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...
| Publié dans: | Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. - The American Schools of Oriental Research, 1998. - 69(2017) vom: Jan., Seite 49-66 |
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| Format: | Article en ligne |
| Publié: |
2017
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| Accès à la collection: | Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |
| Sujets: | Social sciences Behavioral sciences Linguistics Arts |
| Résumé: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 21618062 |
| DOI: | 10.5615/jcunestud.69.2017.0049 |