Universität zu Köln

Reinmöller, Milo (2023). Demonstratives in Tima - A corpus analysis. Bachelor thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The Sudanese language Tima (Niger-Congo) has three demonstratives, two of which indicate notions of physical distance (-nʌ/-na, -yaa) while one does not (-weeŋ). In this descriptive work, a corpus of twelve narrative stories is examined to describe the functions of the three demonstratives. First, the proximate demonstrative -nʌ/-na and the distal demonstrative -yaa are shown to denote notions of physical distance from the perspective of either the narrator or a fictional protagonist. Functions unrelated to physical distance are then described. Specifically, the proximate demonstrative -nʌ/-na is shown to mark textually short anaphoric coreference and to serve the creation of complex anaphora, while the distal demonstrative -yaa is shown to mark contrast in either actions or characteristics of multiple protagonists. Finally, the demonstrative -weeŋ, which does not convey notions of physical distance, is shown to emphasize long textual distance between antecedent and anaphora, to help resolve ambiguous references, and to mark referents as known outside the frame of discourse. Finally, the implications of these functions for Himmelmann's (1996) proposed taxonomy of universal uses of demonstratives are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Reinmöller, Milo milo.reinmoeller@ru.nl UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-724084
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Papers on Prominence
Volume:	18
Date:	2023
Language:	English
Faculty:	Collaborative Research Centers Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 1: Kunstgeschichte, Musikwissenschaft, Medienkultur und Theater, Linguistik, IDH > Institut für Linguistik Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 3: Deutsche Sprache und Literatur > Institut für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur I Collaborative Research Centers > CRC 1252: Prominence in Language Collaborative Research Centers > CRC 1252: Prominence in Language > TP B02
Subjects:	Language, Linguistics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Demonstratives, Tima, corpus, anaphora English
Date of oral exam:	2023
Referee:	Name Academic Title Hellwig, Birgit Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/72408