Volume 9 Issue 2 (2011)
DOI:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.392
Note: Linguistic Discovery uses Unicode characters
to represent phonetic symbols. Please see Optimizing Display
for requirements to accurately reproduce this page.
The Expression of Evidentiality between Lexicon and Grammar. A Case
Study from Georgian
[1]
Manana Topadze Gäumann
University of Bern
Evidentiality in Georgian is generally regarded as a part of the
TAM-paradigm, since the perfect tense developed evidential value as a secondary
meaning. The reference to the information source can also be expressed by other
means such as quotative markers or semi-grammaticalized lexical items. This
paper gives a short overview of evidential structures in Georgian both at
grammatical and lexical levels, analysing the current grammaticalization
processes of evidentials in contemporary urban Georgian.
1. Evidentiality-Theoretical
Framework
Evidentiality is a linguistic category with reference to the
information source, on the basis of which the speaker makes a statement; this
may be a direct or an indirect knowledge about an event acquired by inference,
hearsay, assumption or perception. Evidentiality is morphologically realized
only in a quarter of the languages of the world (Aikhenvald 2004:1), the
remaining languages employ several other evidential strategies to convey the
information source. Two large areas where evidentiality is encoded in the tense
system mainly are the Balkans and the Caucasus (De Haan 2005b:319). In most
Germanic languages as well as in Finnish evidentials are expressed through
modals, which acquire secondary meanings (De Haan 2005a:315).
The main source of evidentials is the grammaticalization of lexical
categories, for example the grammaticalization of verbs of speech and perception
verbs in quotative markers (Aikhenvald 2004). In some languages evidential
meanings developed as secondary meanings out of tenses and moods of the verbal
paradigm. These extensions are labelled by Aikhenvald “evidentiality
strategies”. She separates them strictly from the pure evidentials, whose
primary meaning is information source (Aikhenvald 2004:105).
The terminology denoting evidentiality is not homogeneous in the
linguistic literature; various terms have been adopted in different grammatical
traditions. Aronson (1977) employed for Balkan Slavic the term
‘status’, indicating a verbal category characterized by the
speaker’s evaluation of the narrated event (Aronson 1977 apud Friedman
1979:339)
. Shanidze (1973) introduced for Georgian
the semantic category of ‘act’ (Georgian
akti) to make a
distinction between unmarked (non evidential) and marked (evidential) narrative
forms (cf. §2.1.) Evidentials are also labelled as ‘mediatives’
(Guentcheva 1996), ‘confirmatives’ (Aronson 1977),
‘non-confirmatives’ (Friedman 1979:339), ‘validationals’
or ‘verificationals’ (Aikhenvald 2004:15) etc.
Regarding the semantic distinction, evidentials are generally divided
into direct and indirect evidentials (Givon 1982). Direct evidentials are used
when the speaker has some sensory evidence for the action or event he is
describing, whilst indirect evidentials are employed when the speaker reports an
event which he did not witness but comes to know about it from an actual state.
Indirect evidentials are split in two subcategories of
inferential and
quotative (also known as reportatives, reportive, reported, hearsay or
second-hand) evidentials (cf. De Haan 2005a:314, Aikhenvald 2004:177).
Aikhenvald (2004:23) proposes to distinguish evidential systems with two, three,
four, five and more choices. Those with only two choices (firsthand vs.
non-firsthand) she labels as “small” systems. They are widespread
particularly in Eurasia (the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Finno-Ugric area).
The distinction between firsthand vs. non-firsthand information is compatible
with the subdivision of the Evidentiality domain into direct and indirect
evidentiality, introduced by Willet (1988:57):
Figure 1: The semantic domain of evidentiality.
Evidentiality may acquire mirative (also known as
admirative) extensions. Mirativity is frequently related to the emotional
factor. It conveys the ‘speaker’s unprepared mind’ (De Lancey
1997), it expresses the speaker’s surprise at the moment of discovering
unexpected information, which can be positive or negative. Indirect evidentials
tend to acquire mirative overtones. However, mirative meanings do not always
have to be expressed through evidentials (Aikhenvald 2004).
Aikhenvald makes a clear distinction between epistemic modality, which
refers to the subjective evaluation of the speaker with regard to the
reliability of the utterance expressed, and evidentiality which marks
objectively the information source of the statement. The two notions may
co-occur in the same forms or cluster in different ways. Thus, it is useful to
keep the domains separate, both on conceptual and functional level.
2. Evidentiality in Georgian
2.1 Previous
studies
In the Georgian grammatical tradition the concept of
evidentiality was mentioned for the first time by Platon Ioseliani (1863), who
observed that the expression of non-witnessed events, in his words
‘events which the speaker has not seen with his own eyes’ was
possible by means of the particle /turme/
‘apparently,
evidently’. Shanidze (1930: 124) pointed out that the meaning of /turme/
is encoded within the tense system of the Georgian verb (1930:123). To this
regard Shanidze introduced later in 1953 the semantic category of
“act”:
seen vs.
unseen i.e.
attended vs.
non
attended
paying attention to the capacity of the Georgian verb to express
witnessed and non-witnessed events (cf. Shanidze 1953:216, Shanidze 1980: 211):
“Act or deed is a verbal form which shows us whether the speaker has seen
the action expressed by the verb or not. The Georgian verb can denote not only
actions witnessed and seen by the speaker, but also those which have not been
witnessed and seen by the speaker. According to that, we have two acts, seen and
unseen (i.e. attended and unattended)” (author's translation). Shanidze
labelled the perfect and pluperfect tenses, which in contrast to the aorist
(unmarked past form) developed evidential extensions as a secondary meaning,
with “I
turmeobiti” (I evidential i.e. perfect) and “II
turmeobiti” (II evidential
i.e. pluperfect). Furthermore
Shanidze detected two possible meanings of the evidential perfect: reportive and
inferential: “an unattended action can be recognized by the speaker in two
ways: by hearing about it from someone else or by viewing the result of such an
action and judging what could have happened” (Shanidze 1980:
211-212).
The morpho-syntactic features of the Georgian perfect have been widely
investigated in a large number of linguistic studies, both in diachronic and
synchronic perspective (see Chikobava 1950, Arabuli 1980, Harris 1981 and 1985,
Natadze 1955, Pkhakadze 1984, Peikrishvili 1974, Shabashvili 2001 among others).
