Epistemic uncertainty and the syntax of speech acts
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Kate E. Judge
Abstract
This paper examines the problems and contradictions that arise between the linguistic evidence on the one hand, and the theoretical assumptions on the other, in the analysis of modal expressions. Discussing insights from formal and functional perspectives on modality, the concept of certainty is utilised as a means of describing the systematic differences between non-modal and modal expressions, as well as epistemic and non-epistemic modals. Section one analyses the assumption that modals are unified and assesses the evidence for and against this. Section two looks at the debate regarding whether or not epistemics are part of truth evaluable content. This paper suggests that accounts of modal expressions from both theoretical perspectives over-rely on the characterisation of the source of information set, where such characterisation is more properly considered as the domain of Evidentiality. The third and final section suggests a tentative proposal of a dynamic, discourse-oriented solution based on the distinction between certainty and uncertainty.
Abstract
This paper examines the problems and contradictions that arise between the linguistic evidence on the one hand, and the theoretical assumptions on the other, in the analysis of modal expressions. Discussing insights from formal and functional perspectives on modality, the concept of certainty is utilised as a means of describing the systematic differences between non-modal and modal expressions, as well as epistemic and non-epistemic modals. Section one analyses the assumption that modals are unified and assesses the evidence for and against this. Section two looks at the debate regarding whether or not epistemics are part of truth evaluable content. This paper suggests that accounts of modal expressions from both theoretical perspectives over-rely on the characterisation of the source of information set, where such characterisation is more properly considered as the domain of Evidentiality. The third and final section suggests a tentative proposal of a dynamic, discourse-oriented solution based on the distinction between certainty and uncertainty.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction 1
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Certainty
- Certainty 29
- Modes of modality in an Un-Cartesian framework 47
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(Un)Certainty as attitudinality
- Counter-argumentation and modality 65
- Explanation as a certainty marker in persuasive dialogue 83
- How to deal with attitude strength in debating situations. A survey on forewarning, argument strength, repetition, and source credibility as mediators of uncertainty 97
- The role of subjective certainty in the epistemology of testimony 121
- Uncertainty in polar questions and certainty in answers? 135
- Lying as a scalar phenomenon 153
- Persuasion pragmatic strategies in L1/L2 Italian argument-ative speech 175
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Dialogical exchange and speech acts
- What do I know as yet? 185
- On polar questions, negation, and the syntactic encoding of epistemicity 199
- Epistemic uncertainty and the syntax of speech acts 217
- Discursive functions of evidentials and epistemic modals 239
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Onomasiology
- Vagueness, unspecificity, and approximation. Cognitive and lexical aspects in English, Swedish, and Italian 265
- Latin commitment-markers 285
- Italian come se “as if” 297
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Applications in exegesis and religious discourse
- The communication of certainty/uncertainty within a Gospel passage (John 9:1-41) 327
- Rhetorics of (un)certainty in religious discourse 343
- Subject index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction 1
-
Certainty
- Certainty 29
- Modes of modality in an Un-Cartesian framework 47
-
(Un)Certainty as attitudinality
- Counter-argumentation and modality 65
- Explanation as a certainty marker in persuasive dialogue 83
- How to deal with attitude strength in debating situations. A survey on forewarning, argument strength, repetition, and source credibility as mediators of uncertainty 97
- The role of subjective certainty in the epistemology of testimony 121
- Uncertainty in polar questions and certainty in answers? 135
- Lying as a scalar phenomenon 153
- Persuasion pragmatic strategies in L1/L2 Italian argument-ative speech 175
-
Dialogical exchange and speech acts
- What do I know as yet? 185
- On polar questions, negation, and the syntactic encoding of epistemicity 199
- Epistemic uncertainty and the syntax of speech acts 217
- Discursive functions of evidentials and epistemic modals 239
-
Onomasiology
- Vagueness, unspecificity, and approximation. Cognitive and lexical aspects in English, Swedish, and Italian 265
- Latin commitment-markers 285
- Italian come se “as if” 297
-
Applications in exegesis and religious discourse
- The communication of certainty/uncertainty within a Gospel passage (John 9:1-41) 327
- Rhetorics of (un)certainty in religious discourse 343
- Subject index 363
