mirative
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɪɹətɪv/
Forms: form: miratives
Etymology: Possibly from (ad)mirative, from French admiratif (“tending to admire”) (used by French diplomat and scholar Auguste Dozon (1822–1890), imitating the use of the Ancient Greek ἀπροσδόκητος (aprosdókētos, “unexpected”) in a similar context by Albanian translator and scholar Kostandin Kristoforidhi (1826–1895)), from Latin admīrārī, present active infinitive of admīror (“to admire, respect; to be astonished, to be surprised at”), from ad- (“to”) + mīror (“to admire, marvel at; to be amazed or astonished at”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to be glad, laugh”)).
Senses: examples: text: Although the Maidu 'evidential' -wéw (Shipley 1964:45) might correspond somewhat to the Washo visual, and the (unexemplified) Sierra Miwok 'circumstantial evidence' marker taˀ, tat, ˀiš- (Freeland 1951:169) may correspond to the Washo inferential (mirative).
ref: 1986, Wallace [L.] Chafe, Johanna Nichols, editors, Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology, Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing Corporation, →ISBN, footnote 7, page 8:
text: In Archi mirativity is grammaticalized as part of the verbal category of evidentiality, so the study of the mirative in Nakh-Daghestanian languages might help to identify the meaning of exclamatives more precisely.
ref: 2011, Elena Kalinina, “Exclamative Clauses in the Languages of the North Caucasus and the Problem of Finiteness”, in Gilles Authier, Timur Maisak, editors, Tense, Aspect, Modality and Finiteness in East Caucasian Languages (Diversitas Linguarum; 30), Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia: Universitätsverlag Dr. N. Brockmeyer, →ISBN, →ISSN, pages 197–198:
text: The Tarms Quechua Mirative often refers to information that is withheld from the addressee until the speaker sees fit to reveal it, a frequent strategy in narratives of which the unexpected outcome is reserved for the end. By consequence, the speaker him/herself need not be under the impact of surprise any longer when using the Mirative. […] Characteristically, actions performed during one's sleep or in a state of unconsciousness are expressed in the Mirative[…]. The Mirative can also be used in recounting dreams[…].
ref: 2013, Willem F. H. Adelaar, “A Quechuan Mirative?”, in Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, Anne Storch, editors, Perception and Cognition in Language and Culture (Brill’s Studies in Language, Cognition and Culture; 3), Leiden; Boston, Mass.: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 3 (Meaning and Use), pages 99–100:
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A grammatical mood that expresses (surprise at) unexpected revelations or new information.
examples: text: [T]he speaker had heard on the radio that a bear had attacked a woman. From the description of her wounds on the radio, he infers, using the mirative/inferential particle lą̄ą̄, that she was dragged by the bear. […] This particle also implies that the speaker was surprised at the event. Bear attacks are uncommon in Arizona, and the woman was someone the speaker was acquainted with. In fact, lą̄ą̄ is more fundamentally a mirative than an inferential, […]
ref: 2003, Willem J. de Reuse, “Evidentiality in Western Apache (Athabaskan)”, in Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, R. M. W. Dixon, editors, Studies in Evidentiality (Typological Studies in Language; 54), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 2.2.1 (The Mirative/Inferential), page 81:
text: He [Timothy Jowan Curnow] points out that miratives are very rare with first person, more common with second, and most common with third person. In all cases, however, non-miratives are more common than miratives.
ref: 2018, Gwendolyn Hyslop, “Mirativity and Egophoricity in Kurtöp”, in Simeon Floyd, Elisabeth Norcliffe, Lila San Roque, editors, Egophoricity (Typological Studies in Language; 118), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, →ISBN, page 117:
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: (An instance of) a form of a word which conveys this mood.
Related terms: list at admire