Exact Repetition in Tojol-ab’al Maya
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Mary Jill Brody
Abstract
Tojol-ab’al Mayan is an indigenous language spoken in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. The language in use is characterized by extensive self- and other-repetition across all discourse genres. Through analysis of an extended everyday conversation that contains a number of conversational narratives, I demonstrate that repetition functions as a discourse marker of topic change. Specifically, accumulations of exact and reduced other-repetitions occur at junctures of change of topic in this conversation. It is argued that these sequences of other-repetition function as discourse markers of topic change at the global level. This involves a pragmaticalization of the process of other-repetition; such a process could also be understood as a contextualization convention, or as thetical.
Abstract
Tojol-ab’al Mayan is an indigenous language spoken in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. The language in use is characterized by extensive self- and other-repetition across all discourse genres. Through analysis of an extended everyday conversation that contains a number of conversational narratives, I demonstrate that repetition functions as a discourse marker of topic change. Specifically, accumulations of exact and reduced other-repetitions occur at junctures of change of topic in this conversation. It is argued that these sequences of other-repetition function as discourse markers of topic change at the global level. This involves a pragmaticalization of the process of other-repetition; such a process could also be understood as a contextualization convention, or as thetical.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
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Part I: Setting the Scene: Forms and Functions of Repetition
- Exact repetition or total reduplication? Exploring their boundaries in discourse and grammar 3
- Function vs form – On ways of telling repetition and reduplication apart 29
- The derivational nature of reduplication and its relation to boundary phenomena 67
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Part II: Exact Repetition in Grammar
- Reduplication and repetition in Russian Sign Language 91
- A brief overview of total reduplication in Modern Japanese 110
- Affixation or compounding? Reduplication in Standard Chinese 127
- Fixer-uppers. Reduplication in the derivation of phrasal verbs 158
- Turkish doubled verbs as doubled TPs 182
- Cognate objects in language variation and change 200
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Part III: Exact Repetition in (Discourse) Pragmatics
- The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity 233
- Sentence-peripheral Coordinative Reduplication in German: A pragmatic view 265
- Focus on repetition: On the role of focus and repetition in echo questions 295
- Repetition versus implicatures and presuppositions 329
- Exact Repetition in Tojol-ab’al Maya 350
- An analysis of two forms of verbal mimicry in troubles talk conversations between strangers and friends 366
- Language Index 389
- Subject Index 391
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
-
Part I: Setting the Scene: Forms and Functions of Repetition
- Exact repetition or total reduplication? Exploring their boundaries in discourse and grammar 3
- Function vs form – On ways of telling repetition and reduplication apart 29
- The derivational nature of reduplication and its relation to boundary phenomena 67
-
Part II: Exact Repetition in Grammar
- Reduplication and repetition in Russian Sign Language 91
- A brief overview of total reduplication in Modern Japanese 110
- Affixation or compounding? Reduplication in Standard Chinese 127
- Fixer-uppers. Reduplication in the derivation of phrasal verbs 158
- Turkish doubled verbs as doubled TPs 182
- Cognate objects in language variation and change 200
-
Part III: Exact Repetition in (Discourse) Pragmatics
- The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity 233
- Sentence-peripheral Coordinative Reduplication in German: A pragmatic view 265
- Focus on repetition: On the role of focus and repetition in echo questions 295
- Repetition versus implicatures and presuppositions 329
- Exact Repetition in Tojol-ab’al Maya 350
- An analysis of two forms of verbal mimicry in troubles talk conversations between strangers and friends 366
- Language Index 389
- Subject Index 391
