This here thing: Specifying Morphemes an³, nai¹, and mai² in Tai Khamti Reference-point Constructions

There are three facets to this dissertation—a descriptive analysis of the minority language Tai Khamti, a grammaticalization account of three basic morphemes in the language, and a theoretical account of how the three morphemes, and their extensions, are motivated by a conceptual reference-point schema.

The Tai Khamti language has approximately 15,000 speakers and is spread across northern Myanmar and northeast India. A linguistic description of their language is a priority as the people work together for education and development for the next generation. The descriptive analysis in this dissertation is a portion of an overall language development project for Khamti, initiated in 2005.

As a portion of this description, the target morphemes an³ ‘thing’, nai¹ ‘this’, and mai² ‘here’ are basic morphemes that extend in grammatical function to over 35 constructions in the nominal system. The constructions feature a nominal juxtaposition between a head noun and what I analyze as a conoun: [noun][conoun]. The noun is a bare head noun and the conoun is comprised of one of the target morphemes. The basic grammaticalization pathways observed in the analysis are well-recognized constructions in the literature, with several Khamti-specific extensions. In a reference grammar, these constructions would be described under discrete section headings, but to do this here would result in the loss of a helpful generalization. All of the extensions form reference-point constructions, which impose an embedded, relational structure, [noun [conoun]], on the juxtaposition template. In this asymmetrical conceptual relationship, the head noun is construed as a reference point and the conoun is construed as an embedded target. Moreover, the three morphemes an³, nai¹, and mai², as part of the target, are realized at a conceptual level as specifiers. These three specifiers identify the target entity and point to a reference head noun, resulting in a coherent composite conception. Because all of the grammaticalized constructions are also analyzed as conceptual reference-point constructions, I posit the overarching reference-point schema as a single motivation which forms the underpinning of the grammaticalization processes involved. The reference-point analysis assumes a cognitive linguistic framework with a symbolic basis to grammar. More specifically, the theoretical notion of Cognitive Reference Point, first introduced in Cognitive Grammar and expanded upon in a variety of subsequent studies, is used for the Tai Khamti reference-point analysis.