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78. Coding of Evidentiality
Ferdinand de Haan
1. Defining the values
This chapter discusses the morphological coding of evidentiality,
which marks the source of information the speaker has for his or
her statement. This chapter complements chapter 77, which
deals with the semantic distinctions of evidentiality. As was the
case in the previous chapter, only grammaticalized evidentials
are included here.
It turns out that evidentiality is marked across languages
in a wide variety of ways. The following morphological means for
encoding evidentiality are represented on the map:
@ 1. No grammatical evidentials 181
@ 2. Verbal affix or clitic 131
@ 3. Part of the tense system 24
@ 4. Separate particle 65
@ 5. Modal morpheme 7
@ 6. Mixed systems 10
total 418
These diverse means of coding evidentiality are a direct
reflection of the origins of the evidentials in the respective
languages. Thus, for instance, the fact that in some languages
evidentiality is part of the verbal system means that these
evidentials were originally tense morphemes. The same is true
for the other ways of encoding evidentiality.
We turn now to a discussion of the different ways
evidentiality is encoded in the sample.
From the accompanying map it appears that expressing
evidentiality as a verbal affix or clitic is the most common
strategy. With the exception of Africa it occurs on every
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continent. Example (1) is from Kannada (Dravidian; Sridhar
1990: 3), where the quotative morpheme –ante is attached to
the negative verb. In Lezgian (Nakh-Daghestanian; eastern
Caucasus; Haspelmath 1993: 148) the quotative morpheme –lda
is attached to the main verb, as in example (2).
(1) Kannada
Nimma pustaka avara hattira illav-ante.
your book he.POSS near NEG-QUOT
‘(It is said that) your book is not with him.’
(2) Lezgian
Qe sobranie že-da-lda.
today meeting be-FUT-QUOT
‘They say that there will be a meeting today.’
In some cases the evidential morpheme is a clitic rather
than an affix. In a number of languages the evidential can be
attached to other word classes besides the verb. An example of
such a language is Takelma (Takelman; Oregon; Sapir 1922:
291-292). The evidential morpheme -ihi�, which functions as a
Quotative, can be attached to any word class. This is shown in
(3):
(3) Takelma
a. naga-ihi�
say.AOR.3SG-QUOT
‘he said, it is said’
b. gan�-ihi�
now-QUOT
‘now, it is said’
In a number of languages the direct–indirect evidential
distinction (these terms were defined in chapter 77) is part of
the verbal system. An example is shown in (4) from Turkish
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(Aksu-Koç and Slobin 1986), where there are two past tenses
that can be used for evidential distinctions.
(4) Turkish
a. Ahmet gel-mi�.
A. come-PST.INDIR.EVD
‘Ahmet must have come.’
b. Ahmet gel-di.
A. come-PST.DIR.EVD
‘Ahmet came.’
Most languages that use the verbal system to code evidential
distinctions do so only in the past tense. Some languages, such
as the Caucasian languages Mingrelian, Svan, and Tsova-Tush,
have evidential distinctions in the present and future as well.
While in some languages the distinction between direct
and indirect evidentiality has been grammaticalized (Turkish is
such a language), this is not universally the case. In Georgian
(Kartvelian), past tense indirect evidentiality has been
grammaticalized as one meaning of the Perfect, but the
corresponding Aorist past has not (yet) been formalized as a
marker of direct evidentiality. An example is (5) (Boeder 2000:
285-286):
(5) Georgian
a. tovl-i mosula
snow-NOM come.PERF
‘It has snowed.’ (indirect evidential)
b. tovl-i movida
snow-NOM come.AOR
‘It has snowed.’ (neutral)
When a language uses separate particles for evidentiality,
this is very strongly correlated with coding indirect evidentiality
only. Whenever a language uses separate particles, it will only
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use them for indirect evidentiality. An example is (6), from Dumi
(Tibeto-Burman; van Driem 1991: 263), which shows the use of
a quotative particle �e:
(6) Dumi
�m-a mwo: dzi-t-� �e
he-ERG what eat-NON.PRET-s23 QUOT
‘What did he/they/you say he was eating?’
The only possible exceptions in the sample to the generalization
that particles are only used for indirect evidentiality are Apalaí
(Carib; Koehn and Koehn 1986: 119) and Lega (Bantu; Botne
1995). In Apalaí, the particle puh(ko) is used to denote visual
evidence. The example given is shown in (7):
(7) Apalaí
moro puh t-onah-se rohke
that VIS NONFIN-finish-CMPL only
‘I could tell it was all gone.’
