I had no idea. That is really interesting. What are some artificial languages that have evidential grammar? I knew lojban had evidentials, but I think they’re optional.
Láadan has a group of function words called “evidentials” that English doesn’t have; many other languages do have them.
An evidential tells you why the speaker feels justified in claiming that the words being said are true.
For example, “wa” means “The reason I claim that what I’m saying is true is that I have perceived it myself” and “wi” means “The reason I claim that what I’m saying is true is because it’s self-evident; everybody can perceive that it’s true, or everybody is in agreement that it’s true.”
The evidential will always be the last word in a Láadan sentence, and—unlike the situation in English—it’s required to be there.
I had no idea. That is really interesting. What are some artificial languages that have evidential grammar? I knew lojban had evidentials, but I think they’re optional.
Láadan has them.
I wonder why the evidential is put last. I would have put it early in the sentence.
This way people have to listen to the entire claim before they can disagree with it.