scholarly journals Evidentiality In Romance Languages. Explanatory Potential of a Concept and Its Applications In Pragmatics

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. e337
Author(s):  
Gerda Hassler

Defined narrowly, evidentiality pertains to the sources of knowledge or evidence whereby the speaker feels entitled to make a factual claim. But evidentiality may also be conceived more broadly as both providing epistemic justification and reflecting speaker’s attitude towards the validity of the communicated information, and hearer’s potential acceptability of the information, derived from the degree of reliability of the source and mode of access to the information. Evidentiality and epistemic modality are subcategories of the same superordinate category, namely a category of epistemicity. Since the first seminal works on evidentiality (Chafe and Nichols 1986), studies have for the most part centred on languages where the grammatical marking of the information source is obligatory (for example Willett 1988; Aikhenvald 2004). Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the study of the domain of evidentiality in European languages, which rely on strategies along the lexico‐grammatical continuum. Assuming a broad conception of evidentiality and defining it as a functional category, we study linguistic means that fulfil the function of indicating the source of information for the transmitted content of a certain proposition in Romance languages.

Author(s):  
Kylie Litaker ◽  
Christopher B. Mayhorn

People regularly interact with automation to make decisions. Research shows that reliance on recommendations can depend on user trust in the decision support system (DSS), the source of information (i.e. human or automation), and situational stress. This study explored how information source and stress affect trust and reliance on a DSS used in a baggage scanning task. A preliminary sample of sixty-one participants were given descriptions for a DSS and reported trust before and after interaction. The DSS gave explicit recommendations when activated and participants could choose to rely or reject the choice. Results revealed a bias towards self-reliance and a negative influence of stress on trust, particularly for participants receiving help from automation. Controlling for perceived reliability may have eliminated trust biases prior to interaction, while stress may have influenced trust during the task. Future research should address potential differences in task motivation and include physiological measures of stress.


Author(s):  
Marleen Van Peteghem

Comparison expresses a relation involving two or more entities which are ordered on a scale with respect to a gradable property, called the parameter of comparison. In European languages, it is typically expressed through two constructions, comparatives and superlatives. Comparative constructions generally involve two entities, and indicate whether the compared entity shows a higher, lesser, or equal degree of the parameter with respect to the other entity, which is the standard of comparison. Superlatives set out one entity against a class of entities and indicate that the compared entity shows the highest or lowest degree of the parameter. Hence, comparatives may express either inequality (superiority or inferiority) or equality, whereas superlatives necessarily express superiority or inferiority. In traditional grammar, the terms comparative and superlative are primarily used to refer to the morphology of adjectives and adverbs in languages with synthetic marking (cf. Eng. slow, slower, slowest). However, while Latin has such synthetic marking, modern Romance languages no longer possess productive comparative or superlative suffixes. All Romance languages use analytic markers consisting of dedicated adverbs (e.g., Fr. plus ‘more’, moins ‘less’, aussi ‘as, also’) and determiners (e.g., Sp./It. tanto, Ro. atât ‘so much’). Superlatives are marked with the same markers and are mainly distinguished from comparatives by their association with definiteness. Another difference between comparatives and superlatives lies in the complements they license. Comparatives license a comparative complement, which may be clausal or phrasal, and which identifies the standard of comparison. As for superlatives, they license partitive PPs denoting the comparison set, which may be further specified by other PPs, a relative clause, or an infinitive clause. The Romance languages show many similarities with respect to the morphosyntactic encoding of comparatives and superlatives, but they also display important cross-linguistic differences. These differences may be related to the status of the comparative marker, the encoding of the standard marker, ellipsis phenomena in the comparative clause, and the dependence of the superlative on the definite article.


2017 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Maggiore

AbstractMedieval Romance texts in the Greek alphabet are generally considered a very reliable source of information about spoken vernacular varieties, mainly due to the intrinsic independence of their writers from the Latin graphic tradition. Nevertheless, as first observed by Alberto Varvaro and Anna Maria Compagna in 1983, these valuable documents, like any other kind of written evidence, are not immune from some degree of conventionality. This paper will focus on the problems raised by the codification of Romance languages in the Greek alphabet, which requires the study of multilingualism, language contact and coexistence of different (written and oral) cultural traditions. Exemplification will come from Italo-Romance texts produced in Sicily and Southern Italy before 1500, but also from texts of other Romance areas like the Gallo-Romance 13th Century


