A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

an interjection (i.e. a discourse revelation), accented with gosha, as a way to inform the
group of her disposition in regards to the situation at hand.
(99) gosha
a) Speaker A: Geyaabi na aniibiish awiiya?
still INTERR tea someone
b) Speaker B: uhm uhm
no……...
b) Speaker C: Indaano-gii-kagwejimaa gosha, “no!” indigoog. (laughing)
I tried to ask her DM no they tell me
a) Speaker A: ‘Anyone what more tea?
b) Speaker B: uhm uhm (=no)
c) Speaker C: I tried to ask her [gosha], they told me “no!”’ (laughing)
Here, Speaker A asks if anyone wants more tea, Speaker B responds with uhm uhm
(=no), and Speaker C immediately interjects with the comment that she already tried to
ask those present if they wanted more tea, but they refused. She accents her comment I
tried to ask her with gosha. Seeing that Speaker A was unaware of Speaker C’s previous
attempt at offering tea, Speaker C seizes the opportunity, using gosha, to tease the group
by revealing her previous failed attempt. The effect is that of a teasing or ribbing.
As already alluded to, gosha does not appear to be a censuring particle like sha, since
when gosha is being used, speakers are generally not getting after or confronting
interlocutors for their faulty logic. Rather, the core function appears to be involved in
providing the truth of a situation, a truth known or recognized by the speaker, but
somehow not to interlocutors. This fact can be shown in the following humorous story,
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