The use of li as a marker of evidential strategy in Romani
The use of li as a marker of evidential strategy in Romani

Summary/Abstract: The use of the Slavic interrogative particle li in the Kriva Palanka Arli dialect of Romani to mark dubitativity in declarative sentences suggests that the use of li as a general evidential strategy in the Sliven dialect of Romani observed by Kostov and by Igla also has its origins in the semantic reinterpretation of the interrogative particle. This conclusion is supported by the use of the Turkish interrogative particle mi in the Barutči Arli Romani dialect of Skopje in exactly the same context as the Kriva Palanka Arli Romani use of li. It is also supported typologically by the expressive use of li in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Montengrin and the use of the interrogative negative optative to express surprise in Turkic languages. This in turn suggests a connection between interrogation and evidentiality that can arise in contact situations.

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