[Lingtyp] “at last” and “only now”
Alex Francois
alex.francois.cnrs at gmail.com
Wed Feb 24 18:23:28 UTC 2021
dear David,
Interesting example. I agree with you that this *dulu* construction also
involves a combination of phasal aspect and pragmatics; and I agree that
its mechanism is different from the TimeFocus of Vanuatu languages.
In fact, among the 25 TAM categories of its system, *Mwotlap *has not only
the TimeFocus *qoyo*, but another TAM construction that I think is even
closer to Indonesian *dulu* : this is a (compound) morpheme *bah en*,
which I've glossed the *Prioritive*.
Its usual gloss would be Eng. *first*, but as you said, its pragmatic range
goes beyond that translation.
One typical use is in a diptych presenting two sequential actions:
{ *First P, then Q* } — whether in the realis or the irrealis:
(1) Gēn in *bah* na-ga *en*, tō gengen.
1in:pl drink Prio1 Art-kava Prio2, then eat
(Past interpretation) “We *first* drank kava, then we had dinner.”
~ (Future interpⁿ) “*First* we'll drink kava, then we'll have dinner.”
Under a future interpretation, the apodosis (2nd clause) would often have a
TimeFocus *qoyo*, meaning “then and not earlier” [cf. my earlier post]:
(2) Gēn in *bah* na-ga *en*, tō *qoyo* gengen.
1inc:pl drink Prio1 Art-kava Prio2, then TmFoc eat
(Future interpⁿ) “*First* we'll drink kava, and *only then* shall we
have dinner.”
A sentence like (2) thus combines two morphemes entailing a pragmatic
focus, with complementary semantics:
- Prioritive: { event1 is a priority, before anything else }
- TimeFocus: { event2 happens at time T, and not earlier }
Those diptychs, with a protasis in the Prioritive and an apodosis in the
TimeFocus, are common in conversation. (cf. François 2003: 284)
Etymologically, *bah* is a verb “finish”, and *en* a Topicalizer, which
makes sense for (1-2) [*we finish drinking TOP, then eat*]; but this
combination has grammaticalized into a construction (à la Construction
grammar) that is not always compositional, as you'll see.
______
In a way similar to Indon. *dulu*, the Prioritive *bah... en* is also
commonly heard on its own, i.e. on a protasis without apodosis:
(3) Gēn in *bah* na-ga *en *!
1inc:pl drink Prio1 Art-kava Prio2
“*First* (before anything else) let's have kava !”
In such cases, there is no Sequential reading, but a hortative
interpretation.
This *Prioritive hortative* entails a phasal focus on “*now (and not later)*”;
it contrasts with the ordinary hortative, which lacks such entailment:
(3') Gēn in na-ga !
1inc:pl drink Art-kava
“Let's have kava !”
When used with a 2nd person, the Prioritive sometimes has an interpretation
of a *polite imperative*:
(4) Nēk mōkheg *bah* *en *!
2sg rest Prio1 Prio2
“Why don't you (first) rest?”
With a 1st person, it also serves as a polite way to downplay the negative
impact of one's actions. (Forgot how to call this in English:
attenuative?):
(5) Nok van *bah* li-sto *en *!
1sg go Prio1 Loc-store Prio2
“Let me (first) go to the store.”
[= sorry to leave you, I'll be right back.] — suggesting our convo is
bound to continue soon.
(In actual fact, those Prioritive utterances are often a polite way to take
leave.)
I described the various uses of the Prioritive (“le Prioritif”) in François
(2003: 278-301).
- François, Alexandre. 2003. *La sémantique du prédicat en mwotlap
(Vanuatu)* Collection Linguistique de La Société de Linguistique de
Paris, 84. Paris, Louvain: Peeters. [ direct link to section
<http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/AlexFrancois_Mwotlap-Predicat_2003_SLP.pdf#page=298>
]
______
Once again, the Creole *Bislama *has calqued the category of the Prioritive
through relexification.
The Bislama Prioritive is an adverb *fastaem *(< Eng. *first time*), which
is very common in conversation.
The structural isomorphism with Mwotlap is again striking:
(1') Yumi trink kava *fastaem*, ale kakae.
