Chapter 5. How and why seem became an evidential
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Gunther Lampert
Abstract
Conceived as an instance of critical meta-linguistics, this study traces how and why the expert literature has come to categorize seem as a marker of evidentiality. This by now common claim is seen to depend not on a more adequate account of the data, but on (axiomatic) decisions guided by underlying ideologies, the formation of theory communities, and the belief in semantic essences. As foils for comparison, my contribution will offer panoramic surveys of the earlier conceptualizations of seem in terms of impression-based qualifications and hedging. To start off, the article will present my own view on seem, which assigns the verb an invariable meaning associating two alternative conceptualizations held at the same time, where one (say, the factive) is attentionally foregrounded in one context while the other (the fictive) is backgrounded.
Abstract
Conceived as an instance of critical meta-linguistics, this study traces how and why the expert literature has come to categorize seem as a marker of evidentiality. This by now common claim is seen to depend not on a more adequate account of the data, but on (axiomatic) decisions guided by underlying ideologies, the formation of theory communities, and the belief in semantic essences. As foils for comparison, my contribution will offer panoramic surveys of the earlier conceptualizations of seem in terms of impression-based qualifications and hedging. To start off, the article will present my own view on seem, which assigns the verb an invariable meaning associating two alternative conceptualizations held at the same time, where one (say, the factive) is attentionally foregrounded in one context while the other (the fictive) is backgrounded.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Modalising expressions and modality 1
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Section I. Moving to modal categories
- Chapter 2. Revisiting global and intra-categorial frequency shifts in the English modals 19
- Chapter 3. The scope of modal categories 47
- Chapter 4. Not just frequency, not just modality 79
- Chapter 5. How and why seem became an evidential 109
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Section II. Moving to modal co-text
- Chapter 6. Conditionals, modality, and Schrödinger’s cat 143
- Chapter 7. Modal marking in conditionals. Grammar, usage and discourse 173
- Chapter 8. Present-day English constructions with chance ( s ) in Talmy’s greater modal system and beyond 195
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Section III. Moving to modal context
- Chapter 9. A genre-based analysis of evaluative modality in multi-verb sequences in English 225
- Chapter 10. Epistemic modals in academic English 253
- Chapter 11. On the (con)textual properties of must , have to and shall 281
- Chapter 12. “The future elected government should fully represent the interests of Hongkong people” 311
- Subject Index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Modalising expressions and modality 1
-
Section I. Moving to modal categories
- Chapter 2. Revisiting global and intra-categorial frequency shifts in the English modals 19
- Chapter 3. The scope of modal categories 47
- Chapter 4. Not just frequency, not just modality 79
- Chapter 5. How and why seem became an evidential 109
-
Section II. Moving to modal co-text
- Chapter 6. Conditionals, modality, and Schrödinger’s cat 143
- Chapter 7. Modal marking in conditionals. Grammar, usage and discourse 173
- Chapter 8. Present-day English constructions with chance ( s ) in Talmy’s greater modal system and beyond 195
-
Section III. Moving to modal context
- Chapter 9. A genre-based analysis of evaluative modality in multi-verb sequences in English 225
- Chapter 10. Epistemic modals in academic English 253
- Chapter 11. On the (con)textual properties of must , have to and shall 281
- Chapter 12. “The future elected government should fully represent the interests of Hongkong people” 311
- Subject Index 343