In each of them evidentiality is considered one of the meaning of the perfect
tense. A short history of evidentiality was drawn up by Kavtaradze (1956), who
examined the occurrences of the particle /turme/ in Modern Georgian. He argued
that the usage of /turme/ in expressing non-witnessed events is older than the
occurrence of the perfect with evidential meaning. In his paper about the
typology of ‘status’ in Georgian and other non-Slavic languages
Friedman (1979) considered, along with the evidential perfect, the quotative
particles as relevant lexical elements for the category of status (Friedman
1979:343). Furthermore he paid attention to the admirative value of the Georgian
perfect, comparing it with admiratives in Balkan Slavic and Turkish. An
important contribution has been offered by W. Boeder (2000) who drew up a
detailed description of the evidential perfect, as well as evidential-like
categories in Georgian.
2.2 Types of
evidentials
[2]
The evidentiality system in Georgian is subdivided into
direct and indirect evidentials. According to Aikhenvald’s terminology
(Aikhenvald 2004: 24) this is a two term
system
[3]
, which makes the distinction
between firsthand and non-firsthand information.
Direct evidentiality is generally expressed through unmarked forms (cf.
example 1). Non firsthand evidentiality is mainly encoded in the perfect (ex. 2)
and sometimes in the pluperfect, since both tenses have evidential extension as
a secondary meaning. For the non past tenses or in contexts where the use of the
perfect is not possible, lexical means (quotative and evidential particles,
adverbial expressions etc.) are employed for expressing the information source.
The inference can be conveyed by the future and the conditional as well.
Both lexical and grammatical expressions of evidentiality have to be considered
as evidential strategies rather than evidentials proper, since there is no overt
morpheme conveying “information source” as its main meaning. Thus,
Georgian has no specific grammatical marking for evidentiality, in the sense of
Aikhenvald (2004), but a large number of grammatical and lexical strategies for
its expression.
SERIES
|
SCREEVE
[4]
|
TENSE
|
MOOD
|
ASPECT
|
I Present
(Future Sub-Series)
|
Present
|
Present / Future
|
Indicative
|
Imperfective
|
Imperfect
|
Past
|
Indicative
|
Present subjunctive
|
Present / Future
|
Subjunctive
|
Future
|
Future
|
Indicative
|
Perfective
|
Conditional
|
Past
|
Indicative
|
Future subjunctive
|
Future
|
Subjunctive
|
II Aorist
|
Aorist
|
Past
|
Indicative
|
Perfective
|
Optative
|
Present / Future
|
Subjunctive
|
III Perfect
|
Perfect
|
Past
|
Indicative
|
Pluperfect
|
Past
|
Indicative
|
Present Subjunctive
|
Past / Future
|
Subjunctive
|
Table 1: TAM paradigm of the Georgian Verb
2.3 Grammatical
strategies
2.4 The perfect
The perfect tense in Georgian developed from the reanalysis
of resultative constructions acquiring evidentiality as a secondary meaning. It
expresses the unseen corresponding to the Series II (aorist) seen (Harris
1985):
seen:
|
unseen:
|
Aorist
|
Perfect
|
II series
|
III series
|
(1)
|
man
|
sk’am-i
|
aivan-ze
|
dadga.
|
|
s/he:ERG
|
chair-NOM
|
balcony-on
|
put:
AOR.3SG
|
|
‘S/he put the chair on the balcony’.
|
In contrast to (1), which expresses a witnessed event, the
perfect form
daudgams in (2a) conveys an unwitnessed event which can have
an evidential (inferential, reportive or admirative) or in other contexts (2b)
even a resultative or iterative meaning. Thus, the evidential value is one of
the meaning of the perfect tense. For the non evidential uses of the perfect
see Boeder (2000).
(2a)
|
mas
|
sk’am-i
|
aivan-ze
|
daudgams.
|
|
s/he:DAT
|
chair-NOM
|
balcony-on
|
stand:
PRF.3SG
|
|
‘As it seems, s/he put the chair on the balcony’.
(Inferential or reportive)
|
(2b)
|
mas
|
sk’am-i
|
aivan-ze
|
(xširad)
|
daudgams.
|
|
s/he:DAT
|
chair-NOM
|
balcony-on
|
(often)
|
stand:
PRF.3SG
|
|
‘S/he has often put the chair on the balcony’ (Resultative,
iterative).
|
In example (2a) only the admirative value can be interpreted
unambiguously, indicated by raising intonation in speech and by the exclamation
mark in orthography. Inferential and reportive values as well as non-evidential
meanings of the perfect can not be distinguished without the context. In (2b)
the iterative meaning of the perfect is obvious, since it is reinforced by the
temporal adverb /
xširad/. If the information source must be marked
in the same sentence, where the perfect has clearly non-evidential meaning, it
must be done by lexical strategies of evidentiality, as in (2c):
(2c)
|
mas
|
sk’am-i
|
aivan-ze
|
(xširad)
|
daudgams
|
turme.
|
|
s/he:DAT
|
chair-NOM
|
balcony-on
|
(often)
|
stand:
PRF.3SG
|
EV
|
|
‘Apparently /(as I was told), s/he has often put the chair on the
balcony’ (Iterative (perfect) + evidential (particle /turme/
‘apparently’).
|
The perfect can be found in contexts where it has a clearly
resultative meaning, in particular with 1
st person subjects. The
perfect is used as stylistic device in the literature and gives more
expressivity to the language than the aorist (Peikrishvili 1974:58):
(2d)
|
mečkareba,
|
saxl-i
|
bič’-is
|
amara
|
damit’ovebia.
|
|
hurry up:PRS:1SG
|
house-NOM
|
boy-GEN
|
with
|
leave:
PRF.1SG
|
|
‘I’m in a hurry, I left the servant alone in the
house’ (lit. ‘I abandoned the house with the
servant’).
|
The necessity of avoiding ambiguity caused by the polysemy
of the perfect brought about a creation of periphrastic constructions as an
alternative to the resultative meaning, which contributed to the consolidation
of evidential semantics of the perfect tense. The late 18
th –
early 19
th centuries are considered to be the period of formation of
such constructions (Sakhokia 2002).