1in:pl drink kava PRIOR then eat
(Past interpretation) “We *first* drank kava, then we had dinner.”
~ (Future interpⁿ) “*First* we'll drink kava, then we'll have dinner.”
(2') Yumi trink kava *fastaem*, ale *jes *kakae *nao*.
1inc:pl drink kava PRIOR then TmFoc eat FOC
(Future interpⁿ) “*First* we'll drink kava, and *only then* shall we
have dinner.”
(3") Yumi trink kava *fastaem* !
1inc:pl drink kava PRIOR
“*First* (before anything else) let's have kava !”
(4') Yu spel *fastaem* !
2sg rest PRIOR
“Why don't you (first) rest?”
(5') Mi go lo sto *fastaem* !
1sg go PREP store PRIOR
“[excuse me for a sec…] Let me (first) go to the store.”
>From what David described, it seems that Indonesian *dulu *would be used in
similar contexts. I think his description would fit well the Prioritive in
its politeness functions:
> *While in (1) the further activity is overtly expressed, in (2) it is
> merely implied, which has the effect of softening the imperative/hortative
> meaning and thereby rendering it more polite. *
>
If so, this semantic category of Prioritive, and these phraseological
strategies, might well be typically Austronesian (??). It would have
survived structurally in the systems in spite of many layers of language
change, incorporating phonological material both through language-internal
relexification [Mwotlap] and through language contact [Bislama].
I am often impressed by the resilience of semantic categories in spite of
the renewal of their phonological content. I wonder if that is universal,
or specific to Pacific languages, and linked to their particular linguistic
ecology…
best
Alex
------------------------------
Alex François
LaTTiCe <http://www.lattice.cnrs.fr/en/alexandre-francois/> — CNRS–
<http://www.cnrs.fr/index.html>ENS
<https://www.ens.fr/laboratoire/lattice-langues-textes-traitements-informatiques-et-cognition-umr-8094>
–Sorbonne nouvelle
<http://www.univ-paris3.fr/lattice-langues-textes-traitements-informatiques-cognition-umr-8094-3458.kjsp>
Australian National University
<https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/francois-a>Academia Europaea
<https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/François_Alexandre> – Academia.edu
<https://cnrs.academia.edu/AlexFran%C3%A7ois>
Personal homepage <http://alex.francois.online.fr/>
------------------------------
On Wed, 24 Feb 2021 at 12:03, David Gil <gil at shh.mpg.de> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Sergey's query, and especially Alex's recent response on Vanuatu
> languages, have given me new insights into the Indonesian word *dulu*,
> which I now realize also belongs to the same general category of
> "phrasal/focal particles". While the "literal meaning of *dulu* is
> something like "first", it is used in a wider range of contexts than, say,
> English *first. * The first example shows *dulu* in a narrative past
> context:
>
> (1) Dia makan dulu baru pulang
> 3 eat DULU new go.home
> 'He/she/they ate and then went home'
>
> The next example shows *dulu* in its very common use as a polite
> imperative or hortative:
>
> (2) Makan dulu
> eat DULU
> 'Please eat' / 'Let's eat'
>
> In both cases, *dulu* combines a temporal/aspectual with a focus meaning.
> However, whereas Alex's Vanuatu examples involved restrictive focus (X but
> not Y), Indonesian *dulu* involves additive focus (X and also/then Y).
> Thus, in both examples, *dulu* bears the implication that after eating,
> some other, unspecified activity will occur. While in (1) the further
> activity is overtly expressed, in (2) it is merely implied, which has the
> effect of softening the imperative/hortative meaning and thereby rendering
> it more polite.
>
> David
>
>
> On 23/02/2021 20:20, Sergey Loesov wrote:
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> Are you aware of cross-language or *einzelsprachlich* studies of the
> semantics/pragmatics of particles like “*at last*” “*only now*”, and
> similar. I.e., ‘particles’ that combine phasal and focus semantics.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Sergey
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing listLingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.orghttp://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
> --
> David Gil
>
> Senior Scientist (Associate)
> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
> Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
> Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
>
> Email: gil at shh.mpg.de
> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
> Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20210224/93a24a7a/attachment.htm>
More information about the Lingtyp
mailing list