29.3455, Sum: Indexical Shift Data

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3455. Sat Sep 08 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.3455, Sum: Indexical Shift Data

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Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2018 13:20:37
From: Kadri Kuram [kadrikuram at gmail.com]
Subject: Indexical Shift Data

 
Dear fellow linguists,

I need your help for my research on the effect of L1 in the L2 acquisition of
the indexical shift parameter. For this, I need the shifting parameter in
various languages. As far as I know, there isn’t a definitive list of shifting
languages, apart from the ones famous in the literature – that is Turkish,
Uyghur, Kazaki etc. That is why I need your help. Since testing hasn’t started
yet and I will have little time afterwards, I will welcome the parameter from
any language you may provide. There are three values of this parameter:
Non-shifting, obligatory shifting, optional shifting. 

Although various items can shift, the easiest one to find and the one I am
interested in right now is first and second persons. Here is how to find out
if your languages shifts: 

First and second persons in the finite embedded clauses may refer to the
speaker and the addressee of the discourse respectively (non-shift) or to the
subject and the addressee of the verbs of reporting in the main clause
(shift). This only works with verbs of reporting and verbs of presumption such
as think and assume. Here is an example.

(1) [speaker]i  [addressee]j     Jack said to Jane that Ii want to take youj
out for dinner.

Here, I and you can only refer to the speaker and the addressee. Jack and Jane
are not going out for dinner. It is simpler with a single indexical.

(2) [speaker]i  Jack thinks Ii am smart

Jack thinks it is the speaker who is smart, not himself. English is a
non-shifting language (there are arguments that indexicals sometimes shift in
English, but I am putting them aside for the time being).
But

(3) [speaker]i  Ahmetj [ei/j çok akıllıy-ım]     sanıyor
                    Ahmet      very smart-1SG  thinks
                    ‘Ahmet thinks he is very smart’
                    ‘Ahmet thinks I am very smart’

The null subject in (3) may refer to the speaker of the discourse or to the
subject of the main clause. Turkish is an optional-shifting language (still I
am not 100% sure it is optional, I am still testing the native speakers).
Finally, if in your language the embedded first person subject can only refer
to the main subject, it is an obligatory shifting language. 

A few warnings: 1. Make sure the embedded clause is fully finite. Finiteness
is not a dichotomy, there are degrees to it. It should be exactly like a main
clause with tense and agreement. Nominalization, which is a common strategy in
languages like Turkish, does not work – supposedly because the shifting
operator resides the CP of the embedded clause. 2. Try this with verbs of
reporting and verbs of presumption such as say, tell, think, assume, believe
etc. although there may be some interpretational difference between the two.
It will be bonus if you can report such differences. 3. Shifting is not an
easy reading to get even for native speakers. If you are reporting a language
you are not a native speaker of, please make sure to consult a native for
confirmation. 

I will accept data through my email (kadrikuram at gmail.com) or in any way
linguistlist allows.

Thanks
 

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax



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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3455	
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