Nominal demonstratives

In this section, I provide the nominal demonstrative inventory and pre-summarizes the meaning analysis of the nominal demonstratives presented in Chapters 4, 5, and 6.

1.3.1.1 Nominal demonstrative forms

Ticuna displays six nominal demonstratives ( s), shown in Table 1.1. s are the words syntactically equivalent to English this and that. They can be used either to modify a noun (adnominally) or to replace a noun (pronominally). In both uses, s agree in noun class with the noun which they modify. There are ve noun classes; the basis of noun class assignment is primarily semantic.

Table 1.1 labels each with an arbitrary number identifying the demonstrative lexical item (i.e. the set of all ve noun class forms of the item). I assign the numbers in order to create a way of referring to the s that (a) abstracts away from noun class agreement and (b) captures the correspondences between s and locative demonstratives. In the rest of the study, I will refer to demonstrative lexical items using the arbitrary numbers plus the form for noun class IV (which is the largest and default noun class). Thus 1, which has the noun class forms da³¹ʔe² (I), da²a² (II), da³¹a¹ (III), ɲa⁴a² (IV), ɲa⁴³a² (V), will be referred to simply as ' 1 ɲa⁴a².'

Table 1.1: Nominal demonstratives: inventory

Noun Class Class I Class II Class III Class IV Class V

Example N kɨ³ʔtʃi¹ tʃe³ra¹ ʎu³¹e³ ta³ra⁵ pa⁴kɨ³

'knife' 'handsaw' 'canoe' 'machete' 'young woman'

1 da³¹ʔe² da²a² da³¹a¹ ɲa⁴a² ɲa⁴³a²

2 ɟi³¹ʔe² ɟi²a⁴ ɟi²a² ŋe³a² ŋe⁴³a²

3 gu³¹ʔe² gu²a⁴ gu²a² ɟe³a² ɟe⁴³a²

4 DNE do²ma⁴ do³¹ma² ɲo⁴ma⁴ DNE

5 ɟi³¹ʔe²ma⁴ ɟi²ma⁴ ɟi²ma² ŋe³ma² ŋe⁴ma²

6 gu³¹ʔe²ma⁴ gu²ma⁴ gu²ma² ɟe⁴ma⁴ ɟe⁴ma²

There are signi cant morphological regularities within the nominal demonstrative paradigm.

Within each noun class, the rst syllable of 1 is always the same as the rst syllable of 4 (except for a phonologically predictable change of /a/ to /o/ before labials). Taking the forms for Class IV as our example, the rst syllable of 1 is ɲa⁴, and the rst of the 4 is ɲo⁴. Likewise, the rst syllable of 2 is always the same as the rst syllable of 5, and the rst syllable of 3 is always the same as the rst syllable of 6. In the same way, within each noun class, the second syllables of s 1, 2, and 3 always have one form, and the second syllables of s 4, 5, and 6 always have another.

Despite these morphological regularities, I do not analyze the s as synchronically mor-phologically complex. I have one morphological and one semantic reason for this decision.

Morphologically, nothing ever intervenes between the rst and second syllables of any . As such, there is no positive evidence for a morpheme break. There is also negative evidence against a morpheme break in that, in some morphophonological contexts (e.g. before the clitic

=ı̃¹ka⁵ 'only'), the nal syllable of a can be deleted with no semantic e ect.

Semantically, the s that appear to be morphologically related do not have a clear se-mantic relationship. Take s 3 and 6. These forms appear to be morphologically related

because they share an initial syllable. But 3 is an exclusively exophoric demonstrative used to index referents outside the speaker's reaching space (Chapter 6), while 6 is an exclu-sively anaphoric demonstrative that appears only in remote past clauses (Chapter 7). It is hard to imagine a common semantics for the initial syllable that would be compatible with both of these meanings.

A few syntactic properties of nominal demonstratives are relevant in the following chapters.

First, except in certain types of relative clause, nominal demonstratives are never obligatory. Thus any token of a nominal demonstrative (that is not modi ed by a relative clause) always carries some deictic or anaphoric force. It is never simply a placeholder. Second, nominal demonstratives occupy a dedicated syntactic position and do not compete syntactically with possessors, quan-ti ers, or any other element of the noun phrase. This means that, unlike in English, speakers never need to choose between using a demonstrative and using another kind of nominal modi-er. Third, in presentative constructions, it is nominal demonstratives and not locative demon-stratives that act as the predicate. So while English presentatives focus a locative demonstrative, in structures like Here it is and There they go, Ticuna ones focus a nominal demonstrative, with structures like This it is and Those they go. This structure will become relevant in the many examples in Chapters 4 through 6 which involve presentative constructions.

Nominal demonstratives used pronominally (i.e. in a noun phrase that does not include an overt noun) are clearly distinct from third-person pronouns. Semantically, nominal demonstra-tives are deictic: they convey information about the relation between the discourse participants and referent. Third-person pronouns are not: they convey nothing about the referent in relation to the participants. Likewise, nominal demonstratives and third-person pronouns share almost nothing in terms of phonology, morphology, or syntax. Phonologically, nominal demonstratives are prosodically independent words; third-person pronouns are not. Morphologically, nominal demonstratives display little allomorphy (except for noun class); third-person pronouns display extensive allomorphy conditioned by their case enclitics. Syntactically, demonstratives pattern with nouns in the language's system of di erential object marking; third-person pronouns pat-tern away from both demonstratives and nouns. For all of these reasons, I view pronouns and demonstratives as separate systems at all levels of the grammar of Ticuna, and I do not further consider pronouns in this study.

