Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo

AbstractThis study explores demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo, focusing on morphosyntactic, semantic classes and pragmatic aspects. It also examines that the choice of demonstratives is determined not solely by the speaker’s desired attention, but also by morphosyntactic features. Data were collected f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eba Teresa Garoma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2297494
_version_ 1797347733451833344
author Eba Teresa Garoma
author_facet Eba Teresa Garoma
author_sort Eba Teresa Garoma
collection DOAJ
description AbstractThis study explores demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo, focusing on morphosyntactic, semantic classes and pragmatic aspects. It also examines that the choice of demonstratives is determined not solely by the speaker’s desired attention, but also by morphosyntactic features. Data were collected for two years, from 2021-22, from Afaan Oromoo textbooks (grades 9-12), native speakers (mainly Western variety) and introspection. The findings show that the language has demonstratives which are categorized into four classes: demonstrative pronouns, determiners/adjectives, identifiers, and adverbs. Pronouns indicate referent position, while determiners regulate noun phrases. Identifiers draw attention to referents in non-verbal clauses. Adverbs denote referent location, with complex forms involving adpositions and interrogative pronouns. Concerning the semantic features, speakers use demonstratives to show deictic features such as proximity of referents to them. The conversational situations indicate whether referents are human or nonhuman by qualitative features such as ontology and animacy. The language also employs demonstratives for three pragmatic functions: exophoric, recognitional, and endophoric. Exophoric uses direct the listener’s attention, recognitional uses recall shared information, and endophoric uses help interlocutors to focus on a discourse referent. Anaphors denote entities, while discourse-deictic uses focus on expression meaning. Generally, demonstratives have complex linguistic features to show the encyclopedic knowledge of Afaan Oromoo speakers.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T11:52:04Z
format Article
id doaj.art-1be6110942044488a3052cc470df7d74
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2331-1983
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T11:52:04Z
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Cogent Arts & Humanities
spelling doaj.art-1be6110942044488a3052cc470df7d742024-01-24T06:21:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832024-12-0111110.1080/23311983.2023.2297494Demonstratives in Afaan OromooEba Teresa Garoma0College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Jimma University, Jimma, EthiopiaAbstractThis study explores demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo, focusing on morphosyntactic, semantic classes and pragmatic aspects. It also examines that the choice of demonstratives is determined not solely by the speaker’s desired attention, but also by morphosyntactic features. Data were collected for two years, from 2021-22, from Afaan Oromoo textbooks (grades 9-12), native speakers (mainly Western variety) and introspection. The findings show that the language has demonstratives which are categorized into four classes: demonstrative pronouns, determiners/adjectives, identifiers, and adverbs. Pronouns indicate referent position, while determiners regulate noun phrases. Identifiers draw attention to referents in non-verbal clauses. Adverbs denote referent location, with complex forms involving adpositions and interrogative pronouns. Concerning the semantic features, speakers use demonstratives to show deictic features such as proximity of referents to them. The conversational situations indicate whether referents are human or nonhuman by qualitative features such as ontology and animacy. The language also employs demonstratives for three pragmatic functions: exophoric, recognitional, and endophoric. Exophoric uses direct the listener’s attention, recognitional uses recall shared information, and endophoric uses help interlocutors to focus on a discourse referent. Anaphors denote entities, while discourse-deictic uses focus on expression meaning. Generally, demonstratives have complex linguistic features to show the encyclopedic knowledge of Afaan Oromoo speakers.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2297494Afaan Oromoodemonstrativesdeictic featuresendophoric functionsexophoric functionsJeroen van de Weijer, College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
spellingShingle Eba Teresa Garoma
Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
Cogent Arts & Humanities
Afaan Oromoo
demonstratives
deictic features
endophoric functions
exophoric functions
Jeroen van de Weijer, College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
title Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
title_full Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
title_fullStr Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
title_full_unstemmed Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
title_short Demonstratives in Afaan Oromoo
title_sort demonstratives in afaan oromoo
topic Afaan Oromoo
demonstratives
deictic features
endophoric functions
exophoric functions
Jeroen van de Weijer, College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2297494
work_keys_str_mv AT ebateresagaroma demonstrativesinafaanoromoo