The expression of epistemic modality in Ewe

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-168
Author(s):  
Nada Gbegble ◽  
Jan Nuyts
Keyword(s):  
Epistemic Modality

scholarly journals Acquisition, Loss and Innovation in Chuquisaca Quechua—What Happened to Evidential Marking?

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Susan E. Kalt
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Reverse Order ◽  
Related Variety ◽  
Child Language Acquisition ◽  
Statistical Studies ◽  
L1 And L2

Variation among closely related languages may reveal the inner workings of language acquisition, loss and innovation. This study of the existing literature and of selected interviews from recent narrative corpora compares the marking of evidentiality and epistemic modality in Chuquisaca, Bolivian Quechua with its closely related variety in Cuzco, Peru and investigates three hypotheses: that morpho-syntactic attrition proceeds in reverse order of child language acquisition, that convergence characterizes the emergence of grammatical forms different from L1 and L2 in contact situations, and that the Quechua languages are undergoing typological shift toward more isolating morphology. It appears that reportive -sis disappeared first in Bolivia, with eyewitness/validator -min retaining only the validator function. This finding seems to concord with reverse acquisition since it has previously been claimed that epistemic marking is acquired earlier than evidential marking in Cuzco. Meanwhile, Spanish and Quechua in nearby Cochabamba are claimed to mark reportive evidentiality via freestanding verbs of saying. I explore the reportive use of ñiy ‘to say’ in Chuquisaca as compared to Cochabamba and Cuzco and suggest the need for comparative statistical studies of evidential and epistemic marking in Southern Quechua.

scholarly journals Fieldwork on epistemic authority markers: What we can learn from different types of data

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Grzech
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Epistemic Authority ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Cognitive Study ◽  
The Right

AbstractEpistemicity in language encompasses various kinds of constructions and expressions that have to do with knowledge-related aspects of linguistic meaning (cf. Grzech, Karolina, Eva Schultze-Berndt and Henrik Bergqvist. 2020c. Knowing in interaction: an introduction. Folia Linguistica [this issue]). It includes some well-established categories, such as evidentiality and epistemic modality (Boye, Kasper. 2012. Epistemic meaning: A crosslinguistic and functional-cognitive study. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton), but also categories that have been less well described to-date. In this paper, I focus on one such category: the marking of epistemic authority, i.e. the encoding of “the right to know or claim” (Stivers, Tanya, Lorenza Mondada & Jakob Steensig. 2011b. Knowledge, morality and affiliation in social interaction. In Stivers et al. 2011a). I explore how the marking of epistemic authority can be documented and analysed in the context of linguistic fieldwork. The discussion is based on a case study of Upper Napo Kichwa, a Quechuan language spoken in the Ecuadorian Amazon that exhibits a rich paradigm of epistemic discourse markers, encoding meanings related to epistemic authority and distribution of knowledge between discourse participants. I describe and appraise the methodology for epistemic fieldwork used in the Upper Napo Kichwa documentation and description project. I give a detailed account of the different tools and methods of data collection, showing their strengths and weaknesses. I also discuss the decisions made at the different stages of the project and their implications for data collection and analysis. In discussing these issues, I extrapolate from the case study, proposing practical solutions for fieldwork-based research on epistemic markers.

Epistemic modality in French children's discourse:to be sureornot to be sure?

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Bassano ◽  
Maya Hickmann ◽  
Christian Champaud
Keyword(s):  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Verbal Interactions ◽  
Epistemic Attitude ◽  
Developmental Progression ◽  
Subsequent Interview ◽  
Target Speaker ◽  
Children’S Conceptions

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on the development of epistemic modality, with particular attention to how French children evaluate the conditions of use for modal expressions marking certainty and uncertainty. Sixty children aged four, six and eight were shown films involving verbal interactions in which a target speaker accused another of having performed a deed. The analysis examine children's responses during a subsequent interview in which they were asked to attribute an epistemic attitude of certainty/uncertainty to the target speaker as a function of three factors: (a) whether he had witnessed the deed; (b) whether his accusation was modalized by the verbcroire(‘think/believe’); and (c) whether the accusation was true or false. The results show that the four-and six-year-olds attribute certainty more often than the eight-year-olds. This dissymmetry is accompanied by a developmental progression in children's conceptions of these modal categories, which change from a ‘realistic’ conception (mainly based on truth/falsity) at four years to an increasingly metalinguistic and relativized conception thereafter.

A Certain Future: Epistemicity, Prediction, and Assertion in Iberian Spanish Future Expression

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessi E. Aaron
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Variable Expression ◽  
Distributional Patterns ◽  
Periphrastic Future ◽  
Synthetic Construction ◽  
Future Reference

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.

Grading Modal Judgement

Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 129 (515) ◽  
pp. 769-807
Author(s):  
Nate Charlow
Keyword(s):  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
New Model ◽  
Alternative Models ◽  
Modal Operators ◽  
Modal Claim ◽  
Plausible Model ◽  
Normative Epistemology

Abstract This paper proposes a new model of graded modal judgement. It begins by problematizing the phenomenon: given plausible constraints on the logic of epistemic modality, it is impossible to model graded attitudes toward modal claims as judgements of probability targeting epistemically modal propositions. This paper considers two alternative models, on which modal operators are non-proposition-forming: (1) Moss (2015), in which graded attitudes toward modal claims are represented as judgements of probability targeting a ‘proxy’ proposition, belief in which would underwrite belief in the modal claim; (2) a model on which graded attitudes toward modal claims are represented as judgements of credence taking as their objects (non-propositional) modal representations (rather than proxy propositions). The second model, like Moss’s model, is shown to be semantically and mathematically tractable. The second model, however, can be straightforwardly integrated into a plausible model of the role of graded attitudes toward modal claims in cognition and normative epistemology.

scholarly journals Linguistic Means of Expressing Objective Epistemic Modality in Scientific Discourse

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
A. V. Sakharova
Keyword(s):  
Propositional Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Epistemic Modal ◽  
A Value ◽  
Modal Component ◽  
Scientific Significance ◽  
Language Modality ◽  
Linguistic Means

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.

scholarly journals Penggunaan dan Fungsi Kalimat Kondisional Bahasa Jepang “to”, “tara”, “reba” dan “nara” Berdasarkan Modalitas dan Teori Teritori Informasi

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Ari Artadi ◽  
Hari Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Conditional Sentence ◽  
Sentence Patterns ◽  
Factual Conditional

In Japanese, four conjugate particles are usually used to form conditional sentence patterns, namely “to”, “tara”, “reba” and “nara”. Based on the use of their modality and information territory, they have different uses and functions. Data analysis of Japanese newspaper sentences using qualitative method showed that Japanese conditional sentences can be classified into two types. The first type is Repeated Factual Conditional Sentence that uses the conjugate particle “to”. This sentence is used when the speaker and listener are considered to know the contents of the information in it, thus expressing a recurring event or habit. The modality that is widely used is the epistemic modality. The second type is Hypotheses or Assumptions Conditional Sentences that use the conjugate particles of “tara”, “reba”, and “nara”. This conditional sentence is used when the contents of the information is the speaker’s desire and only exists in the territory of the speaker. Therefore, its functions is to show a desire, request, suggestion, order, and prohibition, all of which are hypotheses or assumptions of the speaker. The modality used is the intentional modality, such as the modality of desires, requests, suggestions, commands, prohibitions, and so on.

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