Presentative deictics in Oromo

This study deals with the forms, meanings and functions of presentative deictics in Oromo. Basically, presentatives deictics are deictic expressions that are used in directing the attention of an addressee towards a referent mentioned by a speaker in the communication situation. They are expressed in the use of proximal and distal presentative deictic adverbs, adverbial phrases or determiners. This is a qualitative descriptive study and the data were collected through note-taking of free language use, elicitation, and introspection. The data thus collected were transcribed phonemically using IPA. The data were arranged in interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme basis in three lines following the Leipzig Glossing Rules. The results of the analyses contained lexicalizations of presentative expressions commonly used, (morpho)-syntactc properties of presentatives in different discourse contexts, the exophoric and referential functions of presentatives of which the exophoric function takes into account referents found in the environment where communication is taking place, and the referential functions were concerned with reference to linguistic items in the text. The offerative and the directive functions come under the exophoric use, whereas cataphoric, anaphoric and discourse signal functions come under referential functions. The meanings of the presentative deictics are based on the context in which they are used.

Even though scholars (Moreno 1939) have been using the Latin script for writing Oromo earlier, the script got o cial recognition after 1991. The Oromo data in this dissertation have also been written using the Latin-based script called Qubee which literally means 'letter/letters'. Length and gemination are shown by doubling vowels and consonants respectively.

Previous Works
Deictics which deal with features of language that take their meanings from the spatio-temporal context of an utterance and that has at least one speaker and an addressee (Lyons 1977: 636) is a much neglected area of pragmatics. Only few research woks are available on it. Authors like Fillmore (1966Fillmore ( , 1971Fillmore ( , 1975Fillmore ( , 1982Fillmore ( , 1997Levinson 1979Levinson , 1983Levinson , 1995Anderson & Keenan 1985;Diessel, 1999;Saeed 2003, Yule 2006 and Bühler 2011), just to mention a few, have dealt with the subject matter of deixis. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of these authors and others, different researchers have conducted studies on various aspects of deixis (Jiyane 1997, Imai 2003, Adetunji 2006, Yosida 2008, Su 2010, Dylgjeri 2013, Adegoju 2014, Abdulla 2015. These are studies on the deictic systems of languages other than the Ethiopian linguistic area. Most of these works are not full-edged works. For example, Adegoju (2014) is about how person deixis is used by a Nigerian president during a campaign for election, whereas Su (2010) is on use of rst person pronouns by Chinese English as a foreign language and it was found out that Chinese learners are under the in uence of their collective communal culture and are frequently using the plural forms of the rst person deixis. A study by Imai (2003) is a research on spatial deixis. He investigated the semantics of spatial deixis from a cross linguistic point of view and came up with the result that an anchor is the reference basis of deictics. And, speaker anchor is the dominant anchor followed by the addressee anchor. According to his ndings, the dual-anchor system indicates distance from the speaker as well as proximity to the addressee, while the addressee-isolated system shows proximity to the addressee. Jiyane (1997) studied the features of deictics in Zulu and found out that deictics in Zulu are grammaticalized and realized in ve subcategories (person, time, space, discourse and social deixis). Yoshida (2011) is on the nature of referring expressions in English and Chinese dialogue. She found out that the choice and the distribution of referring expressions depend on the way the participants collaborate to judge the most salient entity in the ongoing discourse against their common grounds. Adetunji (2006) is a study on inclusion and exclusion from the point of view of the use of person deixis in political discourse. In the study, the writer shows how speakers reveal intimacy and alienation through their use of deictic expressions, especially through the use of person deixis.
With regard to the Ethiopian context, a study by Baye & Rawda (2007) on Silte deictics shows that the major deictic types in Silte are person, referential (demonstrative), locative (spatial) and temporal. In this study, the authors have indicated that Silte shares the same deictic form /hi/ with Kambata, one of the neighboring Highland East Cushitic languages, and Mao which is a geographically distant language (Baye & Rawda 2007:150). Hirut (2007) studied the Gamo language with respect to its systems of deicitics and found out that the language has complicated deictic systems having deictic expressions for locatives, temporal, anaphoric and recognitory function (Hirut 2007:129).
Desselegn (2012) focuses on the 'Deictics of Kambata ' , and the ndings of the study indicate that demonstrative pronouns, temporal, spatial, discourse and social deixis markers are the dominant deictics in Kambata. The other study by Aweke (2012) has found that the Ezha language has deictic markers for spatial, person, temporal, manner, and presentative deixis. Dereje (2013) is also a similar study, but on Hadiya. This one focuses on describing deictic markers in the language. The major ndings of this study are that Hadiya has deictic features such as spatial (spatial demonstratives), temporal, personal, discourse, and social deictics. The nding also reveals that, recognitional and manner deixis in Hadiya are additional categories of deixis in the language.
The other local work related to this study is Mi'eessaa, Heimstead, & Clamons (2012) which is a study on Oromo from the perspective of its systems of locatives. The study has come up with the structural, grammatical and pragmatic properties of some Oromo locationals. A study by Debela (2012) on Oromo semantics from the perspective of adposition is yet another related work. The ndings of this study indicate that frontal ad positions in Oromo show spatial senses, and other metaphoric extensions, such as temporal, priority and socioeconomic relations.
As it could be observed from the review of related works above, presentative deictics in Oromo were not addressed in any of the previous studies, apart from fewer research ndings that show some lexemes as being aspects of other deictic elements in the language. The present work hence, focuses on a detailed by two teachers who were the native speakers of the language. Oromo presentative deictic expressions in natural utterances have also been obtained. Also, elicitation and introspection techniques were used to gather data related to the study. Then special features which are pertinent to this study were identi ed and analyzed in relation to the theoretical framework.

