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- Topic #1: Morphology
- Topic #2: Semantics
The Form and Function of Diminutive Particles in Tiv
Abstract
This study examines the morpho-syntax, semantics and pragmatics of the diminutives w-án- and án- from a cognitive linguistic perspective in a little researched Niger-Congo language: Tiv. Tiv diminutives are particularly interesting in terms of their morphosyntactic origin, as well as the fact that they show the predominant influence of metaphor on variant interpretations. This leads to the proposal of more metaphors, in addition to those proposed in Jurafsky (1996), explaining the mapping of interpretations. Metaphor also aids the application of other mechanisms of semantic change, by shifting from the PERSON to the QUALITY feature of ‘child’. Similar to previous researches on diminutives, e.g. Nikitina (2018), and Appah and Amfo (2011; 2019) this study shows that the diminutives’ interpretations are interconnected and modellable into a single network, using the Radial Category approach. Theoretically, while Jurafsky’s proposed model for diminutives only shows associations among the semantic interpretations and not among the pragmatic interpretations, this study shows how pragmatic interpretations also interact in Tiv.