{"title":"εmbosì Indefiniteness: A Pragmatic Analysis","authors":"Kiba Ngapoula","doi":"10.5296/ijl.v15i3.20917","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This analysis broaches the contextual interpretation of indefiniteness in εmbQsì and it aims at providing the promotion and documentation of this language. The study reveals that εmbosì indefiniteness interplays with the pragmatic tenets of non-identifiability and novelty. It also and mainly reveals that εmbosì indefinite description has different functions. It first introduces a new entity in the discourse and may have an attributive function when the referent of an entity refers to whoever or whatever fits the descriptive content of the noun phrase. It may also be referential when the speaker first communicates something about the referent and then wants the audience to identify it. εmbosì indefinite description also assumes a specific function when the speaker refers to a specific entity in his mind without intending the hearer to identify it. Indefiniteness in εmbosì also plays a descriptive role when the speaker, using a proper name, does not refer to a specific individual, but rather to what that individual describes.","PeriodicalId":46577,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of American Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of American Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v15i3.20917","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This analysis broaches the contextual interpretation of indefiniteness in εmbQsì and it aims at providing the promotion and documentation of this language. The study reveals that εmbosì indefiniteness interplays with the pragmatic tenets of non-identifiability and novelty. It also and mainly reveals that εmbosì indefinite description has different functions. It first introduces a new entity in the discourse and may have an attributive function when the referent of an entity refers to whoever or whatever fits the descriptive content of the noun phrase. It may also be referential when the speaker first communicates something about the referent and then wants the audience to identify it. εmbosì indefinite description also assumes a specific function when the speaker refers to a specific entity in his mind without intending the hearer to identify it. Indefiniteness in εmbosì also plays a descriptive role when the speaker, using a proper name, does not refer to a specific individual, but rather to what that individual describes.
期刊介绍:
International Journal of American Linguistics is a world forum for the study of all the languages native to North, Central, and South America. Inaugurated by Franz Boas in 1917, IJAL concentrates on the investigation of linguistic data and on the presentation of grammatical fragments and other documents relevant to Amerindian languages.