Deixis in Borneo: Kenyah and Punan

This paper presents a description of spatial and temporal deictics in three languages of North-Eastern Borneo: Lebu’ Kulit and Òma Lóngh Kenyah and Punan Tuvu’. Comparison of the form and function of deictic markers in these languages reveals a complex pattern of similarities and divergences. The deictics in these languages are described in their use to localize the speech event and its participants in space and time. Then the relationship between demonstratives and other deictics is observed and so is the encoding of location in the context of the environment. In addition to describing the synchronic properties of deictic markers, the processes whereby deictic markers grammaticalized in these varieties are observed.