Abstract
The current standard account of Hausa deixis claims that Hausa has a linear person-based system with the following four locative adverbs and their interpretations: nân 'here', nan 'there near you', cân 'there away from you and me', and can 'over there away from you and me'. This paper shows that in fact one may need two separate deictic systems for Hausa to account for all relevant data. The first system is based on distance with a primary proximal vs. distal contrast. The distance system however also embeds a person subsystem, with one adverb in particular referring to the hearer (second person) position. The second deictic system in Hausa is based on visibility, with a primary contrast between an area comfortably visible and an area visible only with some difficulties. Indeed, in the visibility system, five adverbs range the entire visible area in front of the speaker, from the foreground up to the extreme visible area at the horizon.
Highlights
Demonstratives and their reference continue to generate a strong interest in linguistics research, being the subject of crosslinguistic or typological studies and in-depth studies in particular languages
2.2 The person subsystem: nan and cân the general distal can may refer to the position of the hearer, Hausa has a special adverb nan which in the basic distance system refers to hearer location
It may seem a priori difficult to argue for a set of adverbs nân and cân coding visibility and different from the set nân and cân found in the distance system (DS)
Summary
Demonstratives and their reference continue to generate a strong interest in linguistics research, being the subject of crosslinguistic or typological studies (cf. Anderson and Keenan 1985; Diessel 1999, 2003; Dixon 2003; Himmelmann 1996, 1997; etc.) and in-depth studies in particular languages (cf. Burenhult 2003; Enfield 2003; Lenz 2003; Morel/Danon-Boileau 1992; Weissenborn/Klein 1982; etc.). Jaggar/Buba (1994: 391) interprete this referencing pattern as a person-oriented deictic system In their analysis, nân would be associated with the 1st person, nan with the 2nd person, and cân and can with the 3rd person (following a model proposed in Lyons 1968: 278f.; cf Anderson/Keenan 1985: 282, 284). Nân would be associated with the 1st person, nan with the 2nd person, and cân and can with the 3rd person (following a model proposed in Lyons 1968: 278f.; cf Anderson/Keenan 1985: 282, 284) This account of Hausa dexis is standard and is adopted in, for example, Jaggar (2001: 645), Newman (2000: 36–38), and Wolff (1993: 119). This paper will not be concerned with all these special uses and will mainly concentrate on the situational use in a typical, immediate speech setting, tracking the indications of distance or visibility of referents from the deictic center (speaker position).
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