21 Evidentiality
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Tyler Peterson
Abstract
Evidentiality is about the source of information - the evidence - a speaker has for making a statement. Many languages grammatically encode specific kinds of information sources through words, affixes, clitics, or particles, called evidentials. This chapter focusses on evidentiality in the indigenous languages of North America, with the goal of familiarizing the reader on the fundamental features of evidentiality. This involves examining the predominant frameworks for describing evidentials, and how they are grammatically realized in a cross-section of these languages. Another aim is to show how elements of these studies can be put into practice by those who wish to investigate evidentiality in their language. This is done by demonstrating the basic methods and techniques for documenting evidentiality, as well as providing a gateway to some of the state-of-the-art literature on evidentials from descriptive, functional, and theoretical perspectives.
Abstract
Evidentiality is about the source of information - the evidence - a speaker has for making a statement. Many languages grammatically encode specific kinds of information sources through words, affixes, clitics, or particles, called evidentials. This chapter focusses on evidentiality in the indigenous languages of North America, with the goal of familiarizing the reader on the fundamental features of evidentiality. This involves examining the predominant frameworks for describing evidentials, and how they are grammatically realized in a cross-section of these languages. Another aim is to show how elements of these studies can be put into practice by those who wish to investigate evidentiality in their language. This is done by demonstrating the basic methods and techniques for documenting evidentiality, as well as providing a gateway to some of the state-of-the-art literature on evidentials from descriptive, functional, and theoretical perspectives.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
- List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
- Maps XLI
-
I Sounds and sound structure
- 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
- 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
- 3 Tone 63
- 4 Segmental phonology 89
- 5 Prosodic morphology 109
- 6 Word prosody 135
- 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
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II Words
- 8 What is a word? 183
- 9 Word classes 205
-
III Sentences
- 10 Syntax within the clause 247
- 11 Negatives 267
- 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
- 13 Information structure 305
- 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
- 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
- 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
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IV Discourse
- 17 Verbal art 385
- 18 Conversation structure 421
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V Meaning
- 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
- 20 Lexicography 479
- 21 Evidentiality 497
- 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
- 23 Mass and count nouns 527
- 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
- 25 A sense of time and world 577
- 26 Pragmatics 599
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VI Languages over space and time
- 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
- 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
- 29 Language classification 669
- 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
- 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of contents VII
- List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
- Maps XLI
-
I Sounds and sound structure
- 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
- 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
- 3 Tone 63
- 4 Segmental phonology 89
- 5 Prosodic morphology 109
- 6 Word prosody 135
- 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
-
II Words
- 8 What is a word? 183
- 9 Word classes 205
-
III Sentences
- 10 Syntax within the clause 247
- 11 Negatives 267
- 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
- 13 Information structure 305
- 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
- 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
- 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
-
IV Discourse
- 17 Verbal art 385
- 18 Conversation structure 421
-
V Meaning
- 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
- 20 Lexicography 479
- 21 Evidentiality 497
- 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
- 23 Mass and count nouns 527
- 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
- 25 A sense of time and world 577
- 26 Pragmatics 599
-
VI Languages over space and time
- 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
- 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
- 29 Language classification 669
- 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
- 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