In example (3) the interpretation of the perfect can be resultative or
evidential, but the resultative meaning is minor, it is almost obscured by the
evidential one. In (4) the perfect of (3) is replaced by the periphrastic
construction (past participle of the main verb + 3
rd person present
of the auxiliary), such a construction has only resultative meaning, the
sentence is unambiguous.
(3)
|
(mas)
|
c’ign-i
|
c’auk’itxavs.
|
|
He:DAT
|
book-NOM
|
read:
PRF:3SG
|
|
‘He apparently read the book’. / He read the book’.
(Evidential or resultative).
|
(4)
|
(mas)
|
c’ign-i
|
c’ak’itxuli
|
akvs.
|
|
he:DAT
|
book-NOM
|
read:P.P
|
have:PRS:3.SG
|
|
‘He read the book’ (Resultative).
|
The periphrastic constructions can express evidentiality
when the auxiliary verb is used in the perfect screeve instead of present as in
(5). In this case the only interpretation of the utterance is evidential.
(5)
|
(mas)
|
c’ign-i
|
c’ak’itxuli
|
hkonia.
|
|
he:DAT
|
book-NOM
|
read:P.P
|
have:
PRF:3.SG
|
|
‘He apparently read the book’.
|
The information source can also be marked by adding a
lexical marker of evidentiality to the periphrastic construction as in
(6).
(6)
|
(mas)
|
c’ign-i
|
turme
|
c’ak’itxuli
|
akvs.
|
|
he:DAT
|
book-NOM
|
EV
|
read:P.P
|
have:PRS:3SG
|
|
‘He apparently read the book’.
|
For a detailed discussion about the uses of the evidential
perfect see Boeder 2000, Giacalone and Topadze 2007, Topadze 2008.
Evidentiality in some contexts can also be expressed by pluperfect
(inference or hearsay) conditional or future (only inference) screeves.
2.5 The
pluperfect
The Pluperfect expresses an action anterior to another one
which has also taken place in the past. The default value of the pluperfect is
resultative. It can acquire an evidential extension (inferential or reportive)
which can be reinforced by lexical markers:
(7)
|
sulganabul-i
|
bulbul-i
|
potl-eb-ši
|
mimaluliq’o.
|
|
silent-NOM
|
nightingale-NOM
|
leave
-
PL
-
in
|
hide:
PPRF:3SG
|
|
‘The nightingale was silently hidden among the leaves, (as it
seemed)’.
|
(8)
|
turme
|
mama-čem-s
|
k’argi
|
mozrdil-i
|
luk’ma
|
čaedva
|
p’ir-ši
|
|
EV
|
father-my-DAT
|
good-NOM
|
big-NOM
|
bite:NOM
|
put:3.
PPRF
|
mouth-in
|
|
ise,
|
rom
|
džer
|
mγvdel-s |
mama-o
|
čven-o
|
ar
|
etkva
|
|
so
|
that
|
yet
|
priest-DAT
|
father-VOC
|
our-VOC
|
NEG
|
tell:3
PPRF
|
|
da
|
supra
|
ar
|
ek’urtxebina.
|
|
|
and
|
table
|
NEG
|
bless:3
PPRF
|
|
|
‘Apparently my father had put in his mouth a big bite before the
priest had said the "Lord's prayer" and had blessed the table’.
|
2.6 The future
Evidentiality encoded in the future overlaps with epistemic
modality as in Romance and Germanic languages (cf. Pietrandrea 2005: 42). It
expresses the inference based on internal (reasoning) or external (hearsay or
common knowledge) source (cf. Giacalone and Topadze 2007). The inferential
future takes on epistemic overtones of uncertainty (Boeder 2000:280), losing its
temporal meaning:
(9)
|
v-rek’av,
|
magram
|
aravin
|
p’asuxobs,
|
c’asul-eb-i
|
iknebian.
|
|
1SUB-call:PRS
|
but
|
nobody
|
answer:PRS.3SUB
|
gone-PL-NOM
|
to be:FUT:3PL
|
|
‘I am calling but nobody answers, they might be
out’.
|
The number of verbs which can form the inferential future is
quite restricted. These are usually stative verbs as
codna ‘to
know’,
siq’varuli ‘to love’
, kona
‘to have’
, dždoma ‘to sit’
, dgoma
‘to stand’
, γireba ‘to cost’,
c’ola ‘to lie’, etc.
2.7 The
conditional
The conditional is equivalent to the future in the past. It
substitutes the inferential future for the past events even for those verbs
which do not admit inferential future forms:
(10)
|
ra
|
garudžul-i
|
x-ar!
|
zγva-ze
|
iknebodi.
|
|
How
|
tanned-NOM
|
2SUB-to be:PRS
|
sea-on
|
to be:FUT.2SUB
|
|
‘How tanned you are! You must have been to the
seaside’.
|
The conditional shares common traits with the perfect, since
it refers to past events or their results, but, unlike the perfect, which is
limited to stating a fact, the conditional conveys the speaker’s
commitment towards a statement.
3. Lexical
Strategies
The reference to the information source can be expressed by
employing lexical items, as mentioned above. They occur autonomously or in
combination with grammatical strategies of evidentialty. They can modify the
meaning of an utterance or intensify its evidential meaning. Quotative markers,
comparative conjunctions, evidential particles, adverbial expressions as well as
semigrammaticalized markers derived from verbs of perception can be considered
lexical markers of evidentiality (an overview is given in table 2). In
traditional grammars of Georgian lexical units with evidential value are usually
mentioned along with the invariable words or modal particles (Shanidze 1980:612,
Fähnrich 1986:146 among others). Among the markers of lexical evidentiality
the quotative particles are undoubtedly the most discussed ones, especially in
connection to indirect speech (Shanidze 1980, Hewitt 1981, Boeder 2000, 2002,
Harris and Campbell 1995, Kvachadze 1996, etc.). The particle /turme/
'apparently', lexical marker of evidentiality par excellence, is mentioned in
numerous studies in correlation to the evidential meaning of the perfect tense
(Shanidze 1980, Boeder 2000, Arabuli 1984, Pkhakadze 1984, Peikrishvili 1973,
Fähnrich 1986, Hewitt 1995, among others) or to evidentiality more
generally (Kavtaradze 1954, Boeder 2000). In the literature there are also some
insights on inferential and reportive markers of evidentiality within
investigations about conjunctions (Dzidziguri 1973) and mood (Jorbenadze 1982,
Sharashenidze 1995, Harris 1995 etc.), discussing predominantly the
epistemic-modal functions of these items.
