In:Egophoricity
Edited by Simeon Floyd, Elisabeth Norcliffe and Lila San Roque
[Typological Studies in Language 118] 2018
► pp. 377–404
Chapter 12The evidential nature of conjunct-disjunct terms
Evidence from Oksapmin and Newar
Published online: 25 April 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.118.12lou
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.118.12lou
Abstract
Conjunct-disjunct person-marking systems, such as those found in Newar, mark first person in statements the same way as second person in questions, in contrast to second and third person in statements and first and third person in questions. In the Papuan language Oksapmin, the evidential system implies conjunct-disjunct subject person. In addition to tense, aspect and subject number, the past tense forms in Oksapmin are obligatorily marked for evidentiality: participatory versus visual evidence. Participatory evidential marking correlates with conjunct subject person; visual, with disjunct. Despite assertions by some researchers that conjunct-disjunct systems are not evidential in nature, Oksapmin is part of the growing body of evidence in favour of a link between evidential systems and conjunct-disjunct ‘person marking’.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The conjunct-disjunct distinction
- 2.1Conjunct-disjunct alignment in Newar
- 3.Evidence from Oksapmin: Oksapmin’s evidential system and the distribution of the participatory evidential
- 3.1The Oksapmin language
- 3.2Participatory versus visual evidentiality
- 3.3Conjunct-disjunct alignment & the Oksapmin evidentials
- 3.3.1Statements
- 3.3.1.1First person statements
- 3.3.1.2Second person statements
- 3.3.1.3Third person statements
- 3.3.2Questions
- 3.3.2.1First person questions
- 3.3.2.2Second person questions
- 3.3.2.3Third person questions
- 3.3.2.4Summary: Questions
- 3.3.3Reported statements
- 3.3.3.1Reported marker =li
- 3.3.3.2Direct reported speech
- 3.3.3.3Summary: Reported statements
- 3.3.4Conjunct-disjunct alignment and the Oksapmin evidentials: Summary
- 3.3.1Statements
- 4.Discussion: Conjunct-disjunct as evidential
- 4.1Visual and non-visual indicating non-volitionality
- 4.2Conclusion
Acknowledgements Notes Abbreviations References
References (49)
Bendix, Edward H. 1992. The grammaticization of responsibility and evidence: Interactional manipulation of evidential categories in Newari. In Responsibility and Evidence in Oral Discourse, Jane H. Hill & Judith T. Irvine (eds), 226–47. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boram, Clifford & Marshall. Lawrence. 1977. Difficulties in communication and social perception in Oksapmin society. Oral History 5(1): 3–10.
Creissels, Denis. 2008. Remarks on so-called “conjunct/disjunct” systems. Talk given at Syntax of the World’s Languages III conferene in Berlin, 25–28 September. <[URL]>
. 2002b. Evidentiality and me: The interaction of evidentials and first person. In Proceedings of the 2001 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, Cynthia Allen (ed.). <[URL]>
. 2003. Nonvolitionality expressed through evidentials. Studies in Language 27(1): 39–59.
de Haan, Ferdinand. 2011. Semantic distinctions of evidentiality. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds). Munich: Max Planck Digital Library. <[URL]>
DeLancey, Scott. 1990. Ergativity and the cognitive model of event structure in Lhasa Tibetan. Cognitive Linguistics. 1–3, 289–321.
Dickinson, Connie. 2000. Mirativity in Tsafiki. Studies in Language 24(2): 379–422.
Hale, Austin. 1980. Person markers: Finite conjunct and disjunct verb forms in Newari. In Papers in Southeast Asian Linguistics 7 [Pacific Linguistics Series A, 53], Ronald L. Trail (ed.), 95–106. Canberra: Australian National University.
Hargreaves, David. 1990. Indexical functions and grammatical sub-systems in Kathmandu Newari. Chicago Linguistic Society 26(1): 179–193.
. 1991. The conceptual structure of intentional action: Data from Kathmandu Newari. Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 17: 379–389.
. 2003. Kathmandu Newar (Nepal Bhasa). In The Sino-Tibetan Languages, Thurgood, Graham & Randy J. LaPolla (eds), 371–384. London: Routledge.
