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Volume 48, Issue 1
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Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines the plural marker = in Cogtse Situ, a Gyalrongic language spoken in Western Sichuan, based on data from Lin (2016). Although the etymology of = suggests that it was originally a plural marker, its morphosyntax reveals that its hosts range beyond traditional nominals and further cover infinitives, clauses, and adverbs, indicating that = has a wider array of uses beyond simply expressing plurality in modern Cogtse. In this paper, I discuss the uses and the semantics of the marker = extend to honorific, associative, approximative, and intensificative. After describing the different functions of =, I propose an evolutionary pathway for these uses. The proposal of the pathway provides a possible explanation for the relationship between different uses of this =, and this paper fills the research gap in the study of the plural marker in Gyalrongic languages.

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2025-04-17
2025-11-11

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The Cogtse plural marker =ɲê and its evolutionary pathway
Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 48, 132 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.24002.li
/content/journals/10.1075/ltba.24002.li
/content/journals/10.1075/ltba.24002.li
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Cogtse; grammaticalisation; Gyalrong; plural marker; semantic change

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