Types of Evidentials
|
Quotative Markers
|
Adverbial Expressions
|
Evidential Particles
|
Comparative Conjunctions
|
Semigrammatica-lized Markers derived from perception verbs
|
Modals
|
Degramma-
ticalized Affixes
|
Inferential
|
|
|
|
|
et’q’oba
‘it seems’
čans
‘it is visible’,
‘ it seems’
mgoni
‘it appears, I think’ |
unda
‘must’ |
-savit
‘it seems, like, as’ |
Reportive
|
-metki 1st pers. sg
-tko 2nd sg/pl, 1st pers. pl.
-o 3rd pers. Sg/Pl.
|
mixedvit
tanaxmad
cnobit
gancxadebit
‘according to’
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inferential/
Reportive
|
|
|
turme
‘apparently’ |
titkos
‘as if’
vitom
‘as if’ |
|
|
|
Table 2: Lexical markers of evidentiality in
Georgian
3.1 Quotative
markers
In Georgian there are 3 quotative markers (also known as
quotative particles or speech particles): [-metki]
, [-tko]
and
[–o]. The markers [-metki]
and
[-tko]
are derived
from the verb
tkma ‘to say’(
-metki =
me vtkvi,
‘I said’.
tko<tkva ‘he said’). The origin of
the particle [–o], which is used mainly for quotations in the third
person, is obscure. The quotative markers can generally be cliticized to each
constituent of the sentence. Usually they are used as direct speech markers.
The particle [-metki]
is used to codify firsthand information. In
the first person quotations the speaker uses [-metki] to report
a
statement made or thought by himself in the past. In this case [-metki] serves
as a marker of direct evidentiality i.e. firsthand information, since the
speaker is personally the information source for the stated utterance. The
particle [-metki]
generally takes a final position within a
sentence:
(11)
|
damagviandeba-metki.
|
|
to be late:1OBJ:FUT-1QUOT
|
|
‘I will be late (I said)’.
|
In some dialects of Georgian [-metki] occurs as an
autonomous lexical unit /metki/ in the head-position preceding the main verb
(Dzidziguri 1973:446, Boeder 2002:17, 41 note 34). The original meaning of
‘saying’ is conserved:
(12)
|
metki
|
gaetrie
|
akedan!
|
|
1.QUOT
|
go away:2IMP
|
here:from
|
|
‘(I said) Out of the way’!
|
The occurrence of /metki/ as an autonomous unit emerges also
in contemporary urban Georgian, where it undergoes morphosyntactic and semantic
changes, losing its original meaning of saying and acquiring epistemic overtones
of surprise by discovering the opposite information from that expected by the
speaker. Such use of /metki/ has not been previously discussed in the
literature.
(13)
|
kidev
|
ak
|
xar?
|
metki
|
c’axvedi!
|
|
Still
|
here
|
be:PRS:2SUB
|
EV
|
go away:AOR:2SUB
|
|
‘Are you still here? I thought you went away’.
|
In colloquial language /metki/ sometimes occurs twice in a
sentence as an autonomous lexical unit (at the beginning) and as an enclitic (at
the end of the sentence) in order to intensify the marking of reported speech:
(14)
|
metki
|
c’amoiq’vane
|
egec-metki.
|
|
1.QUOT
|
to take with-2IMP
|
he-too-1.QUOT
|
|
(I said) Take him also with you (I said).
|
In contrast to [-metki] the quotative markers of the 2nd and
3rd person codify the second hand information. [-tko]
is used when the
addressee is a mediator between the speaker and a third
person
. The utterance is addressed to the third
person, the information source is the speaker (see also Boeder 2002:15,
Giacalone and Topadze 2007):
(15)
|
utxari,
|
dγes
|
čem-i
|
st’umar-i
|
xar-tko.
|
|
tell:2IMP
|
today
|
my-NOM
|
guest:NOM
|
to be:2SUB-2QUOT
|
|
Tell him/her, you are my guest today (s/he= speaker, 1
st
person said).
|
The quotative marker [-o] also reports second hand
information. In contrast to
[-metki]
and [-tko] it does not
necessarily specify the information source which can be common knowledge for
others. The particle [-o] occurs often in proverbs. For a detailed discussion
about quotative markers see (Shanidze 1980, Hewitt 1981, Boeder 2000, 2002,
Harris and Campbell 1995, Kvachadze 1996, Giacalone and Topadze 2007).
In formal register the information source is generally marked by
adverbial expressions (in the adverbial or instrumental case), such as:
mixedvit
(from
xedva
‘
vision’)
‘according to’ (lit. with the
vision),
tanaxmad (from
xma ‘voice’)
‘according to’ (lit. with the voice)
,
cnobit
(
from
cnoba ‘notice’)
‘according to the
notice’
,
gancxadebit (
gancxadeba
‘declaration’)
‘according to the
declaration’,
inpormaciit
(
inpormacia
‘information’)
‘according to the
information’, etc.
(16)
|
st’at’ist’ik’ur-i
|
monacem-eb-is
|
mixedvit,
|
2007
|
c’el-s
|
q’vela-ze
|
|
statistic-NOM
|
data-PL-GEN
|
according
|
2007
|
year-DAT
|
all-on
|
|
met’i
|
p’iradob-is
|
moc’moba
|
dek’ember-ši
|
gaica.
|
|
most
|
identity-GEN
|
certificate:NOM
|
December-in
|
to issue:AOR.3SG
|
|
‘According to the statistic data most identity cards have been
issued in December 2007’.
|
(17)
|
arsebul-i
|
inpormaci-is
|
tanaxmad,
|
samxareo
|
p’olicia-m
|
|
available-NOM
|
information-GEN
|
according
|
regional
|
policy-ERG
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
uk’ve
|
aγdzra
|
gamodzieba.
|
|
|
|
already
|
to open:AOR.3SG
|
inquiry:NOM
|
|
|
|
‘According to the available information, the regional
police has already opened the inquiry’.
