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The paper examines English translation counterparts of Czech sentences containing the particles copak and jestlipak. These two particles share the expressive and intensifying postfix -pak. They are elements of the ‘third syntactical plan’ (or level) which consists of “components which place the content of the sentence in relation to the individual and his special ability to perceive, judge and assess” (Poldauf 1964: 242). The third syntactical plan is fully developed in Czech but to a much lesser degree in English. The aim of this paper is to identify and describe specific English means which correspond to these Czech particles in terms of their function. English counterparts of Czech sentences with copak/jestlipak are excerpted from the fiction component of the InterCorp parallel corpus. As opposed to the lexical means in Czech, the third syntactical plan in English is shown to rely on syntactic constructions, above all on different types of interrogative sentences. The English counterparts are used, at the same time, as markers of the functions of the Czech sentences containing copak and jestlipak, thereby further specifying the functional description of the two Czech particles. Apart from their expressivity and emotionally evaluative nature, the particles are shown to have two main functions: establishing contact and serving as means of epistemic modality.

The article compares the acquisition of epistemic modality in typologically different languages, Estonian and Russian. The longitudinal data of 4 children was used to analyse the first emergence and the further development of lexical markers expressing certainty and uncertainty. Developmental analysis of micro fields of epistemic modality has shown that in both languages the semantics of uncertainty starts to be acquired slightly earlier than certainty. The main tendencies in the usage of epistemic markers in utterances are similar in our corpora. Since the acquisition of epistemic modality is similar in the two languages, it would be reasonable to assume that some categories, like epistemic modality, rely more on general cognitive development than others.

This paper aims at investigating some discursive features of blawgs, namely legal blogs in which legal experts disseminate and popularise their expertise. More specifically, it involves a corpus-assisted discourse study of the ways in which situational contexts affect the practices and strategies used to represent, construct and communicate legal knowledge. A comparison is drawn between two corpora representative of two different types of communication: a selection of posts written by legal experts for other experts (symmetrical communication) and posts written by legal experts for laypersons (asymmetrical communication). Combining qualitative and quantitative observations, the analysis shows that, in symmetrical communication, the emphasis is on the blogger’s subjective interpretation of legal texts and on his role as knowledge disseminator, as indicated by the predominance of epistemic modality. In asymmetrical communication, on the other hand, the prevalence of deontic modality shifts the focus on to the reader as addressee of the advice, instructions and information provided by the legal expert.

This paper is concerned with the semantics of Spanish ser capaz ‘be capable’ (henceforth SC). Specifically, it aims to account for the distribution SC displays and the range of meanings it expresses in the realm of abilities, viewed as kinds of dispositions. We put forth the following generalization: Whenever imperfective aspect interacts with SC, two possible readings arise, one that is purely abilitative and another one that expresses an accidental or unpredictable state of affairs. Our claim is that both interpretations derive from a circumstantial modal base that includes the subject’s inner circumstances, albeit with a different ordering source that is brought about via the interaction of imperfective aspect and the syntax-semantics of the modal. Thus, we propose that the purely abilitative SC contains an ordering source that ranks as better worlds those in which the subject appeals to her strength of the body, intellect or character; the accidental reading is the result of covert movement of the adjective capaz ‘capable’ over the imperfective-bearing copula ser ‘be’, which triggers a change of ordering source in the modal.

Epistemic modality represents one of the linguistic modality expressing the speaker’s certainty evaluation of the proposition’s validity. The French and Czech approaches are compared to show the common bases for this linguistic matter. One way of expressing the epistemic modality, among others, are the little words that the French system calls epistemic modal adverbs, while the Czech terminology defines them as particles. These two systems (French epistemic adverbs and Czech epistemic particles) are compared from the point of view of their semantico-syntactic characteristics and their existing classifications based on the level of certainty the adverbs/particles express. To gain a better insight into the functioning of epistemic adverbs/particles the analysis of two French adverbs (vraisemblablement, apparemment) and two Czech particles (pravděpodobně, patrně) has been conducted and confirmed the important influence of context and subjectivity on their semantic interpretation.

