A Study of Second-Position Enclitics in Cebuano

Second-position enclitics in Cebuano are syntactically dispensable and truth-conditionally irrelevant; however, they add emotional flavor to utterances. This study investigates second-position enclitics in Cebuano, including their form and how they are used to express stance. The objective of this study is to investigate the form and functions of two groups of second-position enclitics, “aspectual” enclitics, and emphasizer and intensifier enclitics, as well as to examine their distribution in enclitic clusters. Conversational data show that the “aspectual” enclitics convey attitudinal stance: =na can convey emphasis, determination, and desperation, while =pa is used to imply “incompletion” or “lack,” leading to annoyance. In addition, I discuss =man, illustrating how it is used for downtoning and for showing politeness. I also tease apart the meanings of four seemingly synonymous high-frequency enclitics that differ in their relative frequency and preferred position in a cluster. As to function, =ka’ayo and =gyud serve to emphasize and intensify, but =ka’ayo has a scope over a predicate, while =gyud has scope over an entire proposition. On the other hand, =lagi and =gud have to be inspected in discourse: =lagi has the additional function of asserting one’s stance on the hearers, while =gud has the additional element of disagreement or dissatisfaction. Finally, I propose a relative ordering involving these two groups of enclitics in clusters.