1. NOT SO IMPERSONAL: INTENTIONALITY IN THE USE OF PRONOUN UNO IN CONTEMPORARY SPANISH POLITICAL DISCOURSE.
- Author
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Gelabert-Desnoyer, Jaime J.
- Subjects
DISCOURSE ,PRAGMATICS ,DEIXIS (Linguistics) ,CORPORA - Abstract
This paper combines quantitative and qualitative analyses in a corpus-based study of how and for what purposes politicians, in the context of the Spanish Parliament, use the impersonal pronoun uno 'one'. I begin by contrasting how uno is used in parliamentary debate versus non-political language. After reviewing traditional definitions of the semantic range and general behavior of this pronoun, I argue that a more accurate account that the one provided by standard grammars is needed for us to better understand how the peculiar characteristics of a parliament affect intentionality in the use of impersonal pronouns. In particular, it is argued that uno is utilized by politicians to serve principally two purposes: 1) avoidance of bluntness - a means of preserving professional etiquette, and 2) avoidance of self- praise - demonstrative of humility. Both purposes serve the larger objective of preserving professional face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
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