A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

This is also shown by the following email interaction with a Mille Lacs Ojibwe speaker.
The speaker was asked how he would translate a certain English expression into Ojibwe,
to which he stated the following, accenting his response with isa:
(77) isa in relinquishment expressions (from Aubid 2008, email)
a) Iw dash gaa-gagwejimiyan.
that and what you asked me
b) Amanj isa iidog.
don’t know DM DUB
a) ‘And what you asked me about.
b) I [isa] don’t know.’
The propositional content of the expression amanj iidog in (77b) itself means I don’t
know. Mystery particle isa projects a relinquishment from providing a definitive answer.
This is evident, because after he made that comment, he then offered up seven
possibilities, one of which he was quite unsure of. Marker isa signals to listeners (or
email readers) that, after some thought, he has relinquished his responsibility to provide a
definitive answer.
3.2.2.1.3 isa as a marker of conclusory gists
Within monologic narratives, isa has a related function in marking conclusory GISTS,
having a meaning similar to the function that the discourse markers at any rate, or
anyways, have in English. What is meant by gist is that the speaker’s precursory
descriptions culminate in a main point. The exact details of those precursory
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