constructions in Olutec 265
- 17. Reciprocal constructions in Tsafiki 277
- 18. Reciprocal constructions in Hup 315
- 19. Reciprocals and semantic typology 329
- Addresses 341
- Index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- 1. Introduction 1
- 2. The semantics of reciprocal constructions across languages 29
- 3. Semantics of Khoekhoe reciprocal constructions 61
- 4. Reciprocal constructions in English 75
- 5. Reciprocal constructions in Indo-Pakistani Sign Language 91
- 6. Mundari reciprocals 115
- 7. Description of reciprocal situations in Lao 129
- 8. Reciprocal constructions in Mah Meri 149
- 9. The coding of reciprocal events in Jahai 163
- 10. Reciprocals in Yélî Dnye, the Papuan language of Rossel Island 177
- 11. Reciprocals in Rotokas 195
- 12. Expression of reciprocity in Savosavo 213
- 13. To have and have not 225
- 14. Strategies for encoding reciprocity in Mawng 233
- 15. Reciprocal-marked and marked reciprocal events in Kuuk Thaayorre 251
- 16. Reciprocal constructions in Olutec 265
- 17. Reciprocal constructions in Tsafiki 277
- 18. Reciprocal constructions in Hup 315
- 19. Reciprocals and semantic typology 329
- Addresses 341
- Index 343