It is not clear, however, that this is a direct evidential, since from
the translation it would appear that we are dealing with visual
evidence after the fact, i.e., an inferential.
In Lega (Botne 1995: 205), the particle ámbo, which marks
indirect evidentiality, contrasts with ampó, which marks direct
evidentiality:
(8) Lega
a. ámbo mû-nw-é ko mán� maku
INDIR.EVD 2PL-drink-SUBJ 16 6.this 6.beer
‘[It seems that] you may drink this beer.’
b. ampó �kurúrá mompongε
DIR.EVD 3SG.PRES.pound.FV 3.rice
‘She is assuredly pounding rice [I can hear it].’
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The origin of the direct evidential in Lega is a proximate
pronoun, which explains the evidential’s status as a particle.
Deictic elements frequently serve as source material for
evidentials (see de Haan 2001).
There are several instances of evidentiality coded by
means of a modal morpheme. In many instances this element is
a separate modal verb, as in (9) from Dutch, where the modal
verb moeten ‘must’ can encode indirect evidentiality:
(9) Dutch
Het moet een goede film zijn.
‘It is said to be a good film/ It appears to be a good film.’
In some languages the irrealis or subjunctive morpheme
serves as an (indirect) evidential, as is the case in a number of
Australian languages. Example (10) is from Gooniyandi
(McGregor 1990: 550, Bill McGregor, p.c.), where the past
subjunctive morpheme –ja can be an indirect evidential.
(10) Gooniyandi
Ngab-ja-widda ngamoo-nyali.
eat-SBJV-(3PL)NOM.ACC before-REPETITION
‘They were eating here not long ago (there is evidence…).’
Example (11) is from Mangarrayi (Merlan 1982: 150). The
past irrealis morpheme has indirect evidentiality as one of its
functions.
(11) Mangarrayi
n�aji�-gana d�o� a-wul�a-ma-r�i malga Gumja
place-ABL shoot IRR-3PL-AUX-PST.CONT up.to G.
‘They supposedly shot from Najig right up to Gumja.’
Languages which have more than one way of encoding
evidentiality usually have a combination of a separate particle
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and a verbal affix. An example is Diyari (Pama-Nyungan; Austin
1981: 173), which has a Quotative particle pinti and an affix –ku
which marks sensory evidence (hence a direct evidential):
(12) Diyari
a. pinti nawu wakara-yi
QUOT 3SG.NON.F come-PRES
‘They say he is coming.’
b. �apa talara wakara-la �ana-yi-ku
water rain.ABS come-FUT AUX-PRES-SENS
‘It looks/feels/smells like rain will come.’
Some languages, such as Georgian and Komi-Zyrian, combine a
separate evidential particle with evidential marking in the verbal
system.
2. Geographical distribution
The distribution of languages with and without evidentials was
discussed in chapter 77. This section focuses on the distribution
of the different formal strategies for encoding evidentiality.
The distribution of some morphological markers appears
to have a geographical connection. The encoding of evidentiality
in the tense system is found most often in two areas often
linked to areal studies, namely the Balkans and the Caucasus.
The encoding of evidentiality is a prominent feature in most
Turkic languages (see Johanson 2000) and also in several
Caucasian families (e.g. in Kartvelian).
The evidential use of modals is mainly a western European
feature. It occurs in most Germanic languages, as well as in
Finnish. In these languages evidentiality is another interpretation
of modal verbs. This means of encoding occurs occasionally
elsewhere, usually as part of irrealis (or subjunctive) marking (as
in Australian languages such as Gooniyandi).
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In the languages of the Americas, evidentiality is most
often encoded either as a verbal affix or as a separate particle.
In certain language families (e.g., Eastern Tucanoan) it is part of
the tense system.
In the other areas there is little or no areal patterning
discernible. It would appear that in Asia affixation on the verb is
more common than any of the other means, but this is by no
means a fixed rule. Whether or not areal diffusion is wholly or
partially responsible is still an open question.
It has been claimed that evidentiality can be considered an
areal feature (see Haarmann 1970, Aikhenvald and Dixon 1998,
and Johanson and Utas 2000, among others). This claim is
probably correct, given the observed clusterings of features,
both semantic and morphological. From the data it seems that
languages in the same geographical area can adopt structurally
similar evidential notions. This means that evidentiality is a
transparent category, with respect to both its semantics and its
morphological coding. Evidentiality is a category that diffuses
easily from one language to another, even when these languages
are genetically unrelated. Of course, the fact that this can occur
is no guarantee that it will occur.