|
(18)
|
sinop’t’ik’os-eb-is
|
cnob-it
|
xval
|
mtel
|
sakartvelo-ši
|
gamoidarebs.
|
|
meteorologist-PL-GEN
|
information-INS
|
tomorrow
|
whole
|
Georgia-in
|
to brighten up:3FUT
|
|
‘According to the meteorologists, tomorrow the weather will brighten up in the whole Georgia’.
|
3.2 Evidential
particles
3.3 Turme
The invariable particle /turme/
‘
apparently, seemingly, as it is said
’
grammaticalized from the union of the conjunction /tu/ ´if´, the
particle /re/
‘somewhat’ and the indefinite particle
/
me/
(cf. Boeder 2000:281, 313). It does not reflect directly the
meaning of the contained elements (Kavtaradze 1956:180). We find the first
occurrences of /ture
/ (earlier form of /turme/), in texts from the
12
th century (Arabuli 1984:142). In modern Georgian /turme/
has the same use as in Old Georgian. It may co-occur with the evidential
perfect, but not obligatorily. The Georgian name of evidential screeves
(
turmeobitis mc’k’rivebi is derived from the particle
/turme/.
/turme/ has both inferential and reportive value. It indicates that the
speaker does not have direct knowledge of what he is retelling, it normally does
not contain epistemic assessments and does not cast doubt on the reliability of
the utterance. The combination [aorist of the main verb + /turme/] can replace
the evidential perfect in all declarative phrases of indicative mood:
(19a)
|
c’uxelis
|
uc’vimia.
|
|
last night
|
to rain:PRF.3SG
|
|
‘Apparently it rained last night’.
|
=
(19b)
|
c’uxelis
|
ic’vima
|
turme.
|
|
last night
|
to rain:AOR.3SG
|
EV
|
|
‘Apparently it rained last night’.
|
The particle /turme/ has its counterparts in all Kartvelian
languages. In Megrelian it has been borrowed from Georgian, it is attested under
the forms of /trume/,
/turme/, /rtume/, whereas its Laz counterpart
/megerem/ is a Turkic loanword. In Svan there is an autochthonous form
equivalent of /turme/ attested under the form /esnar/ and its phonetic
variants
/ecnär/ /esnärildäš/, /esren/,
/esreniš/) ‘apparently’. The particle /turme/ and its
counterparts in Kartvelian Languages can be combined with all (evidential and
non evidential) screeves of the indicative mood.
3.4
Mgoni
/mgoni/ ‘it seems, it appears, seemingly, I
think’
(from
m-gon-i-a, 1
st person singular of
the verb /goneba/ 'to think, to appear, to believe’) works as a
parenthetical element which modifies the meaning of the utterance, it contains a
strong epistemic component of the speaker’s commitment. /mgoni/
assumes evidential overtones in cases where it indicates the information
source which serves as a basis of the statement.
Epistemic use (information source is not known):
(20)
|
ramden-i
|
c’l-isa-a?
|
mgoni
|
xut-is.
|
|
how many-NOM
|
year-GEN-to be:PRS:3SG
|
INF
|
five-GEN
|
|
‘How old is s/he? Five, as I believe’ (speaker’s
memory).
|
Evidential use (information source is indicated):
(21)
|
narčit’as
|
čit’bat’onasac
|
edzaxian
|
mgoni.
|
|
kinglet:DAT
|
goldfinch:DAT:too
|
call:3SUB:PRS
|
INF
|
|
‘The kinglet is also called goldfinch, as it seems/I think
(Hearsay).
|
3.5
Et’q’oba
/et’q’oba/
‘noticeably’,
‘seemingly’, grammaticalized as inferential marker from the 3rd
person of the verb /šet’q’oba/ ‘to
notice’/dat’q’oba/ 'to be noticeable’ (lit. ‘It is
noticeable on him/her’). It contains an epistemic element showing the
speaker’s attitude towards the statement. The use of
/et’q’oba/ is characteristic for the colloquial language. It also
appears in less formal registers of the written language.
(22)
|
t’elepon-i
|
gamoirto,
|
et’q’oba
|
element’-i
|
daudžda.
|
|
phone-NOM
|
to switch off:AOR:3SG:PASS
|
INF
|
battery-NOM
|
to discharge:AOR:3SG
|
|
‘The phone got switched off. Apparently its battery got
discharged’.
|
With past events
/et’q’oba/ occurs
sometimes in the imperfect screeve. For this reason it must be considered as a
semi-grammaticalized element, since it is not completely fossilized and is
collocated on the continuum between lexicon and grammar (Topadze 2008):
(23)
|
zvav-ze
|
džixv-eb-is
|
naval-i
|
mravlad
|
iq’o.
|
|
|
landslide-on
|
ibex-PL-GEN
|
track-NOM
|
much:ADV
|
to be:AOR.3.SG
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
et’q’oboda
|
c’q’l-is
|
dasalevad
|
ak
|
evlo-t
|
zevi-dan.
|
|
INF
|
water-GEN
|
for drinking
|
here
|
go:
PPRF-3PL
|
up-from
|
|
‘There were many tracks of ibexes (mountain goats) on the
landslide.
Apparently (lit. as it seemed) they came down here to
drink’.
|
3.6 čans
/čans/ ‘it is visible’ is another
semi-grammaticalized inferential marker derived from the 3rd person singular of
the verb /gamočena/ ‘to appear’, which loses its original function
of marking direct evidence and assumes an inferential value. /čans
/ can
co-occur with the evidential perfect:
(24)
|
es
|
p’rozauli
|
variant’-i,
|
čans,
|
gauleksav-s
|
vinme
|
mesx-s.
|
|
this
|
prose:ADJ
|
version-NOM
|
INF
|
versify:PRF-3SUB
|
some
|
Meskhi-DAT
|
|
‘This prose version, as it appears, was versified by some Meskhi
(=inhabitant of Meskheti, Georgian region)’.
|
Like /et’q’oba/, the marker /čans/ can occur
also in the imperfect under the form /čanda/
'it was visible’) when
it refers to past events:
(25)
|
rogorc
|
čanda,
|
pot’o
|
k’oncert’-ze
|
iq’o
|
gadaγebuli.
|
|
as
|
be visible:IPF.3SG
|
photo:NOM
|
concert-on
|
to be:AOR.3SG
|
taken
|
|
‘As it seemed/ as it was visible, the photo was taken during the
concert’.
|
4. Inferential and Reportive
Markers Derived from Conjunctions
/titkos/ and
/vitom/
[5]
‘as if, as
though’ are evidential markers grammaticalized from the homonymous
comparative conjunctions. In many contexts they may be used synonymously.
