A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

Not captured in (92a) is Speaker A’s intonation which accompanied her query. Her
query exhibited a heightened level of bewilderment, almost like saying: well, how in the
world did you get that? That she was in a state of bewilderment or amazement is
supported by the fact that the presentation of the photo of the old woman who had long
since passed away was quite out of context and random for the purposes of our meeting.
It was in this state that Speaker A made the query as to how Speaker B obtained the
photo, to which Speaker B responds, accenting her response with sha: Awanigaabaw sha
obiidoon ‘Awanigaabaw [sha] has brought it’. The use of sha here appears to do two
things. First, it counter-balances the heightened emotional state present in Speaker A’s
query. Second, sha supports the surprising or unexpected revelation that Awanigaabaw,
i.e. me, who did not even know the old woman, nor would I be expected to have her
picture, brought the picture. The use of sha in this example also appears to allow Speaker
B to correct Speaker A’s assumption (or perceived assumption) that Speaker B brought
the photo. So, in effect, Speaker B’s response is like saying: It was Awanigaabaw, not
me, that has brought it.
In another situation, a speaker uses sha in regards to her own inadvertent behavior,
as a way to admit her mistake, censure herself, and to elicit pity by interlocutors. In the
following interaction between my consultants, one of my consultants ruins a surprise
birthday gift by inadvertently telling the person for whom the gift was intended for about
the surprise. Once she figures this out, she uses sha to accent her own statement that she
has spilt the beans.
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