[Lingtyp] the favorative clitic

[Bastian Persohn]

Dear Christian,
Adding to what Ellison said (with apprehensionals sometimes being analyzed as a combination of epistemic possibility and negative subjective evaluation of the state-of-affairs in question), I’d suggest the slightly more common label 
	
desiderative

as the clitic seems to have a function (or one if its functions) somewhere in the realm of bouletic (a.k.a. boulomaic) modality/attitude in the sense of „indicates[ing]  the degree of the speaker’s (or someone else’s) liking or disliking of the state of affairs” (Nuts 2005: 12).

Nuyts, Jan. 2005. Modality: Overview and linguistic issues. In William Frawley (ed.), The expression of modality. 1–26. Berlin: de Gruyter

Hope this helps!

Best,
Bastian




> Am 12.09.2023 um 12:03 schrieb Ellison Luk <ellisonluk at gmail.com>:
> 
> Dear Christian,
> 
> Functionally, this seems to be comparable to the 'apprehensional' category (found in many Australian, Austronesian, and South American languages). Instead of conveying something undesirable or regrettable, the 'favorative' seems to convey desirability or satisfaction. Apprehensional markers also often have epistemic modal functions too (uncertainty), which might also be a function of your marker, if I interpret the interrogative sentence example correctly.
> 
> Best,
> Ellison
> 
> On Tue, 12 Sept 2023 at 11:04, Christian Lehmann <christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de <mailto:christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de>> wrote:
> Here is a Cabecar clitic with which I have been struggling for years: The mobile enclitic pa attaches to almost any constituent in a clause S at almost any position and conveys something like 'S is/would be good/better/convenient/desirable'. The translation difference between 'is' and 'would be' depends on the mood of the verb of S.
> 
> With the indicative:
>  <> I ks-á=jka=pa.
> 
> 3 sing-pfv=atp=fav
> 
>             ‘Appropriately enough, he already sang.’
> 
>  <> Ká yís dä jawá kú̱na̱=pa=ba.
> 
> neg 1.sg cop healer n.val=fav=acp
> 
>             ‘I am not yet a healer (as would be desirable).’
> 
> 
> With the subjunctive:
>  <>S’ kí̱s-ö́=pa bá kú̱ bë́rbë́na̱ !
> 
> 1.sg wait-sbj=fav 2.sg erg for.a.while
> 
>             ‘Please wait a moment for me !’
> 
> Kë́ i bak-ó̱-n-ó̱=pa !
> 
> neg 3 take.away-sbj-mid-sbj=fav
> 
>             ‘Let it not be taken away !’
> 
> In a subordinate clause:
> 
>  <>Ma̱ kú̱ jé w-ó̱=pa kí̱=ka, bá së́-r=mi̱ rä báá.
> 
> [2.sg erg d.med do1-sbj=fav sup=lat] 2.sg feel:non-mid(ipfv)=pot tsa nice
> 
>             ‘Once you would have conveniently done that, you might have felt good.’
> 
> In an interrogative sentence:
> 
>  <> … i te i sh-á=ká̱  ijé wä́=na̠ i juë́-n-á̱=pa jé=ra ...
> 
> 3 erg 3 say-pfv=asc [3.ps face=in 3 see2-mid=fav d.med=tmp]
> 
>             ‘… they added: “Does he perhaps know?” ...’ (Historia p. 8)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The subjunctive sentences would be imperatives and jussives without pa and are attenuated by it. I have never seen such a thing before; and since it is so unfamiliar, I cannot even translate it well into English. I had at first called it 'optative'. There is, however, a different particle with illocutionary force which converts a subjunctive sentence into an optative sentence ('Would that S!'), where S may or may not contain pa.
> 
> I don't expect anybody to come up with an analysis of pa on the basis of the above examples. My question is: Has anybody ever seen such a thing? And if so, how did you call it? I am not particularly happy with my (or rather, my coauthor Guillermo's) most recent neologism 'favorative'.
> 
> -- 
> Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
> Rudolfstr. 4
> 99092 Erfurt
> Deutschland
> 
> Tel.:	+49/361/2113417
> E-Post:	christianw_lehmann at arcor.de <mailto:christianw_lehmann at arcor.de>
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