Cooperation and the choice of linguistic means: Some evidence from the use of the subjunctive in modern Greek

Abstract

In the present paper the author wants to draw attention to a factor in the communication situation that has been neglected in the discussion of politeness and indirectness, that is, the degree of cooperativity among the communication partners towards a common goal. The paper focuses on one syntactic form, subjunctive interrogatives in Modern Greek. A typology of questions performed with subjunctive interrogatives is presented and the empirical distribution of the different types is checked across different contexts. General restrictions to the use of subjunctive interrogatives are pointed out, as well as the contextual restrictions that apply to some of its specific uses. On account of these results the hypothesis is put forward that the degree of substantial cooperation among communication partners also has an influence on style or the way speech acts are realized.