Abstract
Abstract
Nu and þan are temporal locutions which correspond to English now and then, respectively. They arose from deictic elements and have cross-linguistically two functions. In the first, they both mark a change of situation introducing a new event or a state on the timeline of the narrative, taking their time reference from the utterance time (nu) or from a previously mentioned event (both nu and þan). In this function, their syntactic position in the clause triggers different readings: forwarding the narration, especially in the Topic position, or signalling elaboration of a previously described situation. In their second function, that of discourse particles, they are phonologically weak, second-position elements. Frequently the clause containing nu or þan is in a causal relation with an event or situation mentioned in the previous discourse. In their discourse-structuring function, nu and þan can mark a new intervening event or a new topic.
Publisher
Oxford University PressOxford
Reference602 articles.
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