Siouan evidentiality

David Kaufman dvklinguist2003 at yahoo.com
Tue Mar 17 18:16:50 UTC 2009


Hi all,
 
I'm planning on writing a paper to present at this year's conference on Biloxi evidentiality.  It's my understanding that this topic hasn't been much researched in Siouan, but if you have any examples from your respective languages or any other thoughts on it, please let me know.  The long and short of it is that Biloxi seems to have at least 2 evidentiality particles, kane and naxo.  The first indicates 'hearsay' or 'not experienced' whereas the second indicates that it was 'directly experienced' or 'first-hand knowledge.'  
 
Not sure about other Siouan languages, but Cherokee apparently has a similar system.  If anyone knows of any other Native American languages that have similar systems, please let me know.  I am aware, of course, that evidentiality is hot in Central Asia, and I may give an example or two from SW Monguor, a Mongolic language I worked on as a graduate research assistant last year.
 
And, oh yes, there is the possibility that use of evidentials in Biloxi may be a male vs. female speech pattern (evidentials may be used only by men according to one of Dorsey's notes).  If anyone has any thoughts on male-female speech patterns in Siouan or other languages, please let me know.
 
Cheers,
 
Dave


      
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