The Cogtse plural marker = ɲê and its evolutionary pathway

Bibliographic Data

ID14799671
AuthorsRuiyao Li (0000-0002-2670-1361, University of Cologne, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume48
Issue1
Pages132-161
Publication date2025-04-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLinguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-3500 • E-ISSN: 2214-5907
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/ltba.24002.li
OpenAlexW4409551555
LanguageEN
References cited26

This paper examines the plural marker = ɲê in Cogtse Situ, a Gyalrongic language spoken in Western Sichuan, based on data from Lin (2016) . Although the etymology of = ɲê suggests that it was originally a plural marker, its morphosyntax reveals that its hosts range beyond traditional nominals and further cover infinitives, clauses, and adverbs, indicating that = ɲê has a wider array of uses beyond simply expressing plurality in modern Cogtse. In this paper, I discuss the uses and the semantics of the marker = ɲê extend to honorific, associative, approximative, and intensificative. After describing the different functions of = ɲê , I propose an evolutionary pathway for these uses. The proposal of the pathway provides a possible explanation for the relationship between different uses of this = ɲê , and this paper fills the research gap in the study of the plural marker in Gyalrongic languages

Biology · Evolutionary biology · Linguistics · Plural · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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