Lena Mironova* & Yury Lander* (with Shamset Unarokova**)
* HSE University
** Adyghe State University
One or two approaches to West Caucasian demonstratives
In this talk, we discuss the demonstrative systems in (Temirgoi) West Circassian and (Ashkharawa) Abaza, which represent two branches of the West Caucasian family. Our data come from an experiment based on the questionnaire (Wilkins 2018), which helps to establish the parameters that affect the choice of a demonstrative in its exophoric non-contrastive function.
Both West Circassian and Abaza languages have tripartite demonstrative systems. Our data show the relevance of both the distance parameter and the speaker- or addressee-anchoring parameter, as well as the parameter of visibility, the presence of spatial boundaries and the presence of gestures. However, there are significant differences between the systems of the two languages. We will present our experimental results, describe the meanings of each demonstrative, outline the structural differences between the systems, and suggest some generalizations.
Finally, we will discuss two possible interpretations of our data: it remains to be determined whether these treatments are complementary or whether they should be strictly differentiated.
References
Wilkins, D. P. 2018. The Demonstrative Questionnaire: “THIS” and “THAT” in Comparative Perspective. In S. Levinson, S. Cutfield, M. Dunn, N. Enfield, S. Meira, D. Wilkins (eds.), Demonstratives in Cross-Linguistic Perspective, 43–71. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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