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Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 34:2 (2024) ► pp.293–318

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Definite reference and discourse prominence in Longxi Qiang

 | South China Normal University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 15 May 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.22024.zhe
Abstract
This paper focuses on the uses of the definite marker -tì in Longxi Qiang, a Tibeto-Burman language. Although the selection of referring expressions made by speakers is based on referent accessibility or cognitive status, at the same time, referring expressions have pragmatic and interactive dimensions. The concept of identifiability can account for the uses of the definite marker -tì; however, this concept is not sufficient to explain the selection of -tì in certain discourse contexts. Accordingly, this paper discusses the discourse uses of non-referential definite noun phrases. In addition to encoding definiteness, -tì serves as a prominence marker to trigger the interpretation that an entity, an action or a property is prominent, and the speaker intended to highlight the topicality. With respect to discourse functions, -tì is attached not only to noun phrases but also to verb and adjective phrases, fillers and connectors. These uses of -tì have been expanded into Wenchuan Mandarin.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and methodology
  • 3.Previous approaches on felicitous uses of definite articles
  • 4.Definite marker -tì and indefinite marker -kà
  • 5.Prominence marker -tì
    • 5.1Definition and testable criteria of prominence
      • 5.1.1Relatively highly accessible discourse referents
      • 5.1.2Dynamic prominence
      • 5.1.3Structural attraction
    • 5.2Prominence of topicality marked by -tì
  • 6.Discussion: Further support for the discourse function of -tì
    • 6.1-Tì cooccurs with làmò or connectors
    • 6.2Lighter linguistic material for prominent referents
    • 6.3Proximal demonstrative ʨì ‘this’ as a definite marker
    • 6.4Evidence from bilingualism
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (35)
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