Re: Mood name?

Andreas Johansson wrote:

> Anyway, I was looking for suggestions for a latinesque name for a
> mood indicating that the speaker is merely relaying information
> without making any claim as to its being true or not. It would
> typically be used in indirect speech. I seem to recall that Quechua
> has an infection indicating this. Any suggestions?
It sounds much like an evidential of some kind. Though evidentials
rather say how you came to know something (inference, hearsay,
direct evidence - you actually saw it, or perhaps you heard it).

This mood of yours sounds more like a veridical marker, telling
something about the truth of the information (that you don't
know if it's true :).

Perhaps you can simply call this marker "veridical" if you don't
have any other truth-marking particles? Or "validational"? Though
neither of these say that you don't claim anything about the
statement's truth. Perhaps "non-veridical" or "non-validational"? :)

Daniel Andreasson

Reply