Himalayan Linguistics

This paper describes the specific contexts in which evidentials may be used in Lhasa Tibetan. I first give a brief presentation of the notion of evidentiality in interaction with pragmatics, which has been mainly used for describing Lhasa Tibetan. Then I re-evaluate the analysis of the evidential verb system in Lhasa Tibetan. I show there are indeed eight evidentials. I only focus on the six first evidentials: egophoric, sensorial, factual, inferential, mnemic and self-corrective with controllable verbs. The two other evidentials are the quotative and the hearsay particles.

Then, I focus on the specific functions of the evidentials with controllable verbs. I present the use of the intentional egophoric with the non-SAP and controllable verbs when the speaker refers to personal knowledge and I also discuss some of its restrictions. Then, I present the specific uses of the sensorial, factual and inferential evidentials.