Calendrier

A preliminary investigation of epistemic particles in Tacana (Takanan family, Amazonian Bolivia)
Antoine Guillaume (DDL)

In this talk I will present a number of 2nd position (‘Wackernagel’) particles in Tacana which express a range of meanings related to the domain of “Epistemics / knowledge”. In particular, I will discuss =da ‘assertive’, =jia ‘dubitative’, =pa ‘reportative’, =tuke ‘contrary to evidence’, =ni ‘contrary to expectations (in questions)’ and =tse ‘abilitative’. Particular attention will be given to =da, glossed as an assertive marker by the first linguists who worked on the language (Ottaviano & Ottaviano 1965, 1967, 1989), but whose exact function turns out to be highly opaque.