Full Description
In a number of languages, the speaker must specify the evidence for every statement whether seen, or heard, or inferred from indirect evidence, or learnt from someone else. This grammatical category, referring to information source, is called 'evidentiality'. Evidentiality systems differ in how complex they are: some distinguish just two terms (eyewitness and noneyewitness, or reported and non-reported), while others have six (or even more) terms. Evidentiality is a category in its own right, and not a subtype of epistemic or some other modality, or of tense-aspect. The introductory chapter sets out cross-linguistic parameters for studying evidentiality. It is followed by twelve chapters which deal with typologically different languages from various parts of the world: Shipibo-Conibo, Jarawara, Tariana and Myky from South America; West Greenlandic Eskimo; Western Apache and Eastern Pomo from North America; Qiang (Tibeto-Burman); Yukaghir (Siberian isolate); Turkic languages; languages of the Balkans; and Abkhaz (Northwest Caucasian). The final chapter summarises some of the recurrent patterns.
Contents
1. Contributors; 2. Preface; 3. Abbreviations; 4. 1. Evidentiality in typological perspective (by Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.); 5. 2. Evidentiality in Shipibo-Konibo, with a comparative overview of the category in Panoan (by Valenzuela, Pilar M.); 6. 3. Evidentiality in Qiang (by LaPolla, Randy J.); 7. 4. Evidentiality in Western Apache (Athabaskan) (by Reuse, Willem J. de); 8. 5. Evidentials in Eastern Pomo with a comparative survey of the category in other Pomoan languages (by McLendon, Sally); 9. 6. Evidentiality in Tariana (by Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.); 10. 7. Evidentiality in Jarawara (by Dixon, R.M.W.); 11. 8. Evidentiality in the Balkans with special attention to Macedonian and Albanian (by Friedman, Victor A.); 12. 9. Evidentiality in Yukaghir (by Maslova, Elena S.); 13. 10. Evidentiality in Myky (by Monserrat, Ruth); 14. 11. Evidential category and evidential strategy in Abkhaz (by Chirikba, Viacheslav); 15. 12. Evidentiality in Turkic (by Johanson, Lars); 16. 13. Evidentiality in West Greenlandic: A case of scattered coding (by Fortescue, Michael); 17. 14. Evidentials (by Joseph, Brian D.); 18. Index of authors; 19. Index of languages and language families; 20. Index of subjects
