<Typology> Evidential system of copulative and existential verbs in Lamo

Abstract

This article describes the evidential system of Lamo (Kyilwa dialect), focusing on the copulative and existential verbs and referring to the model of the evidential system of Tibetic languages. Lamo is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in lDongpa and Zhonglinka Townships in mDzogong County, Chamdo Municipality, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The article examines the evidential system of Lamo by employing the questionnaire designed for Tibetic languages. Some striking features are the following: The same framework on evidentiality functions in both copulative and existential verbs; different independent stems are used according to evidential categories; animacy for existential verbs is not distinctive; inferential evidentials distinguish sensory inferential from logical inferential in the morphological aspect; and egophoric verb stems are principally used in inferentials. The results demonstrate that the system of core evidentials (egophoric, statemental, sensory) is highly similar to the framework, as well as the morphology of Tibetic languages in Khams, especially Lhagang Tibetan. The morphological strategy of sensory and logical inferentials is partially common to Tibetic languages, but Lamo has its unique evolution which does not correspond to Tibetic. The article concludes that Lamo's the evidential framework corresponds to that of Tibetic languages of which inferential categories have been on a developing stage.