Who’s who in Kmhmu' : referring expressions and participant identification in selected Kmhmu' narrative texts

The Kmhmu' language has been studied extensively, particularly in relation to phonology and morphology by the Swedish group at the University of Lund, and in relation to overall grammatical structures (Smalley 1961; Suwilai 1987). There is very little written about the discourse grammar of Kmhmu' (Suwilai 1987), and no studies are published on the use of nominal constructions to refer to participants in narrative text. This study therefore seeks to further investigate nominal constructions and their use in Kmhmu' narrative discourse.

In a narrative text the participant identification system provides a means for establishing the identity of a referent and maintaining it without confusion to the hearers (Grimes 1975:47). Each language has its own participant identification system, which uses a range of grammatical forms, known as referring expressions, according to patterns and rules unique to that language. This thesis presents the inventory of referring expressions in Kmhmu', their structures, their functions at discourse level and their patterns of use in participant identification discovered in six narrative texts.

[In the interest of making this work available without further delay, we are posting it as it was accepted by the institution that granted the degree. It has not been peer reviewed.]