This dissertation investigates the expression of the indirect evidential subdomain in two languages in contact, i.e. the northern variety of Central Aymara and the variety of Spanish spoken in La Paz (Bolivia). For this aim, the study uses first-hand data collected in La Paz and El Alto (Bolivia) during 2014 and 2015. Data was elicited through: the “Family Problems Picture” task (San Roque et al. 2012), formulated by the members of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and created specifically for the activation of cognitive categories such as evidentiality and mirativity; the “Pear Story” designed for Wallace Chafe, professor at the University of California, to collect narrative texts that show how humans perceive, elaborate and verbalize experience; and, finally, personal narratives, traditional narratives and interviews. Thirty-three recordings (12h 48’) of 48 Spanish-Aymara bilingual speakers (17 males, age range: 18-64) were fully transcribed and annotated. The resulting corpus consists of 33 transcriptions of which 14 are in Aymara (c. 19 154 words), whereas 19 are in Spanish (c. 46 245 words). The dissertation is built around four research questions. First, the dissertation shows the functions of the forms identified in the data in both languages. The study identifies for each form both evidential and non-evidential functions. Indirect evidential functions are systematically analyzed and classified by combining Willett’s (1988) and Aikhnvald’s (2004) classifications. The analysis shows evidential functions of forms that have not been previously studied as such, i.e. digamos and diciendo in Spanish and sañani and sapxi in Aymara, but it also reveals unnoticed evidential functions for previously described forms. Second, the dissertation provides a clear view of the relationship between the evidential and the epistemic modal domain involved in the use of the forms identified. Two types of correlation are found. Both languages, indeed, show forms that only point out the way in which speakers acquired information and forms where the two domains overlap. Third, the dissertation investigates speakers’ epistemic stance, in terms of commitment, towards information involved in the use of the evidential forms identified. The study shows that the forms which convey merely evidential information express mainly a medium-high commitment degree, whereas the forms in which the distinction between the evidential and the epistemic modal domain is blurred indicate a low degree of commitment. Forth, the dissertation sheds light on the relationship between the expressions of the indirect evidential subdomain in the two languages. The study proposes a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the evidential types and subtypes in both languages. The results show a high degree of convergence between the two languages, suggesting also situations of influence of one language on the other.

Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans, English and Tshwana / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-193) / Pragmatiese merkers in Omgangsafrikaans dien as belangrike kontekstualiseringswenke. Dit rig gespreksgenote in terme van uitingrelevansie en stel die spreker in staat om, op bondige wyse, ’n houding teenoor die proposisie van die uiting te openbaar. Dit dra ook by tot die gesprekstruktuur. Die sistematiese ondersoek na pragmatiese merkers volg ’n eklektiese benadering: die relevansieteorie, grammatikalisasieteorie, diskoersanalise, sosiopragmatiek en korpuslinguistiek word ingespan om die verskynsel te bestudeer en te verklaar. Die pragmatiese merkers “rêrig/regtig”, “oukei”, “soos”, “hoor” en “weet” is bestudeer aan die hand van die Pretoriakorpus van Omgangsafrikaans (PO) vanweë hul hoë gebruiksfrekwensie in die korpus. ’n Vergelyking van die gebruiksfrekwensies van hierdie pragmatiese merkers onder verskillende groeperinge van sprekers toon aan dat jong, volwasse en bejaarde mans en vroue dit verskillend gebruik. Die onderskeie funksies bied voorts leidrade waardeur die grammatikalisasie van pragmatiese merkers nagespeur kan word. Dit wil voorkom asof jong vroulike sprekers die voortou neem in die gebruik en ontwikkeling van pragmatiese merkers teenoor jong manlike sprekers. Die studie het verder bevind dat veral volwasse vroulike sprekers aktief bydra tot die ontwikkeling van hierdie pragmatiese merkers. / Pragmatic markers in interactional Afrikaans serve as important contextualising cues. They guide interlocutors as to the relevance of utterances and equip the speaker to signal an attitude towards the proposition of the utterance in a succinct way. They also contribute to the conversation structure. The systematic investigation of pragmatic markers follows an eclectic approach: relevance theory, grammaticalisation theory, discourse analysis, sociopragmatics and corpus linguistics are engaged in order to study and explain the phenomenon. The pragmatic markers “rêrig/regtig”, “oukei”, “soos”, “hoor” en “weet” are studied on the basis of the Pretoriakorpus van Omgangsafrikaans (PO) owing to their high frequency in the corpus. A comparison of the usage frequencies of these pragmatic markers among various groups of speakers indicates that young, adult and elderly men and women use them differently. The respective functions offer clues by which the grammaticalisation of pragmatic markers may be traced. It appears that young female speakers take the lead in the use and development of pragmatic markers compared to young male speakers. The study further found that especially adult female speakers contribute actively to the development of these pragmatic markers. / Matshwao a puo mo puong ya kgolagano ya Afrikaans a dira jaaka matshwao a botlhokwa a bokao. A kaela babui ka bomaleba jwa dipuo le go thusa sebui go bontsha maikutlo malebana le polelo e e tshitshinngwang ka boripana. Gape a tshwaela mo sebopegong sa puisano. Tshekatsheko e e rulaganeng ya matshwao a puo e ne e dirisa mekgwa e e farologaneng: tiori ya bomaleba, tiori ya tiriso ya thutapuo, tshekatsheko ya puisano, matshwao a puoloago le thuto ya dipuo e e lebelelang dikwalo tse di gona (corpus linguistics) di dirisitswe go batlisisa le go tlhalosa dikgakgamatso tseo. Matshwao a puo a “rêrig/regtig”, “oukei”, “soos”, “hoor” le “weet” a batlisisitswe go lebeletswe Pretoriakorpus van Omgangsafrikaans (PO) ka ntlha ya go nna teng ga ona thata mo dikwalong. Tshwantshanyo ya seelo sa tiriso ya matshwao ano a puo magareng ga ditlhopha tsa dibui e supa gore bašwa, bagolo le bagodi ba banna le basadi ba a dirisa ka ditsela tse di farologaneng. Ditiro tse di rileng di bontsha disupi tse ka tsona go ka latedisiwang tiriso ya thutapuo ya matshwao a puo. Go bonala fa dibui tsa bašwa ba basadi di eteletse pele mo tirisong le kgodisong ya matshwao a puo fa di ntshwantshanngwa le dibui tsa banna. Thutopatlisiso e fitlheletse gape gore dibui tsa bagolo ba basadi bogolosegolo di tshwaela ka botlhaga mo kgodisong ya matshwao ano a puo. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)