Presentative Deictics
Presentative deictics can be more speci cally subcategorized into two: directives whose function is to draw the attention of the addressee(s) to a referent (Hanks 1992:54, Fillmore 1982, and offeratives whose function is to designate a referent to hand over something to the addressee. Expressions used in a situation when the speaker presents or hands over something to the addressee(s) are called presentatives or presentative deictics (Hanks 2009:19). Treis (2018:19) states the existence of presentative demonstratives in Oromo outside of Highland East Cushitic. Stroomer (1987:117 & 348) also states that there are three Oromo dialects that have demonstrative forms kunoo 'here it is' for Boraana and kuloo(ti) for Boraana, Orma and Waata as well as ku(u)loo for Orma and Waata, which he all translates as 'voilà, here he/it is'. But Stroomer's study is based on dictionary entries as the source for the presence of the presentative demonstratives, and, hence, it was a very sketchy work.
When pointing out or presenting an entity, the speaker directs the hearer's attention to the entity referred to. Through the choice of a proximal, medial or distal presentative, the speaker additionally speci es the approximate location of the entity. Furthermore, the selected gender and number form provides information on the nature of the presented entity.
The proximal presentative deictics are used when the presented entity is in the hands of the speaker or within reach of their hands. On the other hand, the distal presentative deictics are used when the presented entity is away from the speaker or the addressee(s).

The position of presentative deictics in Oromo
Presentatives could be used as opening or closing of an utterance. In this function, they are used either to open or introduce an utterance that points out an entity or person to the addressee, or to close an utterance that points out something, and culminates with an expression of presentative. In this subsection, a discussion of how presentatives are used in opening, middle or closing of an utterance will be presented.

Initial position
Presentatives that are used at the beginning of an utterance are used to call the addressee(s) attention to what is to come in the text.
Let us have a look at the following usages. prepare-1PL-PV day-NOM wedding-GEN reach-3MS-PV.
'Here it is, the wedding day reached before we didn't prepare anything.' 'Look over there, their house is in the valley down there.' The presentative adverbs/expressions in the above usages kunoo 'here it is' as in (1a), ila kuunnoo 'look, there it is' as in (1b), and laal kuuunnoo 'look over there' as in (1c) all have been used in the opening part of the utterances and direct the addressee's attention to what is to come next in the communication process. In all of these usages the presentative expressions are prosodically separated from the rest of the utterances by a small pause. The use of the commas after these expressions shows this. offspring-NOM good-NOM here-PRX POSS like-this-COP.
'A good offspring is the one like this.' The presentative adverbs/expressions in the above usages (ila kuunnoo 'look, there it is' as in (2a), kunoo 'here it is' as in (2b&c) all have been used in the middle part of the utterances either to direct the attention of the addressee to what is to come next in the utterance as in (2a&b), or to refer to a referent that is found in the immediate situation of the utterance, ilma gaarii 'a good offspring', as in (2c)  'I have bought the cloth that you told me to buy for you, look here.' The presentative expression kunoo laalaa 'here, look at it' as in (3a) helps to direct the addressees' attention to the entity pointed at, i.e., kitaaba sireerraa 'the book on the table.' In (3b) the expression kunoo 'here it is' directs the attention of the addressee to the referent pointed at by the speaker-the radio speaking. In (3c) yet the expression kunoo laali 'here look at it' directs the attention of the addressee to the referent offered by the speaker, huc'uu naa biti ette bite 'I have bought the cloth that you told me to buy for you.' In all of the usages in (3a-c) the presentative adverbs/expressions come at the utterance nal position and help in making the addressee either direct his/her attention to the referent that the speaker pointed at, or they play an offerative function thereby presenting an entity to the addressee(s).
Both the proximal and distal demonstrative adverbs kunoo 'here' and kuuunnoo 'over there' respectively could occur at the sentence initial, medial and nal positions have been used in the examples in (2a-c), and (3a-c) above. Some of these presentative demonstrative adverbs/expressions are also accompanied by pointing gestures to point to the location or direction of entities. In all of these syntactic positions however the presentatives do not integrate into the clause or utterance which precedes or comes after them.

