The pragmatics of insinuation
Abstract
In this paper, I focus on insinuation as a communicative strategy whereby a speaker intends to make an addressee believe p, but does not want to be held accountable for communicating p. In its micro- or macro-textual format, and in its various degrees of nastiness, insinuation, I claim, is a complex process that presupposes the mind's capability to simultaneously activate and run multiple parallel mental spaces, associated to different intentions. Through the analysis of some examples, indirectness, manipulation, and deception will be shown to be involved in the process to varying degrees. In the final section of the paper I discuss how a Relevance-theoretic framework is able to accommodate the cognitive aspects of insinuation highlighted in the text.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- The pragmatics of insinuation
- Disentangling Politeness Theory and the Strategic Speaker approach: Theoretical considerations and empirical predictions
- The interplay of (im)politeness, conflict styles, rapport management, and metacommunication in Brazilian–German interaction
- A cross-cultural examination of the backchannel behavior of Japanese and Americans: Considerations for Japanese EFL learners
- The socio-pragmatics of dialectal codeswitching by Al-`Keidaat Bedouin speakers
- Book Review
- Contributors to this issue
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- The pragmatics of insinuation
- Disentangling Politeness Theory and the Strategic Speaker approach: Theoretical considerations and empirical predictions
- The interplay of (im)politeness, conflict styles, rapport management, and metacommunication in Brazilian–German interaction
- A cross-cultural examination of the backchannel behavior of Japanese and Americans: Considerations for Japanese EFL learners
- The socio-pragmatics of dialectal codeswitching by Al-`Keidaat Bedouin speakers
- Book Review
- Contributors to this issue