/titkos/ (derived from /tu/ ‘if’ + optative of the verb /tkma/
‘to say’) developed in modern Georgian an evidential (inferential
and reportive) function with the meaning ’as it seems, as it is
said’.
/vitom/ ‘as if’, ‘as though’ (derived
from the Old Georgian comparative conjunction /vit(a)/ ‘as’ (cf.
vit(a) >
vitamca>
vitomc>
vitom), developed a
reportive value. In some context of illusory perception (such as dreams,
etc…) it can have an inferential interpretation. Both
/titkos/
and /vitom/ contain epistemic overtones.
In comparative constructions
the evaluation of the statement by the speaker expressed through /titkos/ can be
positive or negative, whereas /vitom/ implies necessarily a negative attitude of
the speaker towards an utterance.
(26a)
|
ise
|
ikceva,
|
titkos
|
araperi
|
icodes
|
am
|
sak’itx-is
|
šesaxeb.
|
|
so
|
behave:PRS:3SG
|
EV
|
nothing
|
know:SUBJ.3SG
|
this:GEN
|
issue-GEN
|
about
|
|
‘He behaves as if he knew nothing about this
issue’.
|
(26b)
|
ise
|
ikceva,
|
vitom
|
araperi
|
icodes
|
am
|
sak’itx-is
|
šesaxeb.
|
|
So
|
behave:PRS:3SG
|
EV
|
nothing
|
know:SUBJ.3SG
|
this:GEN
|
issue-GEN
|
about
|
|
‘He behaves as if he knew nothing about this issue’
(Negative attitude of speaker)’.
|
/titkos/ and /vitom/ with evidential value occur often as
parentheticals, losing in such cases the original function of connectors or
conjunctions.
(27a)
|
mariam-i
|
titkos
|
gušin
|
dabrund-a
|
mtidan.
|
|
Mary-NOM
|
EV
|
yesterday
|
return:AOR-3SUB
|
mountain:from
|
|
‘Mary seems to have returned yesterday from the
mountains’(Inferential or reportive)’.
|
/vitom/ is often accompanied by the hearsay marker
[–o]:
(27b)
|
mariam-i
|
vitom
|
gušin
|
dabrund-a
|
mtidan-o.
|
|
Mary-NOM
|
EV
|
yesterday
|
return:AOR-3SUB
|
mountain:from:QUOT
|
|
‘Mary seems to have returned yesterday from the mountains, as
they said’ (Only reportive).
|
By using the marker /titkos/
the speaker does not
assume any responsibility for the validity of the statements and reserves the
possibility to change or withdraw his opinion or statement:
(28)
|
gšia?
|
titkos
|
ara.
|
|
Be hungry:PRS.2SG
|
INF
|
no
|
|
‘Are you hungry? Seemingly not’ (as I
feel)’.
|
/vitom/ can be additionally used independently as a
modal-interrogative particle, as in (29). In such a context it can not be
replaced by /titkos/ (Topadze 2008):
(29)
|
- am
|
problem-is
|
gadač’ra
|
advilad
|
šeidzleba.
|
|
this:GEN
|
problem-GEN
|
solve-MASD
|
easily
|
be possible:PRS:3SG
|
|
This problem is easily solvable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
vitom?
|
|
|
|
|
|
EV
|
|
|
|
|
|
‘Can it be really true? Is it credible’ (Scepticism of the
speaker).
|
The derivation of evidential markers from comparative
constructions is a typologically widespread phenomenon. (Wiemer 2008a:20, Wiemer
2008:348). Wiemer observes for Slavic languages that evidential elements
developed from comparative constructions are inclined to oscillations between
inferential and reportive domains. This claim seems to be valid also for the
Georgian evidentials /titkos/
and /vitom/
which can be defined as
‘undifferentiated indicators of indirect evidentiality, the designation
proposed by Wiemer (Wiemer 2008:348).
4.1 Inferential markers derived
from modals. The case of
unda
The invariable marker /unda/ (3rd person of the verb /ndoma/
‘to wish, desire’) developed as a marker of deontic modality, which
in combination with the optative of the main verb can acquire an inferential
value:
(30)
|
pankar-s
|
ver
|
v-p’oulob!
|
magida-ze
|
unda
|
|
pencil-DAT
|
NEG
|
1SUB-find:PRS
|
table-on
|
must
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
idos,
|
axlaxans
|
movk’ari
|
tval-i.
|
|
|
lie:OPT.3SG
|
recently
|
glimpse:AOR.1SUB
|
eye-NOM
|
|
|
‘I can not find the pencil! It must be on the table, I just
glimpsed it’.
|
4.2 Inferential markers derived
from a nominal affix:
-savit
The suffix [–savit] is a clitic composed from the
dative marker [–s] + epenthetic vowel [a-] and postposition [-vit]
‘like’, ‘as’ (Amiridze 2006). Its primary function is
comparative:
(31)
|
čem-s-a-vit
|
|
my-DAT-EPV-as
|
|
‘As I’.
|
The clitic [–savit]
grammaticalized as
evidential suffix which can be cliticized to the finite verbal forms
(Jorbenadze, Kobaidze, Beridze 1988:170, Amiridze 2006). In contemporary urban
Georgian some forms can be found, where [–savit] functionally corresponds
to the marker /titkos/
‘it seems, it appears’ in its
inferential uses:
(32a)
|
acivda-
savit.
|
|
start to get cold:AOR:3SG-
INF
|
|
‘It is starting to get cold, as it appears’.
|
=
(32b)
|
titkos
|
acivda.
|
|
INF
|
start to get cold:AOR:3SG
|
|
‘It is starting to get cold, as it appears’.
|
5. Conclusions
Summarizing results of the present discussion we can
conclude that evidentiality in Georgian is a functional, semantic category.
