Spatial Deixis and Perspectivization in Nganasan

This paper provides a cognitive linguistic analysis of two motion verbs in Nganasan. The aim is to examine how the usage of the verbs konɨďi ‘go’ and tujsʲa ‘come’ express the fact that language relies on a choice between multiple perspectives (see Tolcsvai Nagy 2017: 48) by being always bound to a specific vantage point. The study focuses on determining the possible entities that can be used as vantage points in the case of these two verbs: can someone else than the actual speaker be the one whose deictic center is dominant in a particular utterance? In the case of Nganasan, it can: konɨďi can be used in the context of a third person subject besides the speaker, moreover, the usage of tujsʲa can be also bound to the addressee. In addition, in case of perspectivization, the original speaker and addressee can function as vantage points as well.