Evidentiality in Shuhi (Tibeto-Burman)
Résumé
This article provides a novel analysis of evidential contrasts in Shuhi (a.k.a. Shixing, Xumi, ISO 639-3 sxg), a little-studied Tibeto-Burman language of Southwestern Sichuan, China. It is based on an open-access corpus of data that includes elicitations with non-verbal stimuli and traditional narratives.
The article begins with addressing the disagreement that exists in previous work on evidentiality and aspect in Shuhi as to which auxiliaries and enclitics express evidentiality as their primary meaning, and how evidentiality in this language ties in with aspect. I first provide an overview of the meanings and functions of high frequency auxiliaries and enclitics in the corpus and then focus on a comparative analysis of the three markers that can be used with evidential-like meaning: /tɕyɐ/, /sɹ̩/, and /dʑɑ̃/. I argue that the former two markers are primarily evidential (/tɕyɐ/ is a direct visual, whereas /sɹ̩/ is egophoric). By contrast, the meanings and functions of the latter marker /dʑɑ̃/ are primarily aspectual (perfect), while the indirect evidential meaning that it may have in some contexts of its use is an extension of its primary perfect meaning.
The article proceeds with a discussion of the origins the three markers. On that basis, I sketch the historical development of the evidential system in Shuhi. I argue that that system has likely developed under contact pressure from Tibetic languages, replicating some characteristic features of their evidential systems (most importantly, egophoricity). However, the etymologies of the markers and the system setup also suggest that Shuhi may have had its native evidential system prior to contact with Tibetic languages, which lacks evidential marking in first-person contexts and which has possibly been in place before contact with Tibetic languages.
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