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“I desire to have some tyme to consider of it”

A pragmaphilological approach to refusals and refutations in Modern-English trials

Abstract

Enclosed within a larger project on the variation experienced by the English language in its recent history, the paper explores the use of indirect speech acts of refutation and denial in speech-related Modern-English texts. The corpus employed contains trial proceedings from the period 1560–1760, and the conclusions drawn from its analysis provide an interesting insight into the possibility of characterising this particular group of illocutionary forces, in the particular context of trials, during the Modern-English period. The study also points to the possibility of comparing the uses and values of indirect speech acts in Modern-English and Present-Day English trials, tracing any possible course of evolution and/or change.

Abstract

Enclosed within a larger project on the variation experienced by the English language in its recent history, the paper explores the use of indirect speech acts of refutation and denial in speech-related Modern-English texts. The corpus employed contains trial proceedings from the period 1560–1760, and the conclusions drawn from its analysis provide an interesting insight into the possibility of characterising this particular group of illocutionary forces, in the particular context of trials, during the Modern-English period. The study also points to the possibility of comparing the uses and values of indirect speech acts in Modern-English and Present-Day English trials, tracing any possible course of evolution and/or change.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Discourse and the interactional turn 1
  5. Part 1. Dialogues between contexts
  6. Contexts in context 13
  7. Communicative activity types as organisations in discourses and discourses in organisations 33
  8. Discourse and context in a historical perspective 61
  9. Part 2. Constructing identity across genres
  10. Pronominal choice in French conversational interaction 81
  11. Constructing interpersonal relations in the discourse of Russian media 101
  12. Who communicates in the media supported by the Russian Church? 115
  13. “O England! England! She says – my Father – my Sisters – my friends! – shall I ever see you more?” 133
  14. Part 3. Managing interpersonal relations
  15. Power in Early Modern English courtroom discourse 153
  16. “I desire to have some tyme to consider of it” 173
  17. Interactive aspects of computer-mediated communication 195
  18. ‘A little story, for food for thought.......’ 223
  19. Part 4. Structures in interaction
  20. Appropriateness in interpersonal communication 239
  21. Filling the German vorfeld in written and spoken discourse 263
  22. Phatic expressions in French and German telephone conversations 291
  23. Index 313
Discourses in Interaction
This chapter is in the book Discourses in Interaction
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.203.14mar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Discourse and the interactional turn 1
  5. Part 1. Dialogues between contexts
  6. Contexts in context 13
  7. Communicative activity types as organisations in discourses and discourses in organisations 33
  8. Discourse and context in a historical perspective 61
  9. Part 2. Constructing identity across genres
  10. Pronominal choice in French conversational interaction 81
  11. Constructing interpersonal relations in the discourse of Russian media 101
  12. Who communicates in the media supported by the Russian Church? 115
  13. “O England! England! She says – my Father – my Sisters – my friends! – shall I ever see you more?” 133
  14. Part 3. Managing interpersonal relations
  15. Power in Early Modern English courtroom discourse 153
  16. “I desire to have some tyme to consider of it” 173
  17. Interactive aspects of computer-mediated communication 195
  18. ‘A little story, for food for thought.......’ 223
  19. Part 4. Structures in interaction
  20. Appropriateness in interpersonal communication 239
  21. Filling the German vorfeld in written and spoken discourse 263
  22. Phatic expressions in French and German telephone conversations 291
  23. Index 313
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