1.3.1.2 Nominal demonstrative meanings

Uses of demonstratives are typically divided into four categories: exophoric, endophoric, dis-course deictic, and recognitional (Levinson 1983; Diessel 1999; Levinson 2004a; Hanks 2011). Ex-ophoric demonstratives pick out their referents from the physical-perceptual surround of the discourse. Endophoric demonstratives pick them out from the set of referents that have been introduced in the discourse. Discourse deictic demonstrative refer to propositions, speech acts, or stretches of discourse, and pick out those referents from the ongoing discourse itself (not from the set of referents established in it). Recognitional demonstratives pick out their referents from the set of referents mutually known to the discourse participants.

In Ticuna, exophoric deixis is done with s 1, 2, 3, and 5. Endophoric and recognitional reference uses s 5 and 6. Discourse deixis uses 5 and 6, and marginally 1.

The use of the exophoric forms -- in very rough terms -- is as follows. 1 ɲa⁴a² indexes a referent that is on the speaker's body or is close enough for them to reach. 2 ŋe³a² and 3 ɟe³a² index referents that the speaker sees, but that are not within their reach. 2 ŋe³a² typically indexes a referent located between the speaker and the addressee, while 3 ɟe³a² indexes referents located anywhere beyond the speaker's reaching space. 5 ŋe³ma² indexes a referent that is on the addressee's body or is close enough for the addressee to reach.

It also indexes any referent that the speaker does not see. In Chapter 3, I argue that the invisible use and the addressee-centered use of 5 ŋe³ma² represent two homophonous lexical items (not one polysemous or vague item).

Beyond the prototypical uses just introduced, the speaker- and addressee-proximals, 1 ɲa⁴a² and 5 ŋe³ma², also have some less common uses in which they can index a referent beyond the speaker or addressee's reaching space. I refer to these collectively as the 'extended' uses of the proximals (as introduced in §1.1.2). They turn on issues of joint attention, ownership, and motion. Speakers can use the 'speaker-proximal,' 1 ɲa⁴a², to call new joint attention to a referent located anywhere in space (not only in their own reaching space). Likewise, speakers can use the 'addressee-proximal,' 5 ŋe³ma² to index a referent located anywhere in space (not only in the addressee's reaching space) if the addressee owns the referent, or if the referent is being transferred to the addressee. Additionally, both 1 ɲa⁴a² and 5 ŋe³ma² can be used to index a referent that the speaker ( 1) or addressee ( 5) is moving toward. In contrast to the two proximals, 2 ŋe³a² and 3 ɟe³a² do not have any extended uses.

Among the discourse deictic and endophoric/recognitional forms, 5 ŋe³ma² is used for reference to preceding parts of the discourse (anaphoric discourse deixis) and for anaphoric and recognitional reference in clauses with any temporal reference. I treat these non-exophoric uses of 5 ŋe³ma² as arising from a separate lexical item from the two exophoric uses (addressee-centered and invisible). 6 ɟe⁴ma⁴ is used for anaphoric and recognitional reference in clauses that have remote past temporal reference. 1 ɲa⁴a² is generally an exophoric demonstrative, but also has two (somewhat marginal) discourse deictic uses. It can be used to direct the ad-dressee's attention to following parts of the ongoing discourse (cataphoric discourse deixis), and it can also be used to make reference to the ongoing discourse as a whole.

4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ is omitted from the above discussion because it is not a full- edged member of the demonstrative system. While 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ is morphologically a demonstrative, it is di erent in two ways from other demonstratives. First, unlike the other s, 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ can never index people or objects. It can index only regions of space that include the speaker (in phrases such as 'this house' and 'this town') and time periods that include the present (like 'this year'). 1 ɲa⁴a² also appears in both of these functions, and -- except in some lexicalized expressions -- is much more frequent in both than 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴. Second, 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ is morphologically defective, lacking forms for noun classes I and V. (Speakers reject the predicted forms for these classes as non-words.) Thus, 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ is e ectively a frequency, low-productivity hyponym of 1 ɲa⁴a². Because of this, I do not include 4 ɲo⁴ma⁴ in the summary table at the end of this section, and I do not further consider it in the body of this study,

except to point out the functions of 1 ɲa⁴a² which it shares.

Table 1.2 below visually represents the meaning analysis of the s which I summarized above, and for which I argue in Chapters 4 through 6. In the 'Perceptual Content' column, '[+vis-ible]' means that the speaker sees the demonstrative referent at the moment of speech.

Table 1.2: Nominal demonstratives: analysis Demonstrative Phoricity Spatial Content Perceptual

Content

Temporal Content 1 ɲa⁴a² Exophoric Within reach for Spkr ∅

2 ŋe³a² Exophoric Between Addr and Spkr [+visible]

3 ɟe³a² Exophoric Not within reach for Spkr [+visible]

5 ŋe³ma² - Item 1

Exophoric Within reach for Addr ∅ 5 ŋe³ma²

- Item 2

Exophoric ∅ [-visible]

5 ŋe³ma² - Item 3

Non-Exophoric ∅

6 ɟe⁴ma⁴ Non-Exophoric [+remote past]

(clausal scope)