Hearsay evidential marking strategy in Lhagang Tibetan

A case study on folktales and legends

Bibliographic Data

ID21557572
Authors博之 鈴木 (0000-0001-5021-4371, Fudan University), Sonam Wangmo (0000-0003-1006-801X, Universität Bonn)
Year2021
Volume44
Issue2
Pages157-182
Publication date2021-11-23
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.21001.suz
OpenAlexW3217765830
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

This exploratory study focuses on the use of hearsay evidential marking in the course of storytelling in a Tibetic language, Lhagang Tibetan, combining a descriptive linguistic approach with a literary-theoretic analysis. Tibetic languages generally possess a morpho-syntactically encoded evidential-epistemic system, in which the hearsay evidential represents a non-first-hand information source. However, we find a random use of the hearsay evidential marker in the oral literature of Lhagang Tibetan, although it has been transmitted from one generation to another by storytellers. The article aims to provide a reasonable explanation for the use of the hearsay evidential in storytelling. It proposes that hearsay evidential marking reflects the speaker’s attitude towards the utterance to either avoid full responsibility for the utterance or enhance the utterance’s authenticity. The former objective principally appears in telling a story based on a weak memory of the story; the latter appears in telling a legend. This explanation is supported by oral literature theory, especially the arguments regarding the difference between folktales and legends

Hearsay · Linguistics · Narrative · Storytelling · Utterance · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism

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