Author(s):  
Jessi E. Aaron

AbstractThe choice of future construction in Romance languages with variable expression is complex, and several factors have been shown or hypothesized to influence this choice (e.g. Aaron 2006, 2010 and Poplack & Malvar 2007). One factor stands out time and time again, though scholars do not always associate it with the same form: certainty. Using corpus-based quantitative methods, the role of certainty in Iberian Spanish future form variation is examined. The semantics of futurity and epistemic modality are discussed, with particular reference to the Spanish synthetic, or morphological, future. Then, the onset of non-future-reference use of the Synthetic Future as an epistemic marker is described, and viewed in light of the role of epistemicity in the possible strengthening of the semantics of “certainty” with the Spanish Periphrastic Future. Finally, diachronic evidence from distributional patterns in grammatical person, verb class and clause type is presented, which suggests that speakers associate the periphrastic construction with “certainty” and, increasingly, the synthetic construction with “uncertainty.” It is suggested that functional competition with innovative forms can breathe new life into older forms, sparking further grammaticalization.


2020 ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
A. V. Sakharova

The predicates typical of scientific discourse shown, proved, established , etc., which are used to present the results of the study are discussed in the article. The relevance of the study is due to the scientific significance of addressing the problem of discursive research of epistemic indicators of reliability in the context of the principles of the language postclassical logical analysis. The purpose of the study is to justify the “modality” of these constructions and describe the epistemic modal meaning that they bring to the proposition, as specific propositional attitudes. The methodology used in the article is based on some basic principles of modal (in particular, epistemic) logic and linguistic semantics of J. Lyons and E. V. Paducheva. The novelty of the study is in the fact that the pragmatic functions of the considered predicates are described. It is shown that, in addition to a simple statement, their value contains an epistemic modal component, which is based on the value of “provability” described by modal logic. It is established that this modal meaning correlates with the category of objective language modality. Particular attention is paid to logical and linguistic grounds on which these predicates are classified as modal. The question is raised about the functioning of these predicates in contexts complicated by indicators of subjective epistemic modality with a value of problematic certainty. It is concluded that the predicates shown, proved, established, and similar ones indicate the “objective” (verifiable) nature of the information presented and the author’s conviction of the reliability of the described data, and constructions with the indicated predicates also perform a rhetorical function and enhance the “persuasiveness” of the text.


Kalbotyra ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (70) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ruskan ◽  
Audronė Šolienė

In the recent decade the realisations of evidentiality and epistemic modality in European languages have received a great scholarly interest and resulted in important investigations concerning the relation between evidentiality and epistemic modality, their means of expression and meaning extensions in various types of discourse. The present paper deals with the adverbials akivaizdžiai ‘evidently’, aiškiai ‘clearly’, ryškiai ‘visibly, clearly’, matyt ‘apparently, evidently’ and regis ‘seemingly’, which derive from the source domain of perception, and the epistemic necessity adverbials tikriausiai/veikiausiai/greičiausiai ‘most probably’, būtinai ‘necessarily’ and neabejotinai ‘undoubtedly’. The aim of the paper is to explore the morphosyntactic properties of the adverbials when they are used as evidential or epistemic markers and compare the distribution of their evidential and epistemic functions in Lithuanian fiction, news and academic discourse. The data have been drawn from the Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language, the Corpus of Academic Lithuanian and the bidirectional translation corpus ParaCorpEN→LT→EN (Šolienė 2012, 2015). The quantitative findings reveal distributional differences of the adverbials under study across different types of discourse. Functional variation of the evidential perception-based adverbials is determined to a great extent by the degree of epistemic commitment, evidenced not only by intra-linguistic but also cross-linguistic data. The non-perception based adverbials tikriausiai/veikiausiai/greičiausiai ‘most probably’, būtinai ‘necessarily’ and neabejotinai ‘undoubtedly’ are the primary adverbial markers of epistemic necessity in Lithuanian, though some of them may have evidential meaning extensions. A parallel and comparable corpus-based analysis has once again proved to be a very efficient tool for diagnosing language-specific features and describing an inventory used to code language-specific evidential and epistemic meanings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
Yuni Rahmah ◽  
Elva Rahmah

