Semantics and Anthropology

Grammatical Categories

1. Pronominal Systems2. Noun and Numeral Classifiers3. Locational Deixis4. Evidentials and Experiencer Constructions

Tom HornLanguage and Culture

1. Pronominal SystemsGeneral Information:

1. Pronominal Systems

General Aspects:

- There is no language that lacks equivalents to “I“ and “YOU“

- But: In some languages there are various forms of pronouns to signal - solidarity

- social distance- respect- or intimacy

- Some languages also have different pronominal categories like- dual pronouns- inclusive and exclusive “WE“(depending on whether the addressee is included or not)

YOU - singular or plural ?

- All of the world´s languages have an unique and inherently singular exponent of “I“ and most of them for the singular form of “YOU“ .

Examples: French: tu Mandarin Chinese: ni Yankunytjatjara: nyuntu

- English is unusual in using “YOU“ for singular and plural contexts. - Many varieties of English have different forms for the 2nd person plural.

Examples: youse ya`ll

Who are “we“ ?

- Could be: “I and some other people“- or: “I and another person“

“We“ indicates that there are two or more than two referents who have something in common

But: They do not have to be a real group

They are only regarded as a group for the purpose of what should be said about them.

Dual forms

In Yankunytjatjara there are three number categories:

singular / dual / plural one two more than two

Singular Dual Plural

1st ngayulu ngali ngamana

2nd nyuntu nyupali nyura

Inclusive / Exclusive pronouns

Example.: Malay kita (we inclusive)kawi (we exclusive)

Many languages have both the dual/plural distinction and the inclusive/exclusive distinction.

Example: Palaungfirst-person pronouns

Singular Dual Plural

r Inclusiveyar y Exclusive

“Minimal augmented“ prounoun systems

Example: Rembarrnga (Australian language)

Minimal Unit augmented Augmented“I“ 1 ngunu yarrbbarrah yarru“You“ 2 ku nakorrbbarrah nakorru“I and you“1+2 yukku ngakorrbbarrah ngakorru

plus one plus more

than one

Example: yarrbbarrah I`m thinking of me I`m not thinking of you

I`m thinking of one other person

I and another person (excluding addressee)

2. Noun and numeral classifiers

Classifiers = Certain grammtical devices which oblige speakers to categorise a referent along specific semantic dimensions

- Two most common types: Noun classifiers and Numeral classifiers

May be an affix or a word

- Both originate from ordinary nouns with concrete meanings.

- In some languages most classifiers are idential in form with ordinary nouns.

Example: Malay: ekor is used with animals, fish and birds but it also means “tail“ used as a noun.

- Classifiers do not classify nouns (like a gender system) but the referents of nouns

- In classifier languages there is a regular polysemy

Example: Jacaltec: The Classifier for corn ixim is also used for products of corn like tortillas

Social classifiers are divided into certain categories:

Humans - Non-humans male - female

family - society old - young

Example: ho7 for male family members xo7 for female family members

Natural classifiers: - the elements - animals - plants

Example: Jacaltec: versatile classifier for animals “ no7“

no7 nok animal

no7 mis cat

no7 lab‘d snake

Physical classifiers which are based on-form- size- function

Example: Cantonese: jí is used for thin and cylindrial things

jí bat pen

jí dek flute

(choice of classifiers depending on how the speakers views the object involved)

Functional Classifiers

Example: Cantonese: “ga“ for vehicles and machines with moving parts

ga che car ga feigei aeroplane

Numeral Classifiers

- Japanese: Numeral classifieres are suffixes to numerals

Example: suffix “hon“ for longish and thin objects

empitsu ni-hon kyuuri ipi-ponpencil two Cl:hon cucumber one Cl:hontwo pencils one cucumber

(“ pon“ and “bon“ are allomorphs of “hon“)

The suffix “hon“ can be analysed in terms of a “radical polysemy“.

One central meaning with various similar branches

It is also used with: cassette tapes camera films rubber bands

liquids in bottles and tubes telephone calls letters movies passes and shots in sports a.s.o

Neutral Classifiers:

They are used with objects whose specific nature is irrelevant or unknown to the speaker.

Example: Cantonese: go Burmese: khu Vietnamese: cai

3. Locational Deixis

Deixis: Features of language that refer directly to the personal, temporal or locational characteristics of a situation

- In English there are two basic deictis: this and that

- Many other languages have a more elaborated system with three, four or more deictis

- The most common semantic categories in locational deixis are

- distance- visibility- elevation

Distance:

- the most frequent distinction is between “proximal“ (near) and “distal“ (not near)

- locational deixis is in most languages structured according to the relative distance from the speaker but in some languages the distance from the addressee is also important.

Example: Georgian: es near speaker

eg near addressee

is/igi near neither

Differentiated distal degree

- In languages with more than two distances the “distal pole“ tends to be more differentiated than the proximal

Example: Kusaiean : nge “ this“

ngacn “that“

ngoh “that over there“

ngi “that way over there“

Visibility:- In some languages visibility of the referents also plays a role

Example: Coastal Yidiny: demonstrative stem “yu-“ is used for referents that are distant and visible

Example: Kabardian: term a for indicating a non-visible referent without telling about the distance

Elevation:- appears always in languages spoken in mountainous regions

Example: Paamese: kèmai “over there“

kema “up over there“

kemits “down over there“

- In some languages people also distinguish more degrees of elevation

- there are similar degrees depending on the geographical situation

Examples: uphill vs. downhill upriver vs. downriver landside vs seaside

Evidentials and Experiencer Constructions

Evidentials and Experiencer Constructions

-Evidentials are grammatical markers which spell out the grounds for what one says

- English does not have Evidentials in the form of a grammatical system

Alternatives: 1. Epistemic use of modal verbs

Examples: He must be ill. She should be there by now.

2. Usage of sentence adverbs

Examples: presumably apparently reportedly

-Most evidential constructions appear involving the words think, know and say

“Personal Experience“ Evidentials

Indicating why and how the speaker knows what he or she talks about

Example: Kashaya (Californian language)

Three suffixes: - mela Performative

- ya Factual-visual

- vnná Auditory

Performative: speaker did himself what he talks about

Factual-visual: speaker saw what he talks about

Auditory: speaker heard what he talks about

Evidentials indicating certainity

-There are also some evidentials which show how sure the speaker is in what he says.

Examples: Tarma Quechua :

three suffixes: - shi “hearsay“ ( I heard it) - mi

“conviction“ (I know this)

- chi “conjecture“ (I think but I do not know)

Hearsay Particles or Quotatives

- The speaker attributes his statement to another person.

Example: - shi hearsay I say it because someone else said it but I do not know for sure.

“Anti-hearsay“ Evidentials

- Used to stress that the information derives from direct personal experience and is not provided by someone else

Example: Huanuco Quechua

suffix: -mi I say this not because someone else said it , I know it

Experiencer constructions is just another term for evidentials but these constructions also include the aspect of feeling.

Conclusion:

- This was just a selective coverage of some grammatical phenomena within the field of semantic namely: - Pronominal sytems - Noun and Numeral classifiers - Locational deixis - Evidential constructions

-Other interesting areas could be: - imperative forms - interrogative sentences - conditional clauses - singular/plural distinction and others