A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

ather than in multiple positions, I will follow that practice here (see Brody 1989,
Davidsen-Nielsen 1996, Torres 2006). Therefore, the cluster in bold type in the
expression gaawiin sha go naa inde-apiitizisiin ‘I’m not that old’ will be analyzed in this
thesis as collectively occurring in second position, not in second, third, and fourth
positions, respectively. Also, since the semantics of the individual markers involved in
clustering largely remains transparent, i.e. a product of its parts, a small section following
a discussion of the individual markers will be provided, rather than providing one huge
section on all the clusters. Therefore, the following sections will first characterize each
marker individually, and then directly follow-up that discussion with a discussion of their
use within clusters.
3.2.2.1 isa
Mystery particle isa (which sometimes occurs as clitic -sa) is a general marker of
CONCLUSIVITY. In other words, isa signals that some event, utterance, or narrative has
come to an end. This core function has differing manifestations within discourse, such as
marking narrative closings, relinquishments (signaling that the speaker’s efforts have
ceased), conclusory gist statements (statements which get to the point after the speaker
has provided some fuzzy details), resulting action (actions which occur as a result of
some event or events), and strengthening the speaker’s position or disposition (abating
the position or disposition of others in prior discourse). One other minor function of isa
is as a place holder, allowing speaker pause within discourse. These various
manifestations are discussed in the following sections.
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