LAUSR

Abstract This paper explores the multifunctionality of qa ma [first-person singular pronoun + topic marker] in Longxi Qiang, a Tibeto-Burman language. The commonality of the various functions of qa ma is attention-getting. Previous researchers have focused on how imperative perception verbs in various languages, such as ‘look’ and ‘listen’, developed into pragmatic markers with an attention-getting function. The self-position of the speaker indicated by the deictic pronoun qa ‘I’ determines its attention-getting usage, that is, attracting the hearer's attention to the speaker's utterance. This paper also describes a new function of the particle ma, constraining the hearer's interpretation of the upcoming segment, that is rarely reported in the deeply contacted Mandarin Chinese. Context dependency allows for semantic change in the situations of language use. Speakers invite hearers to exploit conversational implicatures in different contexts (Inter)subjectification is the main mechanism of the semantic change of qa ma from ideational to interpersonal and textual meaning.