[Lingtyp] Remind-Me particles across languages

[Timur Maisak]

Dear all,
in Russian, there is a cognate particle *бишь* (*biš'*), which is a bit
archaic.
Here's a recent paper <https://russkayarech.ru/ru/archive/2024-1/60-69>
about its origin (from the verb 'to be'). See also
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/бишь

Ian's Wiktionary link gives *govorite *'say.PRS.2PL' for Russian, probably
what the compilers meant are constructions like the following:
*Kak, ty govoriš', tebja zovut?* / *Kak, vy govorite, vas zovut?*
'What, you (sg, informal) say, is your name?' / 'What, you (pl or
sg.formal) say, is your name (or: are your names)?'
= 'What's your name(s) again?'

One can also say
*Kak biš' tebja zovut?*
= 'What's your name again?'

Best,
Timur Maisak

пн, 31 мар. 2025 г. в 13:51, Stefan Savić via Lingtyp <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>:

> Dear Ms Lecavelier,
>
> Interesting question. In BCMS (Bosnian-Croatian-Mobtenevrin-Serbian) an
> element with this function is the 3SG imperfect of the verb 'be', i.e. *beše
> *in Ekavian and *biješe *in Jekavian dialects (apologies in advance if I
> have omitted another form from other dialects).
>
> It's important to note that in most dialects the analytic past (be +
> l-participle) functions as the only general/unmarked past, whereas the
> synthetic forms, the aorist and the imperfect, are stylistically marked and
> exhibit a very limited use. It is not an exaggeration to say that for
> speakers of most dialects the imperfect is not a productive part of the
> verb paradigm (most speakers learn it only in school, many seem to be
> unsure about the conjugation and it often gets confused with the aorist).
> Its obsolescence may explain why in a sentence like (1) *beše* co-occurs
> in the same sentence as another finite verb (the auxiliary that carries the
> finiteness of *zvao se* is ellided when it co-occurs with the reflexive
> pronoun *se*) as if it was a particle, implying it is a so-called
> remind-me-particle rather than a finite verb.
>
> (1) *Kako se               beše  zvao*?
>      how   REFL.ACC beše  be_called.IPFV.PST.M.SG
>      "What was his name again?"
>
> My grandparents (born in 1920's and 1930's) who used the aorist (not the
> imperfect) more frequently that my parents' generation used another
> variant, which I find would be marked for speakers of my generation (born
> in 1980's):
>
> (2) *Kako se               zvaše*?
>      how   REFL.ACC be_called.IPFV.IMPF.3SG
>      "What was her/his name again?"
>
> Best,
> Stefan
>
>
>
> Sent from Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of
> Jeanne Lecavelier des Etangs-Levallois via Lingtyp <
> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, March 31, 2025 11:59:59 AM
> *To:* lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> >
> *Subject:* [Lingtyp] Remind-Me particles across languages
>
> Dear all,
>
>   I am currently looking at Remind-Me particles (particles which express
> that the speaker is asking for an information they used to know but
> forgot,
> like English "again" in "What's your name again?") across languages.
> Specifically, I am interested in Remind-Me particles (i) which have
> another
> (canonical) meaning when used in other contexts, and (ii) whose
> other/canonical meaning is not "again".
>
> For instance, French Remind-Me particle is "déjà" ("already"): "Comment tu
> t'appelles toi déjà ?" (literally "What's your name already?") is
> interpreted as "What's your name again? (I forgot)".
>
> If you know of any such particle (which can have a Remind-Me use, and
> which
> does not mean "again") in your native language or the language(s) you're
> working on, please write to me :-)
>
> Many thanks for your help!
> Best,
> Jeanne Lecavelier
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