Functions of presentative demonstratives
In this subsection we will have a look at the functions of presentative demonstratives in different discourse contexts. The exophoric (directive and offerative), and endophoric (anaphoric, discourse signal and cataphoric) functions of presentatives will be discussed.

Exophoric function
When presentative demonstratives are used as exophorics, they are used to point out or present entities that are found in the context of the communication situation between the speaker and the addressee. In this case, they are usually accompanied by a pointing gesture (Treis 2018:12). When pointing out or presenting an entity, the speaker directs the hearer's attention to the entity. Through the use of a proximal, medial or distal presentatives depending on where the entity is located with respect to the deictic center, the speaker additionally speci es the approximate location of the entity. The proximal presentative demonstrative adverb kunooti 'here it is' is used when the presented entity is near the speaker, kuunnooti 'there it is' is used when the entity presented is away from both the speaker and hearer, and kuuunnooti 'over there it is' when the entity pointed out is very far from both the speaker and hearer. Offerative and directive functions are examples of the exophoric use of presentatives in Oromo.

Offerative function
As it has been stated earlier, the offerative function of presentative demonstratives is meant to draw the attention of the addressee towards something provided to her. Next, we will have a look at the data on this function of presentative demonstratives. 'Here is your money; take it and make it as you like.' All of the above usages in (4a-c) show presentative deictics in which the speaker presents objects to the addressee. In (4a) the presentative expression ila kunoo 'look here' has been used before the utterance that contains a referent to be presented ka ati ette dee 'I brought what you said' which has been accompanied by a hand pointing to draw the attention of addressee to the referent. In (4b) the presentative expression ila kunooti 'look here it is' attracts the addressees attention to the bag presented. In (4c) expression hoo kunoo 'take here' calls the addresse's attention to referent presented mallaka 'money.' In all of the usages in (4a-c) the presentative expressions used all help in making the addressees to draw their attention to something to be presented to them, for their very usages triggers the addressees to anticipate something to be given to them.

Directive function
The directive function is aimed towards drawing the addressee's attention to a referent (Fillmore 1982:47). In Oromo there are situations wherein speakers present to listeners not just physical objects but thoughts, ideas, jokes, or news about something. The purpose of such presentative expressions is therefore to draw the attention of the addressee(s) towards the idea, news, or information presented. This is the directive function of presentative deixis.
Let us have a look at the following sentences.
5. a. laal-Ø-i kunoo amma rakkoo-n alat-t-Ø-e. 'Look, when we were little (ones) there was no car in our village.' In each of the above sentences in (5a-d) the speakers is presenting an idea, thought, or news about things that they feel the addressee(s) has/have to be informed about, or have a knowledge of. In these sentences, through the use of presentative directives deictics like kunoo 'here it is', hoo u 'take it', agahi 'hear it', and laal 'look' the speaker directs the attention of his/her addressee(s) towards the information, idea, or news he/she is presenting.

Endophoric functions
The endophoric functions are presentative deictic expressions that are used for referring or pointing to entities that are found in the text. These are the discourse signal, anaphoric, and the cataphoric expressions which are used to refer to entities mentioned in the ongoing text. This will be discussed in the subsequent subsections.