Modality, a semantic category related to the attitude of the speaker against the proposition, found its place with Aristotle (384-322 BC) in philosophy and logic studies, and from the nineteenth century, research on modality in linguistics literature have become widespread. The modern modality studies, which began with Jespersen (1860-1943) in linguistics, were carried out by the researchers on a semantic, morphologic and syntactic stage. Among these researchers, Palmer, has examined modality typological, and he has signed a reference book in the literature with his unique modality categorization. In this study, the epistemic modality categories of The Book of Dede Korkut, which tells the social and political life of Oghuzes and gives a rich content to researchers for the study of modality in terms of the speaker and the listener, are discussed with the criteria determined by Palmer, and based on the data obtained from the research, Palmer's classification of epistemic modality has contributed to new categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the acquisition of the complex domain of epistemic modality in German as a Foreign Language (DaF) classes. The epistemic reading of the modal verbs is probed through a qualitative research with a group of German language students in Kosovo. The non-epistemic modality of the modal verbs has not been taken into consideration here since it does not pose a major challenge in foreign language learning. The research targeted two groups of students who acquired German in different modes: in formal/institutional foreign language teaching (schools, language courses) in Kosovo, in less formal ways (while growing up in Germany) in pre-schools and elementary schools, and, through media (mostly German-language TV broadcasting) in Kosovo. The study enquires, first, into the extent to which modal verbs in epistemic modality have been acquired by these two groups of students; and second, whether the morphological limitations of the modal verbs acquired in the DaF classes facilitate their use in epistemic modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges the commonly held view that the Classical Greek potential optative has a subjective epistemic semantics, the result of a conceptual confusion of subjectivity and epistemic modality inherited from our standard grammars. I propose that this view becomes less convincing when the optative's unique interaction with the subjective particles ἦ and ἄρα is incorporated into the analysis. Rather, the potential optative has a non-subjective epistemic semantics presenting an epistemic judgment as interpersonally accessible to the conversational participants. Frequencies of combination with ἦ and ἄρα, linguistic tests for subjectivity on the potential optative, and contrastive contextual analyses corroborate this view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the analysis of the epistemic modal and evidential use of the Spanish imperfecto with regard to the speaker's stance and subjectively (rather than grammatically) motivated decision to use the Spanish imperfecto as an evidential strategy in journalistic texts: The speaker uses the Spanish imperfecto to express or tell a state of affairs from his perspective as a 'narrator', implying that he is not the author of such information and referring to third sources without mentioning it. The corpus data were obtained from the Corpus de la Real Academia Española (CREA) from the section 'written journalistic texts' of the standard Iberian Spanish to guarantee the authenticity of examples and avoid any case of misunderstanding it as a variety of Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the development of attenuation functions in different uses of creo in colloquial conversations. This propositional attitude verb, the most polysemic and polyfunctional one in its category, has been traditionally considered an attenuating device because it can be used by speakers to convey distancing from their message. However, the fact that it is a subjectifier in its first person form could be understood as a contradiction with its function being primarily attenuating. This paper explores the semantic and pragmatic values of the different uses of creo in order to determine what triggers attenuation. 215 examples from two conversational corpora, VAL.ES.CO. 2002 and VAL.ES.CO. 2.0, have been analysed. The results suggest that the attenuating function of creo is a consequence of pretending strategies used by the speaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epistemic modal verbs and adverbs of necessity are claimed to be positive polarity items. We study their behavior by examining modal spread, a phenomenon that appears redundant or even anomalous, since it involves two apparent modal operators being interpreted as a single modality. We propose an analysis in which the modal adverb is an argument of the MUST modal, providing a meta-evaluation O which ranks the Ideal, stereotypical worlds in the modal base as better possibilities than the Non-Ideal worlds in it. MUST and possibility modals differ in that the latter have an empty O, a default that can be negotiated. Languages vary in the malleability of this parameter. Positive polarity is derived as a conflict between the ranking imposed by O—which requires that the Ideal worlds be better possibilities than Non-Ideal worlds—and the effect of higher negation which renders the Ideal set non-homogenous. Applying the ordering over such a non-homogeneous set would express preference towards both p and ¬p worlds thus rendering the sentence uninformative. Negative polarity MUST and possibility modals, on the other hand, contain an empty O, application of higher negation therefore poses no problem. This account is the first to connect modal spread to positive polarity of necessity modals, and captures the properties of both in a unified analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analyzing the peculiar morphology and semantics of Korean inferential evidential expressions like ca-na-po-ta ‘(he) seems to be sleeping’ in an integrated manner, with a claim that it contains a self-addressed interrogative morpheme. From a diachronic perspective, the paper proposes that the