Jakobson, R. 1971[1957]. Shifters, verbal categories and the Russian verb. In Selected Writings, II: Word and Language, 130–147. The Hague: Mouton
LaPolla, Randy J. 2003. Evidentiality in Qiang. In Studies in Evidentiality [Typological Studies in Language 54], Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald & Robert M.W. Dixon (eds), 63–78. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Lawrence, Helen. 1972. Viewpoint and location in Oksapmin. Anthropological Linguistics 114(8): 311–16.
. 1972a. Oksapmin sentence structure. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics Pacific Linguistics A-34(16): 17–46.
. 1977a. Quotations in Oksapmin. In Miscellaneous Papers in P.N.G. Linguistics 22, Richard Loving (ed.), 87–98. Ukarumpa: SIL.
. 1977b. Verb morphology and discourse prosodies. In Proceedings of the S.I.L. Consultants Seminar, Ukarumpa, 1976 [Workpapers in Papua New Guinea Languages 20], Richard Loving & David D. Thomas (eds), 143–52 Ukarumpa: SIL.
Loeweke, Eunice & May, Jean. 1980. General grammar of Fasu (Namo Me). In Grammatical studies in Fasu and Mt. Koiali [Workpapers in Papua New Guinea Languages 27], Don Hutchisson (ed.), 5–106. Ukarumpa: SIL.
Loughnane, Robyn. 2007. Expanding the typology of evidentiality: The participatory/factual in Oksapmin. Paper read at the Seventh Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology, Paris.
. 2009. A Grammar of Oksapmin. PhD dissertation, The University of Melbourne. <[URL]>
Loughnane, Robyn & Fedden, Sebastian. 2011. Is Oksapmin Ok?–A study of the genetic relationship between Oksapmin and the Ok languages. Australian Journal of Linguistics 31: 1–42. <>
Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mushin, Ilana. 2001. Evidentiality and Epistemological Stance: Narrative Retelling [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 87]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Oswalt, Robert L. 1986. The evidential system of Kashaya. In Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology [Advances in Discourse Processes 20], Wallace L. Chafe & Johanna Nichols (eds), 29–45. Norwood NJ: Ablex.
Plungian, Vladimir A. 2001. The place of evidentiality within the universal grammatical space. Journal of Pragmatics 333: 349–357.
2011. Types of verbal evidentiality marking: An overview. In Linguistic Realization of Evidentiality in European Languages, Gabriele Diewald & Elena Smirnova (eds), 15–58. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Ross, Malcolm. 2005. Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages. In Papuan Pasts: Cultural, Linguistic and Biological Histories of Papuan-speaking Peoples, Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Jack Golson & Robin Hide (eds), 15–65. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Rule, William Murray. 1977 A Comparative Study of the Foe, Huli and Pole Languages of Papua New Guinea [Oceania Linguistic Monographs 20]. Sydney: University of Sydney.
San Roque, Lila & Loughnane, Robyn. 2012a. The New Guinea Highlands evidentiality area. Linguistic Typology 16(1): 111–167. <>
San Roque, Lila and Robyn Loughnane. 2012b. Inheritance, contact and change in the New Guinea Highlands evidentiality area. Language & Linguistics in Melanesia: 387–427. <[URL]>
Tatevosov, Sergei. 2001. From resultatives to evidentials: Multiple uses of the perfect in Nakh-Daghestanian languages. Journal of Pragmatics 33(3): 339–464. <>
Tournadre, Nicolas. 1996. Comparaison des systèmes médiatifs de quatre dialectes tibétains (Tibétain Central, Ladakhi, Dzongkha et Amdo). In L'Énonciation Médiatisé, Zlatka Guentcheva (ed.), 195–213. Louvain: Éditions Peeters.
. 2008. Against the concept of ‘Conjunct’/’Disjunct’ in Tibetan. In Chomolangma, Demawend und Kasbek: Festschrift für Roland Bielmeier zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, Brigitte Huber, Marianne Volkart, Paul Widmer & Peter Schwieger (eds), 281–308. Bonn: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.
Willett, Thomas. 1988. A cross-linguistic survey of the grammaticalization of evidentiality. Studies in Language 12: 51–97.
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