Discourse signal functions
When presentative demonstratives are used as discourse signals they direct the addressee's attention or focus on a noteworthy, surprising, extraordinarily positive or negative event described in the preceding or in the following discourse (Treis 2018:12). In this second function, the presentatives may or may not be accompanied by a pointing gesture. These demonstratives are used to keep track of the information ow of the text. They are used to order and organize the 'the matrix of linguistic material within which the utterance has role, that is, the preceding and following parts of the discourse (Grenoble, L & Riley, M. 1996:824).
Presentative demonstrative adjectives/adverbs used in the sense of a discourse signal are not syntactically integrated into the sentences in which they occur. As it has been already indicated in subsection of morphosyntax of presentatives, these presentatives come either before the utterance to which the hearer is directed to pay his/her attention, or in the middle of it, or even sometimes in the end position of the utterance to which the addressee is asked to pay attention to. Treis (2018:14) states that as a discourse signal the presentative often introduces noteworthy and unexpected consequences or results; the most appropriate English translations seem to be 'Look!', '(You) see!', 'Listen (here)!', 'Pay attention!', or biblical contexts, 'Behold!', as in (30a-c) next. The presentative expressions in (6a-c) have been used to introduce important or notable information to the addressee. In (6a) the expression ila kunoo 'look here' helps to direct the attention of the addressee to what is going to come in the discourse, i.e., waan inni e u c'ak'asi 'listen to what he says.' In (6b) also the expression ila kuunno 'look there' directs the attention of the addressee to what is to come in the following discourse ta ani e e ufte 'what I said became a reality.' In (6c) the expression kunoo 'here' helps the addressee to look at the children pointed out by the speaker in the following part of the discourse. Hence, as has been described here, the presentative adverbs/expressions used in the above utterances all have a discourse signal function as they help to direct the addressee(s) attention to something important to be mentioned in the discourse.

Anaphoric functions
Anaphoric presentative demonstrative adjectives/adverbs in Oromo are used as backward referring expressions in a text. This is the anaphoric function of presentative demonstratives. Here, the presentatives are used to refer to the entire text mentioned in the preceding part of the discourse, as in the following usages in (7a-c). 'These youngsters were told to protect themselves from this disease; they refused and went after their lust, and today they are in a problem-here (is it)!' In (7a), the presentative demonstrative adjective kunoo 'here (it is)' that syntactically comes at the end of the utterance has been used as a discourse signal. In this case, it refers to the discourse that appeared 'The boy who loved the girl sent the elders to us; the elders of our side discussed the issue together with them; then after the day was arranged, preparations were made, and we married the girl to the boy-take it.
Again, in (7b) we have the presentative demonstrative expression hoo u 'take it' coming after the end of the utterance and serving as a discourse signal. It refers to the preceding part of the discourse.
(Context: The old man asked the younger boy that he met on the road to whom he belonged. Then the younger boy told to him his full name upto his great grandfather. Upon hearing this, the old man said this in wonderment: c. eeyyee! eeyyee! il-Ø-a kunoo amma warra kee beek-Ø-e.
'Yes, I have hereby known your family.' In (7c) yet the presentative expression ila kunoo 'look here' has been used as a disourse signal which connects the utterance of the younger boy (his full name/his ancestry) with that of the old man. In this case, the discourse signal refers backwards to the earlier part of the context situation. Syntactically, the anaphoric presentative expressions appear, more often, at the end of the discourse and thereby help to refer back to the preceding part of the text. understand-2S-PV result very good-also get-2S-PV.
'Here now, you are clever; you wrote correctly; you read correctly; you understood in a good way ; also, you got a very good result.' In (8) we have a presentative demonstrative expression kunoo amma 'here now' which comes at the start of the utterance to introduce the consequence of being clever. It serves as a cataphoric function in this example as it helps to stipulate the occurrence of a following text later in the discourse. 'There, we now disagree; why did you leave and come the thing that I told you to bring with you.' In (9) also, we once again attest the cataphoric function of the presentative demonstrative adverb kuunnoo 'there' coming in the beginning of the utterance to signal the following part of the text.
(Context: The children asked their mother where the burial place of their late father is. Their mother pointing where the burial place of their father uttering the following words: 10. il-Ø-a kuuunnoo bakka mukk-een e-eer-oon see-2S-IMP far there-DST place tree-PL tall-RDP.PL mul at-Ø-an san-i.
'Look far there/a eld, it is the place where the tall trees are visible.' 'In (10), again the presentative demonstrative expression ila kuuunnoo 'look there far' by pointing to the burial place of their father to direct the attention of her children. In this case, it functions as a cataphoric discourse signal that is used to introduce something that is noteworthy. Syntactically, the cataphoric presentative demonstratives appear, more often, at the beginning of the discourse that follows them.

Conclusion
Presentative deictic expressions in Oromo are grammaticalized in different deictic adverbs and determiners that occur in different syntactic positions. They are grammaticalized in the use of proximal and distal presentative deictic adverbs, adverbial phrases or determiners. Presentatives have directive and offerative functions. While the directive function helps in directing or focusing the attention of the addressee towards the referent mentioned in the discourse, the offerative function refers to offering something to somebody. In terms of the location of referents the presentative deictic expressions are still divided into exophoric and endophoric. In the case of the exophoric presentative deictics, the referent mentioned is to be found outside of the text of discourse whereas in the endophoric case the referent is found inside the text. The authors declared no potential con ict of interest.