[Lingtyp] Echo answers (Lingtyp Digest, Vol 111, Issue 13)

[Weijian Meng]

Dear Hongmei, 

I'm happy to provide information about Saek (Kra-Dai). I didn't use the label `echo answers' in my grammar, but here's a preliminary example: 

A:  sưư4nii6 halii6 thruan6  lè4
      now        still    like.that   Q.CONJ
      `Now they are still like that, I conjecture, right?'
B:  thruan6  lèè3
     like.that  STAT.AYK
     `(They're still) like that, as you know.'
A: kung ñia2  thruan6   lèè3            nò4
    also  hear  like.that   STAT.AYK Q.agree
    `You also heard that way, as you know, can you confirm?'

Q: question-oriented SFP
STAT: statement-oriented SFP
CONJ: conjecture
AYK: as you know

A few observations: 

1. Echo answers often co-occur with (but don't require) a statement-oriented SFP. 
2. The echo answer can often be an aspectual-modal marker. 
3. There are constraints on what can constitute an echo answer in different types of multi-verb constructions. 

neither have I investigated motivations for using of echo answers vs. interjections. My sense is that co-occurrence with SFPs affords finer distinctions of epistemic gradience than interjections. Note that in the last turn, A sought evidentiality from B. 

Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss further. 

Best, 
Weijian 



> On Dec 12, 2023, at 23:00, lingtyp-request at listserv.linguistlist.org wrote:
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>   1. REQUEST (Hongmei Fang)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2023 12:52:11 +0100
> From: Hongmei Fang <hongmei.fang01 at gmail.com>
> To: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> Subject: [Lingtyp] REQUEST
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> Please distribute the following message. Thanks!
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> Dear all,
> 
> I am investigating echo answers, i.e. answers that repeat a fragment part
> of the polar question that they are responding to. In the following example
> from Finnish the verb from the question is repeated to mean 'yes'.
> 
> Question: *Osaa-ko Liisa  puhua   ranskaa?*
>                 Can-Q   Liisa  speak    French
>                 ?Can Liisa speak French??
> Answer:     *Osaa*
>                  can
>                  ?Yes.?
> 
> I am looking for specialists and/or native speakers of languages exhibiting
> this phenomenon who are willing to provide information.
> 
> I have collected data on some languages such as Finnish, Russian, Korean,
> Chinese, Portuguese, Thai, etc. I am expecting more.
> 
> Examples of other languages which have been reported to have echo answers
> are:
> Aguaruna, Atong, Bandial, Bunaq, Chaha, Chickasaw, Chol, Evenki, Garifuna,
> Georgian, Gwa, Harari, Hindi, Hixkaryana, Hup, Imbabura Quechua, Kannada,
> Kobon, Latin, Malayalam, Marathi, Mauwake, Mualang, Rapanui, Semelai,
> Tamil, Tigrinya, Vietnamese, West Greenlandic, Wai Wai, Wari, Yeli Dnye,
> Yuyuca.
> 
> But if your language is not in this list but does exhibit echo answers, I
> would be equally interested.
> 
> Thanking you in advance for your reactions, which you can send to the email
> address below:
> h.m.fang at uva.nl
> 
> Best regards,
> Hongmei Fang
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Postdoctoral researcherUniversity of AmsterdamSpuistraat 210, 1012
> VBAmsterdam, The Netherlands*
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