The Sumerian Discourse Markers u4-ba and u4-bi-a
In Old Babylonian Sumerian literature, the temporal phrases u4-ba and u4-bi-a typically occur in complementary distribution. Previous analyses have focused on morphological disparity to differentiate the two. The present paper considers pragmatic functions within a larger discourse structure, analyz...
Veröffentlicht in: | Near Eastern Archaeology (NEA). - The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), 1998. - 69(2017) vom: Jan., Seite 49-66 |
---|---|
Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
Veröffentlicht: |
2017
|
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Near Eastern Archaeology (NEA) |
Schlagworte: | Social sciences Behavioral sciences Linguistics Arts |
Zusammenfassung: | In Old Babylonian Sumerian literature, the temporal phrases u4-ba and u4-bi-a typically occur in complementary distribution. Previous analyses have focused on morphological disparity to differentiate the two. The present paper considers pragmatic functions within a larger discourse structure, analyzing them as discourse markers, specifically temporal connectives. In this study based on a corpus analysis of Old Babylonian literary compositions, I argue that in Sumerian discourse, u4-ba primarily marks perspectival shifts and refocusing, and u4-bi-a indexes sequential and consequential action. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 23255404 |
DOI: | 10.5615/jcunestud.69.2017.0049 |