rar{ibir. r .-!nn "diMt \ aRt\";1. l\ l, -rt EVIDENTIALITY: The LinguisticCoding of EpistemologY edited bY WallaceChafe Universltyof California,Santa Barbara JohannaNichols Universllyof California,perkeley VolumeXX in the Series ADVANCESIN DISCOURSEPROCESSES Roy O. Freedle,Edilot ABLEXPUBLISHINC CORPORATION Norwood,New JerseY 88 EvldenttalltyIn North and South Amerlcr form which doesnot participatein the generalsyntactic or morphologicalsys- tem. The grammaticalfixing of theseconstructions has producedsimple sen- stx tencesfrom complexsentences; simultaneously, it hascomplicated the grammar by introducingnew morphosyntacticcategories. Evidential Diachronyin Northern REFERENCES lroquoian Giv{in,Taltny. 1979.On understandinggmmmnr. New York: AcademicPress. Gordon.Lynn. 1980a.Maricopa rrc.phology and syntax. UCLA dissertation. -. 1980b--k and-rr i0 Maricopa.UCLA Papersin Linguistics,8:l19-144. -. 1981-Evidentials in Maricopa-Proceedings of lhe 1980Hokan LanguaSesWorkshop, MarianneMithun (Occasional Paperson Linguistics9) ed. by JamesRedde!, 59-69. Calbo8daletDepartrnent Universl$of Cali{omla,Sanla Barbara of Linguislics,Southem Illinois Univercity. Hrlpcm. A. M. 194?.Yuma V: Conjugationof the verbthenre. IJAL 13: 92-107 Jacohse. Willism. ,r. 1967. Switch-referencein Hokan-Coahuilecan.Studies in Southwestem Ethnolinguistics,ed. by Dell Hymesand W. Bittle, 238-263. The Hague:Mouton. lnogdon, Margaretand PamelaMunro. 1979. Subjectand (switch-)refercnce in Yuman. Folia Over the past century, we have learnedmuch aboutthe mechanismsof both Linguistical3: 321-344. grammaticaland lexical'change. t Until now, however,there has been little IUunn).Pamela. 1976a.Mojavc Synl&\. New York: Carland. opportunityto comparediachronic processes in tbesetwo areasof linguistic -. 1976b.Subject copying, auxiliarization, and predicate raising: The Mojav€ evidence. UAL of the historical 42t 99-112. structure.Such a comparisonwould entail an understanding functionallyequivalent but formallydistinct sets of -. | 98I a. Mojavet andrL ll ain't necessarilyso. hoceedingsof the 1980Hokan Languages developmentof at leasttwo Workshop(Occrsioral Papcrs on Linguistics9) cd. by JamesRedden, 124-129. Cadondale: devices,one grammatical,the otherlexical. Evidentialdevices in the Northem DepannEntof Lirlguistics,Southem Illinois Universily. Iroquoianlanguages present an opportunityfor just such comparison.All of -. l98l b. Two noteson Yuman'say'. Proceedingsof the 1980Hokan Languages Workshop grammaticaland lexical evidentials, some (Occasional theselanguages are quite rich in both Paperson Linguistics9) ed. by JamesRedden, 70-?7. Carbondale:Depaltment presumablyreflecting a commonorigin of LinSuistics.Southcm lllinois University. of them cognateacross the languages, indicating areas of -. 1982.On the trarsitivityof 'say' verbs.Srudies in Transitivity(Synlax and Semantics 15) and resistenceto change, while others are unrelated, cd. hy Paul J. HopFr and SandraA. Thorrpson,301-308 New York AcademicPrcss. innovation. Winlcr, Wcrner. 1976. Switch referencein Yunranlanguages. Hokan Srudiesed. by MargaEt ln orderto comparesystems, it is necessaryfirst to definethem. Evidential (Janua Langdonand Shirley Silver. Linguarun, seriespractica l8l): 165-l?4. The Hague: markersqualify the reliability of informationcommunicated in four primary Mouton. ways.They specifythe sourceof evidenceon which statementsare based, their degree of precision, their probability, and expectationsconceming their probability. The specificationof the sounce of informationcommunicated allows a speakerto abdicate some responsibility for its truth and permits the hearer to evaluateits rcliability for him or herself.The statementmay be basedon in- ference.('I guesshe doesn'tlike Roquefort.''That dressmust have been awfully expensive.')lt may be basedon appearance.('He looks tired.' 'It smellslike something'sburning.') The sourcemay be hearsay.('They sayhe supportssix formerwives.' 'I hearshe has twenty-seven cats.') Another way to qualify the reliability of an utteranceis to specify its DEGREE oF pREcIsIoNoR TRurH or the appropriatenessof a categorylabel. The speaker may be willing to takeresponsibility for considerableprecision or truth. ('It hit I I am graleful to wallace Chafe and Hanni woodbury for their helpfttl comhents on this Paper' 89 Evldentlallly In North and South Amerlca Evldenllal DlachronyIn Norlhern lroquoian meright here."We werecompletely exhausted.') Altematively, the precision or (l) C. At6:' katsihldx ho'tg' ne' ond'to:'. truthmay be hedged,for oneof severalreasons. The speakermay be unsure.('It it-seems knob-stands kind the bread biscuits.' weighsmaybe four pounds.''He is somewherearound fifty.') lt maybe difficult 'Theselook like homemade to find a betterlabel. ('He sort of crawledtoward the door.' 