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if a global andor local VIP exists. The chapter ends with a short discussion on under- codings and finally, a summary of the results as a whole.
The context and the semantic arguments required by the verb help identify who the correct referent is. This is what Rosén 1996 terms relational givenness cf. §2.2.3.
7.1 Default codings
The default codings for the various subject and non-subject environments are discussed below. Explanations with statistical counts provide support for each default
coding posited.
7.1.1 Same subject S1
The S1 environment identifies the subject of an independent clause that is the same as the subject of the preceding independent clause. For this environment, the default
coding is clearly a zero reference, accounting for 79 191243 of all S1 examples. This is expected for a topic-prominent language that relies heavily on zero anaphora cf. §5.0.
Once a participant is fully established as topic, the default referring expression is a zero for subsequent same subject references. The following three tables give the distribution
of the referring expressions in the S1 environment for each narrative separately.
Table 16: Distribution of S1 category for the Cow story
S1 Cow
owner Bull
owner Both
owners Rabbit
Elders Total
Ø 15
6 3
2 2
28
PRO 5
5
NP 3
3
Total: 20
6 3
5 2
36
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Table 17: Distribution of S1 category for the Fish story
S1 Jii-
Mlii J-M
Jii- Mpoon
J-Mn Smelt
-fish S-F
Uncle U
People Mom
dad of sisters
Mom of
fish They
Total Ø
65 28
22 5
8 5
2 15 J-M
S-F 4 J-M
J-Mn 5 U
J-Mn 159
PRO 11
5 2
1 1
1 J-M S-F
21
PRO+ EMPH
1 1
PRO+ TSM
1 1
NP 2
2
NP+DEM 0 1
1
NP+ NumP
1 1
NP+TSM 1
1
KIN 1
1 2
DET+ KIN
1 1
DET+ KIN+
POSS+ DEM
1 5
6
Total: 80
39 27
6 11
6 2
25 196
Table 18: Distribution of S1 category for the Life story
S1 Mlong
Chon Khmer
Rouge Hun
Sen Villagers
Lon Nol Total Ø
2 2
4
PRO 3
3
NP 2
1 1
4
Total: 3
2 3
2 1
11
Pronouns are the second most frequent referring expression in the S1 environment category, making up 12 29243. Pronouns maintain topic continuity within a topic
chain while indicating a slight break either due to a new event, a change from background to foreground information, or a change from narrated text to the introduction of a speech
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act with a quote formula. Within a topic chain, a pronoun may also be used to highlight a participant and the event where a zero subject would otherwise have been expected. In
example 105, the first clause establishes the topic with an explicit subject, followed by the second clause with a pronoun used for topic continuity and the same subject.
105 a. + after that 3S REL graze cow
female NEG able argue ‘After that the one who grazed the cow was not able to argue.’
b. 3S sit
consumed.with.worry ‘He sat consumed with worry.’
c. +
K K
K K +
after that go
return to house ‘After that he went and returned home.’ [Cow 43-5]
The third clause 105c and the following nine clauses after it have a zero subject. Another explanation for the use of the pronoun in the second clause 105b may be to
indicate a switch from background information to foreground information. Example 106 illustrates Jii-Mlii initiating a new action within a portion of text
where she is active. This is marked with a pronoun to indicate the minor break. The following six clauses have a zero in the subject slot, creating a topic chain.
106 + K
after that 3S search at there at there
‘After that she searched for it there and there.’ K
K K
K see bone fish at there
‘She saw a bone fish there.’ [Fish 329-30]
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The next example 107 illustrates the pronoun being used to highlight a confrontational event in the third clause. The older sister is topic so a zero would be
sufficient for this topic chain; however, the pronoun in 107c emphasizes the event and heightens the tension.
107 a. +
+ +
+ +
++ +
+ K
DET sis.old 3S.POSS DEM3 former walk.behind from behind ‘Her older sister had walked behind Jii-Mlii.’
b. K K
K K
walk hidden head appear head ‘Jii-Mpoon walked, seeing Jii-Mlii’s head and then it would
disappear.’ c.
+ ++
3S go.secretly from behind EVID ‘She secretly followed behind.’
[Fish 86-8]
7.1.2 Subject is previous addressee S2
