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