Discourse Markers In Rayya Tigrinya Documentation And Linguistic Analysis

This study identifies and documents discourse markers (henceforth DMs), and analyzes rntheir linguistic features in the Rayya Tigrinya variety that is spoken in the Southern Zonernof the Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia. The study relies on a mini-corpus, whichrncontains informal interviews, oral narratives, and authentic conversations. rnThe analysis shows that DMs include enclitics like =jja ‘hear-say evidential marker’, =srn‘assertive focus marker’; =bba ‘selective focus marker’, and =mma ‘question focusrnmarker’. Particle DMs such as ʔɨbba ‘selective focus marker’, interjections like wajrn‘evaluative’, verbs like ʔams’ɨʔ-ə-ll-əj ‘bring:rnIMPrnSJrn.2rnSMrnBENrn-1rnSGrn’rnrn(‘planning processrnmarker’) (lit.: ‘You bring (something) to me’), and complex phrases such as kaʔu-χə ‘then-rnDMrn_rnQrn (‘coherence marker’, ‘turn management’) (lit.: then what?) are some of the DMs.rnSyntactically, DMs occur in all positions: initial, medial, and final of a host segment. DMsrnalso appear in stuck in all positions. Though most of the DMs in Rayya Tigrinya do notrninflect for a grammatical function, there are some exceptions. For instance, ʔams’ɨʔələjrn(ʔams’ɨʔ-ə-ll-əj ‘bring:rnIMPrnSJrn.2rnSMrnBENrn-1rnSGrn’)rnrn‘planning process’ (lit.: ‘You bring somethingrnto me’)’ has prefixes that marks defferent grammatical features like agreement. rnDMs have different functions in different contexts. The DM ʔɨmma ‘so’ that calls attention,rnsaves face, and marks focus in imperatives is a good example to show the multifunctionalrnnature of DMs. When ʔɨʃʃi ‘okay’ appears in a turn initial, it marks a planning process andrnacknowledging for getting a turn at a time. The removal of the enclitic DM =s from arnhost segment changes a subordinate clause to a main clause. DMs also create a textuallyrncoherent discourse. When the DM kaʔuχə ‘then what?’ appears after a discussion wasrninterrupted, it functions globally to let the interlocutor resume a discussion. DMs likernʔɨmma ‘so’ also relate a message that is fetched from a physical context and explicitlyrngiven in a co-text. Similarly, DMs in Rayya Tigrinya are used to manage turn-takings.rnThe enclitic DM =jja ‘hearsay’ marks as a source of information is hearsay. Cut-off wordsrnand repetitions marker speaking performance related matters.

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