John Benjamins Publishing Company
Certainty and uncertainty in assertive speech acts
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Abstract
We begin by considering three main philosophical accounts of assertion, showing that each emphasizes specific aspects of it while leaving others aside, and then proceed to offering a more comprehensive speech-act theoretic account of assertion, which owes much to Austin’s approach to illocutionary acts. On the basis of this account, we investigate how assertion and other members of the assertive speech act family serve the aim of communicating, not merely pieces of information, but also the speaker’s attitude of certainty or uncertainty about them. In so doing, we make use of examples from a corpus of texts in Italian and English, drawn from newspapers, scientific journals and web sites, concerning the so-called Stamina case.
Abstract
We begin by considering three main philosophical accounts of assertion, showing that each emphasizes specific aspects of it while leaving others aside, and then proceed to offering a more comprehensive speech-act theoretic account of assertion, which owes much to Austin’s approach to illocutionary acts. On the basis of this account, we investigate how assertion and other members of the assertive speech act family serve the aim of communicating, not merely pieces of information, but also the speaker’s attitude of certainty or uncertainty about them. In so doing, we make use of examples from a corpus of texts in Italian and English, drawn from newspapers, scientific journals and web sites, concerning the so-called Stamina case.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
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Theoretical and general models
- Subjectivity in modality, and beyond 13
- Certainty and uncertainty in assertive speech acts 31
- Ideal and deviant interlocutors in a formal interpretation system 59
- On being certain whether 79
- Uncertainty as integrated part of meaning and understanding 99
- Epistemic stance 115
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Medical and supportive interactions
- Requesting help with null or limited knowledge 139
- The journey to advice 157
- Diagnostic news delivery 183
- Epistemic struggles in addiction Therapeutic Community meetings 201
- Embodying epistemicity 223
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Scientific writing and academic communication
- The fabric of certainty 249
- Hedging and attitude markers in Spanish and English scientific medical writing 273
- A theoretical contribution to tackling certainty and uncertainty in scientific writing 291
- BioUncertainty 309
- Uncertainty markers in a corpus of German biomedical papers from Spektrum der Wissenschaft (1993-2012) 341
- Questioning certainty in research articles and popular science articles 369
- Self-repairs and certainty in Romanian academic meetings 389
- About the authors 403
- Index 411
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
-
Theoretical and general models
- Subjectivity in modality, and beyond 13
- Certainty and uncertainty in assertive speech acts 31
- Ideal and deviant interlocutors in a formal interpretation system 59
- On being certain whether 79
- Uncertainty as integrated part of meaning and understanding 99
- Epistemic stance 115
-
Medical and supportive interactions
- Requesting help with null or limited knowledge 139
- The journey to advice 157
- Diagnostic news delivery 183
- Epistemic struggles in addiction Therapeutic Community meetings 201
- Embodying epistemicity 223
-
Scientific writing and academic communication
- The fabric of certainty 249
- Hedging and attitude markers in Spanish and English scientific medical writing 273
- A theoretical contribution to tackling certainty and uncertainty in scientific writing 291
- BioUncertainty 309
- Uncertainty markers in a corpus of German biomedical papers from Spektrum der Wissenschaft (1993-2012) 341
- Questioning certainty in research articles and popular science articles 369
- Self-repairs and certainty in Romanian academic meetings 389
- About the authors 403
- Index 411
