A Theory of Indexical Shift

A comprehensive overview of the semantics and syntax of indexical shift that develops a constrained typology of the phenomenon across languages.

The phenomenon of indexical shift—whereby indexicals embedded in speech or attitude reports draw their meaning from an attitude event rather than the utterance context—has been reported in languages spanning five continents and at least ten language families. In this book, Amy Rose Deal offers a comprehensive overview of the semantics and syntax of indexical shift and develops a constrained typology of the phenomenon across languages—a picture of variation that is both rich enough to capture the known facts and restrictive enough to make predictions about currently unknown data points. Deal draws on studies of indexical shift in a broad range of languages, focusing especially on Nez Perce, Zazaki, Korean, and Uyghur.

Using new data from fieldwork, Deal presents an in-depth case study of indexical shift in the Nez Perce language, and uses this evidence to propose a novel theoretical approach based on the meaning and grammar of shifty operators. She explores several dimensions of variation related to indexical shift across and within languages, showing how the cross-linguistic patterns can be explained (and constrained) within the shifty operator view. Finally, she contrasts indexical shift with surface-similar phenomena, clarifying the controls needed to test the constrained typology on new data sets.

Series Foreword xi
Preface xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 Indexicals and operators: a Nez Perce case study 11
3 Shifty asymmetries 95
4 Extending the theory 151
5 Beyond indexical shift 189
6 Conclusions 235
A Remarks on Shift Together 125
B Nez Perce Grammatical Background 133
Notes 141
References 159
Index 173“Amy Rose Deal takes indexicality studies to a whole new level: she synthesizes and integrates extraordinarily rich and complex generalizations within a unified framework, which will be a focal point of discussions for years to come. The result is nothing short of breathtaking.”
—Philippe Schlenker, Institut Jean-Nicod and New York University
 
“Indexicality and reference to the self are a fundamental trait of human languages. This book shows how the seemingly huge variation in this area can be understood, surprisingly, in terms of a handful of simple grammatical principles. A truly striking result, stemming directly from the encounter of parametric approaches to syntax and cross-linguistic semantics, now reaching its golden age”
—Gennaro Chierchia, Professor of Linguistics, Harvard UniversityAmy Rose Deal is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is also Affiliated Faculty in the Philosophy Department.A comprehensive overview of the semantics and syntax of indexical shift that develops a constrained typology of the phenomenon across languages.