A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

finally corrected me with the expression in (91) above, accompanied by a hint of
impatience and derision since I should have known who she was talking about. This is
the function of sha in its simplest form, showing two major functions: 1) revealing to the
interlocutor the truth or reality of the situation (thereby setting me straight); and 2)
getting after them.
Sometimes the interlocutor does not need correcting per se, but needs an answer to
something that has bewildered them. This results in a heightened state of emotion to
which the speaker may use sha in order to counter-balance that heightened emotional
state in revealing the answer. Therefore, the use of sha marks that the information
revealed to interlocutors is either surprising, not obvious, unsuspected, or unexpected.
The response, accented by sha, has the effect of eliminating the interlocutor’s
bewilderment. Therefore, while not correcting interlocutors per se, the use of sha allows
the speaker to set them straight. For example, in the following interaction, I had brought
a picture (at the request of an acquaintance) of an old Indian woman who had long since
passed away. An acquaintance who had given me the picture had asked me if I would
show the picture to the elders to see if they could identify her. One of my consultants,
not knowing that I had brought the picture, asked one of the other elders present at the
table how she got the picture. The response to this question is accented by sha.
(92) sha
a) Speaker A: Well, how’d you get that?
b) Speaker B: Awanigaabaw sha obiidoon.
a) Speaker A: ‘Well, how’d you get that?
b) Speaker B: Awanigaabaw [sha] has brought it.’
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