Epistemic modality and evidentiality in Romance: the Reportive Conditional
-
Hans Kronning
Abstract
In this article we study the Reportive Conditional (RC) in Romance, in French (1), Italian (2) and Spanish (3), using both unidirectional translation corpora and comparative corpora: (1) Kadhafi seraitRC malade ‘Gaddafi is reportedly ill’, (2) Gheddafi sarebbeRC malato, (3) Kadafi estariaRC enfermo. The Reportive Conditional (RC) is analysed as a bicategorial epistemic marker denoting reportive evidentiality and zero modalization (the refusal to epistemically endorse the mediated content of the utterance). The arguments for this analysis are in large measure derived from the RC’s discourse properties and functions as shown outside its mediation domain (the sequence conveying the mediated cognitive content), as well as outside and inside discourse frames opened by prepositional phrases of the type Selon X (‘According to X’). It is shown that the speaker’s epistemic attitude is variable (dubitative and non-dubitative), whereas the modal orientation inherent in the epistemic RC is invariably positive (towards ‘true’). It is further shown that this verb form is exploited rhetorically to establish ascending gradations: the epistemic distancing intensifies from a first discourse frame, in the Indicative, to a second one, in the RC. From a comparative point of view and even though the sets of epistemic uses of the Conditional are not identical in the different Romance languages, the Reportive Conditional seems to be semantically fairly equivalent in these languages, whereas the normative attitude towards the Reportive Conditional varies considerably from one language to the other, which entails differences in frequency among the Romance languages and among discourse genres within these languages. More specifically, it is shown that diaphasic (“situational”), diatopic (“geographic”) and diachronic aspects of variation are interdependent in the case of the Spanish RC.
Abstract
In this article we study the Reportive Conditional (RC) in Romance, in French (1), Italian (2) and Spanish (3), using both unidirectional translation corpora and comparative corpora: (1) Kadhafi seraitRC malade ‘Gaddafi is reportedly ill’, (2) Gheddafi sarebbeRC malato, (3) Kadafi estariaRC enfermo. The Reportive Conditional (RC) is analysed as a bicategorial epistemic marker denoting reportive evidentiality and zero modalization (the refusal to epistemically endorse the mediated content of the utterance). The arguments for this analysis are in large measure derived from the RC’s discourse properties and functions as shown outside its mediation domain (the sequence conveying the mediated cognitive content), as well as outside and inside discourse frames opened by prepositional phrases of the type Selon X (‘According to X’). It is shown that the speaker’s epistemic attitude is variable (dubitative and non-dubitative), whereas the modal orientation inherent in the epistemic RC is invariably positive (towards ‘true’). It is further shown that this verb form is exploited rhetorically to establish ascending gradations: the epistemic distancing intensifies from a first discourse frame, in the Indicative, to a second one, in the RC. From a comparative point of view and even though the sets of epistemic uses of the Conditional are not identical in the different Romance languages, the Reportive Conditional seems to be semantically fairly equivalent in these languages, whereas the normative attitude towards the Reportive Conditional varies considerably from one language to the other, which entails differences in frequency among the Romance languages and among discourse genres within these languages. More specifically, it is shown that diaphasic (“situational”), diatopic (“geographic”) and diachronic aspects of variation are interdependent in the case of the Spanish RC.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Editorial Preface vii
- List of Contributors ix
-
Part I: Germanic languages
- Epistemic modality, Danish modal verbs and the tripartition of utterances 3
- Epistemic evaluation in factual contexts in English 22
- SHOULD in Conditional Clauses: When Epistemicity Meets Appreciative Modality 52
-
Part II: Romance languages
- Epistemic modality and evidentiality in Romance: the Reportive Conditional 69
- Epistemic modality and perfect morphology in Spanish and French 103
- Anchoring evidential, epistemic and beyond in discourse: alào, vantér and vér in Noirmoutier island (Poitevin-Saintongeais) 131
- A prosody account of (inter)subjective modal adverbs in Spanish 153
- French expressions of personal opinion: je crois / pense / trouve / estime / considère que p 179
- Mirative extensions in Romance: evidential or epistemic? 196
- The Italian epistemic future and Russian epistemic markers as linguistic manifestations of conjectural conclusion: a comparative analysis 217
- Epistemic modality, evidentiality, quotativity and echoic use 242
- Evidentiality, epistemic modality and negation in Lithuanian: revisited 259
-
Part IV: Non Indo-European languages
- Two kinds of epistemic modality in Hungarian 281
- Epistemic modalities in spoken Tibetan 296
- Intersubjectification revisited: a cross-categorical perspective 319
- Inference crisscross: Disentangling evidence, stance and (inter)subjectivity in Yucatec Maya 346
-
Part V: Theoretical perspectives
- Epistemic modality and evidentiality from an enunciative perspective 383
- About Contributors 403
- Author Index 409
- Subject Index 414
- Language Index 421
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Editorial Preface vii
- List of Contributors ix
-
Part I: Germanic languages
- Epistemic modality, Danish modal verbs and the tripartition of utterances 3
- Epistemic evaluation in factual contexts in English 22
- SHOULD in Conditional Clauses: When Epistemicity Meets Appreciative Modality 52
-
Part II: Romance languages
- Epistemic modality and evidentiality in Romance: the Reportive Conditional 69
- Epistemic modality and perfect morphology in Spanish and French 103
- Anchoring evidential, epistemic and beyond in discourse: alào, vantér and vér in Noirmoutier island (Poitevin-Saintongeais) 131
- A prosody account of (inter)subjective modal adverbs in Spanish 153
- French expressions of personal opinion: je crois / pense / trouve / estime / considère que p 179
- Mirative extensions in Romance: evidential or epistemic? 196
- The Italian epistemic future and Russian epistemic markers as linguistic manifestations of conjectural conclusion: a comparative analysis 217
- Epistemic modality, evidentiality, quotativity and echoic use 242
- Evidentiality, epistemic modality and negation in Lithuanian: revisited 259
-
Part IV: Non Indo-European languages
- Two kinds of epistemic modality in Hungarian 281
- Epistemic modalities in spoken Tibetan 296
- Intersubjectification revisited: a cross-categorical perspective 319
- Inference crisscross: Disentangling evidence, stance and (inter)subjectivity in Yucatec Maya 346
-
Part V: Theoretical perspectives
- Epistemic modality and evidentiality from an enunciative perspective 383
- About Contributors 403
- Author Index 409
- Subject Index 414
- Language Index 421
