Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language” - Volume 32, Issue 2, 2008

This paper displays examples of inconsistencies in spontaneous speech. It refers to cases in which the speaker changes his manner of expression while speaking, even though there generally seems to be no objective reason for doing so. I demonstrate the phenomenon in the use of verb tense, of person inflection, of singular/plural form, and of direct/indirect speech. I suggest that these phenomena be viewed as cases in which the speaker tries (not necessarily consciously) to make his speech less monotonous and more attractive to the listener by providing various ways of expression differing mainly in the degree of closeness they convey between the reported event and the addressee.

I examine a range of complex predicates, searching for ones that might be called ‘bipartite stems’ in Skou, a language of New Guinea. First I draw a tentative distinction between serial verb constructions and N+V predicates on the one hand, and ‘true’ bipartite stems on the other, while pointing out some complications involved in making this division. Following this I examine the range of stems that can possibly be called ‘bipartite stems’, and those that certainly can be, concluding that the label is not a useful one in describing Skou, which shows more complexities than a simple ‘±bipartite’ dichotomy can capture. A survey of ‘bipartite’ phenomena in related and geographically close languages follows, with the conclusion that prosodic factors at least as much as morphological ones, and the possibility of an infixal analysis, rob the label ‘bipartite’ of much of its useful content when applied outside the domain for which it was originally devised.

The number of phenomena which are gathered together under the term ‘grammaticalization’ is quite large and in some ways quite diverse. For the different types of grammaticalization similar motivating factors have been suggested, similar principles, clines and hierarchies. Some of Lehmann’s (1982[1995], 1985) parameters, which have long been considered to characterize processes of grammaticalization, are now under attack from various quarters, and indeed the phenomenon of grammaticalization itself has been questioned as an independent mechanism in language change. This paper addresses a number of problems connected with the ‘apparatus’ used in grammaticalization and with the various types of grammaticalization currently distinguished. It will be argued that we get a better grip on what happens in processes of grammaticalization and lexicalization if the process is viewed in terms of an analogical, usage-based grammar, in which a distinction is made between processes taking place on a token-level and those taking place on a type-level. The model involves taking more notice of the form of linguistic signs and of the synchronic grammar system at each stage of the grammaticalization process.

Cross-linguistic comparison of future constructions (e.g. Bybee et al. 1994) shows that future grams almost invariably derive from verbs involving agent-oriented modality or spatial movement. However, the Hup language of the northwest Brazilian Amazon (Nadahup or ‘Makú’ family) has developed a future gram from a noun: ‘wood, stick’. This paper traces a proposed path of grammaticalization from the free lexeme ‘wood’ to an increasingly abstract ‘generic’ noun in nominal compounds, thence to a purpose adverbial, and finally to a future suffix in verbal constructions. While a nominal source like ‘wood, stick’ for a future gram is typologically extraordinary, each step in this transition is argued to be clearly motivated and consistent with more general cross-linguistic patterns of grammaticalization.

This paper investigates evidentiality as a category of clause modality in Wanano (Eastern Tukanoan). I discuss four major categories of modality by which statements, questions, and ‘oriented’ utterances are grammatically and obligatorily marked and explore areas of semantic overlap. The major focus is the complex and typologically interesting Wanano evidential system, and I describe the core and extended semantics of each of the five categories — HEARSAY, VISUAL, NON-VISUAL, INFERENCE, and ASSERTION. This description provides input to the theoretical discussion of the relationship between evidentials and epistemic values. I conclude that in Wanano, not only statements coded by evidentials but also statements referring to irrealis situations and interrogatives display sensitivity to scalar values of speaker commitment.