Marking the information source is not obligatory and it depends on the choices
of the speaker. Evidentiality can be expressed by various grammatical and
lexical means: direct evidentiality is codified by unmarked forms of TAM and by
the first person quotative marker [-metki], whereas indirect evidentiality and
its sub-domains of inference and hearsay are encoded in the TAM-paradigms, which
have developed evidentiality as a secondary meaning, or can be conveyed by
lexical means. There are no overt morphological i.e. verbal markers of
evidentiality, with only the meaning of “information
source”.
As reflected by the analyzed data, the encoding of evidentiality in
Georgian is not restricted to the indirect evidentiality, as sometimes claimed
in the literature. The claim according to which Georgian marks only indirect
evidentiality (second hand information) is valid for some grammatical strategies
(e.g. the perfect), but not for all the means of expression of evidentiality.
In contrast to the grammatical strategies which developed evidentiality
as a secondary meaning, like the perfect, some lexical strategies may have
evidentiality as unique meaning.
The investigated data confirm that evidentiality in Georgian is a domain
in movement, which admits several intermediate stages, as manifested by the
presence of both grammaticalization processes involving lexical items, and
degrammaticalization processes involving affixes.
The evidential value may overlap with the epistemic one within a marker,
as demonstrated by a large number of lexical means. However, such overlap is not
obligatory, as for instance in the case of the perfect, which is not compatible
with the epistemic elements. The Georgian perfect, which has developed an
evidential value in addition to other meanings, corroborates the claim made by
some authors (Aikhenvald 2004, De Haan 1999, Wiemer 2010) according to which
evidentiality and epistemicity are two different notions, both at the conceptual
and functional level.
Abbreviations
ADV–Adverb, ADJ–Adjective, AOR–Aorist,
DAT-Dative, EPV–epenthetic vowel, ERG-Ergative, EV–Evidential,
FUT–Future, GEN-Genitive, IMP–Imperative, INF-Inferential,
INS–Instrumental, IPF–Imperfect, MASD–Masdar,
NEG–Negation, NOM–Nominative, OBJ–Object, PASS-Passive,
PL-Plural, P.P–Perfect Participle, PPRF–Pluperfect, PRF-Perfect,
PRS–Present, QUOT-Quotative, SG–Singular, SUB–Subject,
TAM–Tense/Aspect/Mood, VOC-Vocative.
References
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2004. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Amiridze, Nino. 2006. Originally Nominal Affixation on Finite Verb
Forms in Modern Georgian and Laz. Presentation at the International Workshop on
Morphosyntax of Caucasian Languages. Inalco and Collège de France, Paris
(Manuscript).
Arabuli, Avtandil. 1980. Mesame seriis nak’vteulta
c’armoeba da mnišvneloba dzvel kartulši [The formation and
meaning of the third series of tenses in Old Georgian]. Tbilisi.
Aronson, Howard I. 1977. The Interrelationships between Aspect and
Mood in Bulgarian. Folia Slavica 1, 1.9-32.
-----. 1982. Georgian: A Reading Grammar. Columbus: Slavica
Publishers.
Boeder, Winfried. 2000. Evidentiality in Georgian. In: Evidentials:
Turkic, Iranian and Neighbouring Languages, ed. by Lars Johanson & Bo Utas,
Berlin-New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 275-328.
-----. 2002. Speech and thought representation in the Kartvelian
(South Caucasian) Languages. In: Reported discourse: a meeting ground for
different linguistic domains (Typological Studies in Language 52), ed. by. Tom
Güldemann & Manfred von Roncador. Amsterdam: John Benjamins,
3-48.
Chikobava, Arnold. 1950. Kartuli enis zogadi daxasiateba [A general
characteristisation of the Georgian Language]. Kartuli enis ganmart’ebiti
leksik’oni, ed. by A. Chikobava, Tbilisi.
De Haan, Ferdinand. 1999. “Evidentiality and epistemic
modality: Setting boundaries”, Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 18,
83-101.
-----. 2005a. Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality. In: The World
Atlas of Language Structures–WALS, ed. by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S.
Dryer, David Gil, Bernard. Comrie. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
314–317.
-----. 2005b. Coding of Evidentiality. In: The World Atlas of
Language Structures–WALS, ed. by Martin Haspelmath, Matthew S. Dryer,
David Gil, Bernard. Comrie. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
318–321.
De Lancey, Scott. 1997. Mirativity: The Grammatical Marking of
Unexpected Information. Linguistic Typology 1, 33-52. doi:10.1515/lity.1997.1.1.33
Dzidziguri, Shota. 1973. K’avširebi kartul enaši
(‘Conjunctions in Georgian'). Tbilisi.
Fähnrich, Heinz. 1986. Kurze Grammatik der georgischen
Sprache. Leipzig, Verlag Enzyklopädie.
Friedman, Victor. 1979. Toward a typology of status: Georgian and
other non-Slavic languages of the Soviet Union. In: The elements: A parasession
on linguistic units and levels, ed. by Paul R. Clyne, William Hanks & Carol
Hofbauer. Chicago Linguistic Society, 339-350.
Giacalone Ramat Anna & Manana Topadze. 2007. The coding of
evidentiality: a comparative look at Georgian and Italian. In: Evidentiality
between lexicon and grammar, Italian Journal of Linguistics, n. 19,1, ed. by
Mario Squartini, Pisa.
Givon, Talmy. 1982. Evidentiality and epistemic spaces. Studies in
Language, 6, 23-49. doi:10.1075/sl.6.1.03giv
Guentcheva, Zlatka. 1996. L’Énonciation
médiatisée. Bibliothèque de l’information
grammaticale. Louvain: Éditions Peeters.
Harris, Alice C. 1981. Georgian Syntax. A study in relational
grammar. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, vol. 33. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
-----. 1985. Diachronic Syntax: The Kartvelian Case. Syntax and
Semantics, vol. 18. Academic Press, Orlando.
-----. 1995. "Modal Auxiliaries in Georgian". In: Pilologiuri
Dziebani (Festschrift for Guram Kartozia, ed. Aleksandre Gvakharia), Tbilisi,
Mecniereba, 195-207.
Harris Alice and Lyle Campbell. 1995. Historical Syntax in
Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, vol. 74.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hewitt, George B. 1981. “Eine weitere Betrachtung der
georgischen Redepartikel ‘-tko//-tkva’. Georgica, n.
