Tag. ay

[potetjp]

Paz B. NAYLOR is right; Tag. _ay_ has other functions than that of
anteposer.
My query was whether there existed other Austronesian languages having a
similar particle.
Best
Jean-Paul G. POTET

P.S. Incidentally I dealt with the function of Tag _ay_ at the discourse
level in "La pétition tagale Caming Manga Alipin (1665)",  pp. 109-157 in
_Cahiers de Linguistique - Asie Orientale_ (CLAO) XVI, #1, juin 1987, Paris:
EHESS.
In this paper I came to the conclusion that
1) if S = D#, then T = P + n(M + n)
2) if S = D1 + d2#, then T = [(M + N) + ay + n(M + N)]1 + ay + [P + n(M +
N)]2
etc.
in which
D = data or datum/item of data
M = modifier
N = noun
n = any number
P = predicative item (verb, adjective etc.)
S = what the speaker intends to say
T = the text or speech that expresses P
# = end of development

    This means that at that time (17th century), in formal speech and
writing, whenever the speaker felt they had not reached the end of a given
development, they would resort to the _ay_ constructions as many times as
necessary. I would say it was characteristic of argumentative speech.
    From the example provided by Paz, it is obvious that _ay_ still
functions as discourse marker.
    There is also the interesting fact that the _ay_ anteposer construction
is used in texts meant to parallel or calque English ones.
    Apparently Tag. _ay_ is not borrowed from Spanish _hay_ [ai] "there is".