Propositional Attitudes and Indexicality in EkeGusii

Abstract

The interaction between propositional attitudes and indexical expressions has long been a central concern in linguistic semantics and the philosophy of language. Propositional attitudes describe how speakers relate mentally to propositions through attitudes such as okwegeena ‘believing’, okomanya  ‘knowing’, okorora ‘viewpoint’, ogokagera/okorengereria ‘imagining’, or okoroota ‘dreaming’. Particular complexity arises when propositional attitudes involve EkeGusii indexical expressions-words such as na ‘I’, aiga ‘here’, aria ‘there’, riria ‘then’ and bono ‘now’ whose interpretation depends on the context of utterance. In many cases, the meaning of indexicals shifts when they occur within attitude reports, raising questions about how speakers represent perspective within embedded clauses. This issue becomes especially significant in the analysis of de se attitudes, which refer to self-directed beliefs or thoughts that involve an individual’s awareness of themselves as the subject of the proposition.