Egophoricity

Conjunct markers, in at least some languages, are analyzed here as grammatically specialized for the semantic function of self-ascription : such markers indicate that a participant in the described event ascribed to herself the property described in the sentence. The hypothesis proposed here is that grammatically enabled self-ascription is fundamental to such systems, and that mirativity, as well as various other observed factors such as speaker ignorance, volitionality, and irony, are secondary