'It was sort of experiential particle is also exploited to hedge both precision and certainty. greenish.')The speakermay feel thatgreater precision is unnecessaryand inele- This ('l for it.' somewherein France.')Finally, vant. paid aroundfive bucks 'She's (2) C. A:y6:' rckayghst( ne' teJot'ak€hn!'akah. the speakermay hedgebecause a specificdistance from the centerof a category it-seems it-is-mixed the ash-is-cut-off is the best way to label something.('It was neady noon.' 'She was almost 'It is sort of mixed with srev.' shouting.') (3) C. Kwe:kO akntehsrgnihs'f o:yg:' 6:ndt. way to qualify the reliability of a statementis to specify the A third all l-am-ready it-seems now pRoBABrLrry ('The 'She of its truth. bakeryis probablyclosed by now.' may 'I guessI am aboutready now.' decideto retum.' 'It is highly improbablethat Sam is our thief.') By hedging certainty.the speakercan again abdicatesome responibility for truth. If 'the This hedging function permits d.yg:' to serve as a marker of courtesy. lt is more bakery' is in fact open, 'she' doesretum, and 'Sam' is the thief after all, the polite to suggestthan to ass€rt. speakerstill has not lied. Finally, a speakermay specifyEXpEcrATIoNs conceming the probabilityof a (4) C. Wqhnihfri:yd ti:yg:'. statement.'Sure enough'can indicatethat an eventwas in accordwith some nice-day it-seems expectation.('Sure enough,Sam failed the lie detectortest.') 'After all' can 'lt looks like a nice day.' (Saidwhen fte sun is shiningbrightly, the indicatea conflict with an expectation.('Sam escapedafter all.') lemperatureis pefect, and thereis no cloud in the sky,) ln both Englishand the lroquoianlanguages, a singlemarker often serves severalof thesefunctions, either simultaneouslyor with disambiguationfrom Cayuga also has an inferential particle p. (The panicle is currently migrating context.The contextmay be pragmatic,or linguistic, i.e. a slightly differ€nt toward suffix status.) construction.Consider English 'seem'. lt can indicatethat a statementis based (5) on appearance.('Sam seemstired'.) This specifrcationof sourcecan hedge C. O:nQ'g hne:' lcyok\wdi'. now this there-food-is-cooked probability.I shouldnot be surprised,or held to be lying if in fact Samis not 'The food shouldbe cookedby now.' tiredat all, but ratherdislikes his companion.With a slightlydifferent construc- ('It tion, 'seem'can indicate hearsay. seemsthat Sam's in the hospital.')'Must' This inferential particle is also used to hedge precision and certainty. can indicateboth inferenceand high probability.If I look at your wet coat and say 'lt must be raining', I indicateboth that I am convinced,and that my (6) c. I:wt: ohsi nikaya:kC:'g a:kakwi:ni', conclusionis basedon inference.'Suppose' can indicateboth hearsayand in- I-think 3 so-bags-manyit-should-suffice ference.('lt is supposedto rain tonight.' 'I supposeyou won't visit your grand- 'I think aboutthree bags should suffice.' mothertoday.') 'Maybe' is usedboth to hedgeprecision ('He weighsmaybe two (7) C. Tsisa'nikghg'9kgh? hundredpounds.') and to lower probability('Maybe he'll returnthe money.'). your-mind-settled-again? 'Sure'can be used1o emphasize degree ('Sam surelikes pancakes.'), to heighten 'Did you perhapsfoiget?' probability('He is sureto retumthe money.'),and, with 'enough',to emphasize both reliability and accordwith expectation('Sure enough,Sam oto retum the A Cayuga particle t6:kg]ts 'sure' can qualify degree, cenainty, and money.').This is a pervasivepattem among evidential markers. A givenmarker expectation. $,ill very often serveseveral of the four functionslisted above, simultaneously, varyingwith context,or with a changein the grammaticalstructure ofwhich it is (8) C. O:rd to:kdts akatghswc'tanih- now sure l-am-hungry a lan. E\:tctly thc sanre fluidity pcrvadesthe lroquoianevidential systems.In 'I'm really hungrynow.' Cayuga.lbr example,an experientialparticle a.yg.'' 'it seems'indicates that a (9) C- To:keh.s hwa' th6 n'aM:ye:'. statenrcntis basedon appearance. Eure this{ime there so-he-did 92 Evldentlalltvtn Northand South Amerlca Mllhun: EvldentlalDlachrony in Northem lroquoian 93 'ln fact, he did do il this timc.' (He alwayspromises, but nevercomes Proto-Nonhem-lroquoian(PNl., through.This iime, he did.) Not unrelatedto this synchronicfluidity is the fact that evidentialmarkers / Protolnner-Ircquois(PII) shift amongthese four functionsover time. Particleswhich signalone distinction Prcto-westem- in one language,will be cognateto markersin other languageswith different \ (PWI) evidentialfunctions. The particlese' in Cayuga,for example,indicates that a Iroquois proro,Bastem- statementis true and contraryto expec(ation. n lroquois{PEt) / \ |-\ /\/\ (lo) C. Hakyl:X). ,\i\ he-is-awake Tuscatora ra Cayuga Oneida Mohawk