4.
Ioseliani, Platon. 1863. P’iruel-dac’q’ebitni
k’anonni kartulisa γrammat’ik’isa / šedgenilni
p’lat’on egnat’es dzis ioselianisagan –
aγbeč’dilni mesamed [First Canons of Georgian Grammar, gathered by Platon
E. Ioseliani, printed for the third time], Tbilisi.
Jorbenadze, Besarion. 1982. Nazmnari modaluri element’ebi
kartulši. [Deverbal modal elements in Georgian], Kartuli
sit’q’vis k’ult’uris sak’itxebi, 10.
Tbilisi.
Jorbenadze Besarion, Manana Kobaidze & Marine Beridze. 1988.
Kartuli enis morpemebisa da modaluri element’ebis leksik’oni
[Dictionary of Morphemes and Modal Elements of Georgian]. Tbilisi,
Mecniereba.
Kavtaradze, Ivane. 1956. Unaxaobis k’at’egoriis
ist’oriisatvis kartulši [On the History of the Category of
Non-witnessedness in Georgian]. In: IKE (Iberiul-k’avk’asiuri
enatmecniereba), 8, 179-193.
Kvachadze, Leo. 1996. Kartuli enis sint’aksi (Syntax of
Georgian language). Tbilisi.
Natadze, Nodar. 1955. Mesame seriis dro-k'ilota
c’armoebisatvis kartulši [On the formation on series III in
Georgian]. In: IKE (iberiul-k’avk’asiuri enatmecniereba) 7,
81-98.
Peikrishvili, Zhuzhuna. 1974. Turmeobitebis mnišvneloba da
gamoq’eneba axal kartulši [The meaning and use of evidentials in
Modern Georgian]. Kartuli enis st’rukt’uris sak’itxebi 4,
53-70.
Pietrandrea, Paola. 2005. Epistemic Modality. Functional Properties
and the Italian System. Amsterdam-Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
Pkhakadze, Darejan. 1984. P’irveli turmeobitis punkciebi
kartulši [Functions of the 1st evidential (present perfect) in Georgian].
Tbilisi: Tbilisis universit’et’is gamomcemloba.
Sakhokia, Maia. 2002. New analytical perfects in Modern Georgian.
Proceedings of the 3rd and 4th International Tbilisi Symposium on Language,
Logic and Computation, ILLC/ICLC, ed. by H. Zeevat D. de Jongh and M. Nilsenova.
Amsterdam/Tbilisi,1-10.
Shabashvili, Giuli. 2001. P’erpekt’isa da unaxaobis
k’at’egoria dzvel kartulši [The Category of perfect and
non-witnessedness in Old Georgian], Doctoral Dissertation, University of
Tbilisi.
Shanidze, Akaki. 1930. Kartuli gramat’ik’a, I.
Morpologia [Georgian Grammar, I. Morphology], Tbilisi.
-----. 1953. Kartuli enis gramat’ik’is sapudzvlebi
[Foundations of Georgian Grammar]. Tbilisi
-----. 1973. (Reprint 1980). Kartuli enis gramat’ik’is
sapudzvlebi [Foundations of Georgian Grammar]. Tbilisi: Sakartvelos ssr
mecnierebata ak’ademia.
Sharashenidze, Nino. 1995. Unda modaluri pormis ist’oriisa da
morposint’aksuri analizisatvis [On the History and Morphosyntactic
Analysis of the Modal Form unda] Enatmecnierebis sak’itxebi, 1999/4,
Tbilisi, 49-56.
Topadze, Manana. 2008. Mezzi di espressione
dell’evidenzialità in Georgiano. Pavia: Università degli
Studi di Pavia (Doctoral Dissertation).
Willett, Thomas (1988) “A Cross-Linguistic Survey of the
Grammaticization of Evidentiality”, Studies in Language 12, (1988:
51-97). doi:10.1075/sl.12.1.04wil
Wiemer, Björn. 2008. Pokazateli s citativnoj i inferentivnoj
funkcijami v russkom i pol’skom
jazykach – kommunikativnye mechanizmy semantičeskogo sdviga
[Indicators with reportive and inferential functions in Russian and Polish
languages – Communicative mechanisms of the semantic shift]. In:
Lexikalische Evidenzialitätsmarker im Slavischen (=Wiener Slawistischer
Almanach, Sonderband 72), ed. by Björn Wiemer and Vladimir A. Plungjan,
337-378.
-----. 2008a. Lexikalische Markierungen evidenzieller Funktionen:
zur Theoriebildung und empirischen Erforschung im Slavischen. In: Lexikalische
Evidenzialitätsmarker im Slavischen (=Wiener Slawistischer Almanach,
Sonderband 72), ed. by Björn Wiemer and Vladimir A. Plungjan, 5-50.
-----. 2010. Hearsay in European languages: toward an integrative
account of grammatical and lexical marking. In: Linguistic Realization of
Evidentiality in European Languages (Empirical Approaches to Language Typology
[EALT]), volume 49. ed. by Gabriele Diewald & Elena Smirnova. Berlin, New
York, Mouton de Gruyter, 59-130.
Author’s Contact Information:
Manana Topadze Gäumann
Università di Pavia
topadze@gmx.ch
[1]The material presented in this
article is a brief summary of a part of the PhD thesis completed by the author
at the University of Pavia, Italy (Topadze 2008).
[2]The analysed data on Modern
Georgian has been drawn from contemporary Georgian literature, magazines and
newspapers. The TITUS database (University of Frankfurt) was exploited as the
source for Old Georgian data. Data from the colloquial language was taken from
different internet forums and collected by means of questionnaires and
interviews.
[3]Term used by Aikhenvald (2004) who
discusses evidential systems with two, three, four, five and more choices.
[4]Screeve is a paradigmatic set
(tense-aspect-mood) of verbal forms which inflects only for person and number.
The term screeve was coined by Aronson (1982), it is a phonetic adaptation of
the Georgian term mc’k’rivi ‘row’, introduced by
Shanidze in 1930.
[5]The conjunctions titkos and vitom
have following phonetic variants: titkos: titkosda; vitom: vitomc, vitomda,
vitomdac, vitomcda.
|