Occitan as spoken in Gascony (Southwestern France) has a peculiar paradigm of preverbal markers called "enunciatives". This paper examines their role as connective and modal particles. It shows how they mark different degrees of assertiveness, and provides evidence for their functioning as evidentials when used in quotes and reported speech contexts. A proposal for a diachronic reconstruction of the genesis of the paradigm is made, with a cleft construction being claimed as source for the core enunciative particle que.
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