AbstractIn this paper the language about Millennial Generation Information Search Behavior To Meet Information Needs. This study aims to describe the information seeking behavior of the millennial generation to meet the information needs of this study at the Padang State University. Data were collected through observation and distribution of questionnaires with students of the Indonesian and Regional Languages and Literature Department at Padang State University. Analyzing the data, concluded the following matters. (1). Starting - consists of activities that initiate information seeking activities. In general (100%) determine the topic especially before conducting an information search, in general (90%) conduct information search after discussion or consultation with lecturers, in general (95.23%) know the information needs when attending lectures, (88.4 %) know the information needs specifically, and in general (88%) do information when they are aware of and know the need for information. (2). Chaining - activities following a series of citations, citations or forms of reconciliation between documents with each other. In general (92.8 uses a bibliography to search information, generally (90.4%) use the author's name from the core reference to look for other references in conducting information searches, and in general (92.9%) use subjects from core reference to look for other references (3) Browsing - merawak, looking for, but rather directed, in areas that are considered to have the potential for the information needed.In general (73%) libraries can always meet information needs, in general In general (95.2%) look for information on the internet if the information you are looking for is not found in the printed source of information, (92.8%) generally directly looking for information on the internet if the information you need is not found in the printed source of information, at generally (45.22%) query identification (keywords). (4). Differentiating - sorting, using the features in the information source as a basic reference for checking quality or information content. in general (88%) the internet is the main source of information, in general (92.84%) The source of information printed is still very much needed in fulfilling information needs. (5). Monitoring - monitoring progress by focusing on selected sources. In general (88.09%) looked for the latest information through the internet by searching for the latest articles, in general (78.56%) needed to find the latest information to enrich the reference sources. (6). Extracting - systematically digging in one source to retrieve information that is considered important. In general (90.47 when you need information you often search the search engine (google, yahoo), in general (88.09 often uses a journal database to get information, in general (78.56%) after getting information on the internet , you directly copy the information, in general (76.19%) use the "Google" search engine because it is more relevant than other search engines.Keywords: behavior, millennial generation and information.


Author(s):  
Franz Rainer

All languages seem to have nouns and verbs, while the dimension of the class of adjectives varies considerably cross-linguistically. In some languages, verbs or, to a lesser extent, nouns take over the functions that adjectives fulfill in Indo-European languages. Like other such languages, Latin and the Romance languages have a rich category of adjectives, with a well-developed inventory of patterns of word formation that can be used to enrich it. There are about 100 patterns in Romance standard languages. The semantic categories expressed by adjectival derivation in Latin have remained remarkably stable in Romance, despite important changes at the level of single patterns. To some extent, this stability is certainly due to the profound process of relatinization that especially the Romance standard languages have undergone over the last 1,000 years; however, we may assume that it also reflects the cognitive importance of the semantic categories involved. Losses were mainly due to phonological attrition (Latin unstressed suffixes were generally doomed) and to the fact that many derived adjectives became nouns via ellipsis, thereby often reducing the stock of adjectives. At the same time, new adjectival patterns arose as a consequence of language contact and through semantic change, processes of noun–adjective conversion, and the transformation of evaluative suffixes into ethnic suffixes. Overall, the inventory of adjectival patterns of word formation is richer in present-day Romance languages than it was in Latin.


Author(s):  
Mary Ann Ann Harlan

Information Literacy is built on the idea that when we encounter information we can evaluate that information to incorporate into our knowledge schema. As such information can be encountered in a variety of ways, as academic information, workplace information, or everyday life information.  Art forms can also be considered information, including literature. As an art form literature has been theorized to be a window, mirror, and a sliding glass door (Bishop, 1990) to the reader, an information source regarding our world. The notion that fiction is an information source is not particularly considered in much of the information literacy scholarly research. This paper examines how adolescents engage with fiction as a source of information.   Using a small case study of a class of 16 and 17 year olds the paper examines how they construct ficiton and aesthetic reading as an information source, particularly using the metaphor of the window and the mirror.  While students might consider reading as a way to explore their identity, elements related to their stance towards reading impacted their ability to see reading fiction as an information source.  Furthermore they were unlikely to engage fiction as a "window" or a way to learn about others.  Specific pedagogical structures may encourage a more critical stance towards aesthetic reading as a way to engage in as a learning object.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dara Mojtahedi ◽  
Maria Ioannou ◽  
Laura Hammond

AbstractPrevious research suggests that co-witness influence is heavily dependent on how eyewitnesses perceive the source of information, with perceived credibility, authority and memory accuracy identified as significant predictors. However, very little research has directly investigated the effects of perceived intelligence on co-witness influence. The present study used confederates to expose participants (N = 182) to misinformation about a witnessed event, prior to collecting their statements. Participants were paired up with a confederate who was presented as either a PhD student (high intelligence), police officer (high authority), neutral (no information provided) or completed the study individually (control). Results found that participants were significantly more likely to blame the wrong person for the crime if it had been suggested to them by a police officer or PhD student. Implications of the findings suggest that the characteristics and perceptions of co-witnesses can moderate the risks of statement contamination.


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