[Lexicog] Deductions - mind or emotions

[William Poser]

I think that Wayne is on the right track. In Japanese, not only
are there evidentials of the sort that Wayne mentions in Nepali,
but in certain circumstances they are obligatory. It is considered
impossible to know the internal mental state of another person,
so statements about other people's mental state obligatorily take
evidentials indicating indirect knowledge. If, for example,I am
thirsty I can just say "nomitai" = "I want to drink". If I am
asking you whether you are thirsty I can use the same form since
I am not making an assertion.(This particular form presupposes
intimacy since it lacks the politeness-to-address morphology.)
But if I want to say "She is thirsty.", I must say "nomitagatte iru",
which means something like "She shows signs of being thirsty, seems to
be thirsty". (Interestingly, I have heard people say "nomitai" about
babies. Infants are apparently considered to wear their mental state
on their sleeve, as it were.)

My Korean is rusty and never so great, but I think that Korean works
essentially the same way.

Bill



 
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