M.A. Theses in Linguistics at the University of North Dakota (Abstracts)

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MacLeod, Catherine 2012
Reference in Udi narrative discourse

This thesis examines concepts of reference assignment as seen in a written
collection of narrative texts from Udi, a Caucasian language from the Lezgian family.
This study explores the linguistic factors that affect reference assignment in Udi
narrative in terms of participants, props and time and locative phrases.
Reference assignment incorporates reference forms such as nouns, noun phrases,
proper names and pronouns. All of these features aid in building the mental
representation of the texts in the mind of the reader. Surface-level linguistic factors,
such as cohesion, coherence, backgrounding, foregrounding and focus also interact with
reference forms.

This paper incorporates the Givenness Hierarchy, as proposed by Gundel, Hedberg
and Zacharski (1993) and Relevance Theory (Wilson & Sperber 2004) to describe Udi
linguistic reference forms. I will examine these forms according to Gundel, Hedberg and
Zacharski's hierarchy as a method of the introduction and tracking of participants,
especially, in the narrative texts of the language. In terms of Relevance Theory, I will
weigh whether these devices are used to signal to the reader that the referents they
introduce are worth the effort of creating an enriched encyclopedic entry, since they
can indicate the most relevant characters and objects throughout the narratives. These
forms appear to motivate the reader to create space in those entries for the many facets
of a participant's role or characteristics.

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