633

The interrogatives -sa and -ti elicit answers with -wa or

-pi even if no information is available.

Jani.w yat.k.t.ti. 'T don't know.' (general)
no ~ know 1-3
S

On the other hand, the final suffix -xa or its variant is
nonabsolute, often tentative. The limited final suffix
-chi- and the disclaimer -m are the strongest indirect
knowledge markers, the former very similar in both phonologi-
cal shape and semantics to the Non-involver suffix -chi. In
fact, the final suffix combinations -chi.xa and -chi.m have
occurred only with -chi Non-involver on the verb, although

the latter often occurred without -chi.xa or -chi.m in the
sentence.

Combining direct knowledge tenses with direct knowl-
edge final suffixes reinforces the directness. The final
suffixes -wa and -pi do not co-occur with the Non-involver,
the most indirect of the tense markers.

At this stage of research no regional variation in
this postulate has been noted, but there is variation with

respect to Missionary Aymara (see 9-6.13).