emergence of the inferential marker is bias-driven, arguing that an inherent bias in a self-addressed question constitutes a necessary condition for later development. And the bias, which is undoubtedly of an epistemic nature, is reinterpreted as inferential evidentiality with the addition of the previously perceptual morpheme -po-. On a synchronic side, capitalizing on the fact that -kka is another self-addressed interrogative morpheme alongside with -na and -ka, the present work claims that this morpheme can also make an inferential evidential marker, i.e., -kka-po-, which is always preceded by a prospective morpheme -l-. It is demonstrated that apparent semantic differences between the kka-variant and the other two variants are better understood as sortal contrasts, since the predictive future is the converse of the inferential past (Nichols, in: Chafe, Nichols (eds) Evidentiality: the linguistic coding of epistemology, Ablex, Norwood, 1986). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate, in a logical setting, the expressivist proposal that assertion primarily functions to express and coordinate doxastic states and that ‘might’ fundamentally expresses lack of belief. We provide a formal model of an agent’s doxastic state and novel assertability conditions for an associated formal language. We thereby prove that an arbitrary assertion (including a complex of ‘might’ and ‘factual’ claims) always succeeds in expressing a well-defined (partial) doxastic state, and propose a fully general and intuitive update operation as a model of an agent coming to accept an arbitrary assertion. Leaving a comprehensive philosophical and linguistic defense for elsewhere, we explore technical aspects of our framework, providing, for instance, a complete logic of assertability and reduction axioms for the novel update operations related to our proposal. Finally, we contrast our work with related proposals in the logic literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

83-103. The current paper reports on a comparison study conducted between a learner corpus, the KNU English Learner Corpus (KELC), and a native speaker corpus, the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), to investigate in what ways and to what extent the young Korean learners of KELC use English modal verbs. The results reveal that the young Korean learners underused modals could, would, should, may, might and must in general. However, will and can were used frequently with a statistically significant overuse of will occurring after the intermediate level. Furthermore, interlanguage development is observed with nativelike usage frequency of can from the earlier stages while occurrences of should and would emerging at later stages. A closer examination of the observed under and over usages also discloses that the difficulty of combining tense with the modal verbs impedes the learners’ preterit form use of the modal verbs. Additionally, the use of epistemic modality is observed much later than the root modality such as possibility, permission, and ability. These findings coincide with the first language modal acquisition order reported in literature (Coates 1983) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, part of an ongoing research project based on identity and authenticity in building the image of Sardinia in international tourist discourse, will focus on the active roles played by the 'language' (both visual and verbal) to "narrate the story of the many Sardinian identities and myths: rebellion against authority, ethnic uniqueness and strenuous protection of local values" (Fodde, in print). The study tries to investigate the rationale that lies behind, and the rhetorical and pragmatic content of the social and political wall murals created between the late 60s and early 70s in Sardinia, as well as the representational function they have played not only as an instrument to describe class conflicts, but also the active role they have served in efforts to catalyze cultural support for the organization of political goals. Initially introduced in the late 60s to reproduce scenes of everyday life, wall murals quickly became the striking medium used by political activists to express themes beyond local events: criticism of the capitalist society, denunciation and social conquest, accompanied by a sensibility and by a feeling of disillusion concerning the Italian government's centralization policy. Therefore, a political, social and historical analysis of the main events that have led to this mural production is necessary to understand the wider context in which the factors and the dynamics of this form of "artification" (Cozzolino: 2014: 167) has acted. The methodology refers to modality as one of the key dimensions of "social semiotics" (van Leeuwen 2005: 91) and aims at analyzing the ways in which the symbolic contents of Sardinian murals create a communal self-identification, legitimizing this form of narrative to further ideological and political goals. In more specific terms, attention is called to the concept of epistemic modality of mural images, with the scope of providing a systematic and comprehensive account of the grammar of their visual design. By analyzing the formal elements and the structures of the murals' design, that is colour, perspective, framing, composition, and the texturing of their texts, this contribution aims to examine the ways in which mural images communicate meaning and create the truth or reality values of their representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no doubt that pragmatic theory and philosophy of language are mutually relevant and intrinsically connected. The main question I address in this paper is how exactly they are interconnected in terms of (i) their respective objectives, (ii) explanans – explanandum relation, (iii) methods of enquiry, and (iv) drawing on associated disciplines. In the introductory part I attempt to bring some order into the diversity of use of such labels as philosophical logic, philosophical semantics, philosophical pragmatics, linguistic philosophy, or philosophy of linguistics, among others. In the following sections I focus on philosophical pragmatics as a branch of philosophy of language (pragmaticsPPL) and the trends and theories it gave rise to, discussing them against the background of methodology of science and in particular paradigms and paradigm shifts as identified in natural science. In the main part of the paper I address the following questions: How is pragmaticsPPL to be delimited? How do pragmatic solutions to questions about meaning fare vis-à-vis syntactic solutions? Is there a pattern emerging? and, relatedly, What are the future prospects for pragmaticsPPL in theories of natural language meaning? I conclude with a discussion of the relation between pragmaticsPPL and functionalism, observing that contextualism has to play a central role in functionalist pragmatics at the expense of minimalism and sententialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I provide an objection to an argument targeting the claim that epistemic modality concerns what is possible or necessary given what is known. The argument centers around uses of epistemic modals that co-occur with adjuncts of the form ‘according to X’, those in which the content of some reported information is at issue. I argue that such contexts do not license us to reach the sort of conclusion that the argument aims to reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Languages without grammatical evidentiality, such as Italian, often express the category of ‘information source’ using linguistic means that involve interactions between evidentiality and epistemic modality. This paper aims to investigate such interactions in the linguistic strategies adopted by various players in a criminal trial situation. In the context of a trial, both the expression of the source of information and the variation in the degree of the speakers’ commitment to what they are saying are key factors. This study is based on an analysis of one inferential and one reportive strategy in Italian, as they occur in the legal testimonies given in two different Italian trials. We will also discuss the rhetorical effects related to the underlying ambiguities between a purely evidential and an evidential/epistemic reading of the investigated strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since political discourse portrays politicians' knowledge state and their ideological assumptions, a critical analysis of Clinton's speeches may unveil her perceptual and conceptual worlds. More specifically, critical discourse analysis may uncover her mental representations about the Tunisian Revolution and the US attitude towards such an important political event in North Africa and the Middle East. Studying factive presupposition and epistemic modality seems to be an effective pragmatic tool to reveal what is presented as factual and ideological knowledge in political discourse. The research instrument used to work out the frequency distribution of these lexical features is the latest version of 'AntConc' software. To uncover the epistemic state of Hillary Clinton, van Dijk's (1995b) socio-cognitive approach, mainly discourse-cognition-society paradigm, is applied to analyze her speeches between January 2011 and December 2012. At the discourse level, research findings reveal that factive presupposition, epistemic modality and evidential verbs unveil the speaker's strong personal commitment to the truth value of her propositions. At the cognitive level, results show that the speaker's personal and social values, attitudes, ideologies and knowledge unmask her mental mapping of Tunisia, democracy and human rights. It also uncovers the cognitive mechanisms that govern discourse production and understanding via ICMs, cognitive frames, mental models and context models. At the social level, research demonstrates that Clinton's perceptual and conceptual worlds are based on a dichotomy that involves 'WE', or democracies Vs. 'THEY' or the enemies of democracy, hence a dual vision of the world or polarization. This research bridges the lack of research combining epistemic presupposition, epistemic modality and evidentiality within a socio-cognitive framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I discuss the perspectival nature of temporality in discourse and argue that the human concept of time can no more be dissociated from the perspectival thought than the concept of the self can. The corollary of this observation is that perspectival temporality can no more be excluded from the semantic representation than the notion of the self can: neither can be reduced to the bare referent for the purpose of semantic representation if the latter is to retain cognitive plausibility. I present such a semantic qua conceptual approach to temporal reference developed within my theory of Default Semantics. I build upon my theory of time as epistemic modality according to which, on the level of conceptual qua semantic building blocks, temporality reduces to degrees of detachment from the certainty of the here and the now. I also address the questions of temporal asymmetry between the past and the future, and the relation between metaphysical time (timeM), psychological time (timeE, where ‘E’ marks the domain of epistemological enquiry), and time in natural language (timeL), concluding that the perspective-infused timeE and timeL are compatible with timeM of mathematical models of spacetime: all are definable through possibility and perspectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers the acquisition of epistemic modal auxiliaries (EMA) in typically developing (TD) and autistic children and the role that Theory of Mind (ToM) plays in this development. Nineteen Dutch-speaking TD children and ten autistic children received tasks assessing ToM, general linguistic ability and EMA comprehension. Results suggest that both groups have some understanding of the Dutch EMA system, but no significant differences were found between groups. However, once participants were divided into ToM passers and ToM failers irrespective of clinical diagnosis, results showed that passers performed significantly better than failers on EMA understanding. Having a good understanding of others' mental states, as evidenced by full marks on ToM tasks, thus seems important in the acquisition of EMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]