HEDGED ASSERTIONS IN MOMADAY’S THE MAN MADE OF WORDS

Guillermo Bartelt

doi:10.46827/ejls.v3i1.309

Abstract

In essays elucidating his beliefs in the sacredness of the Southwestern landscape, the relevance of American Indian oral tradition, and the power of language in shaping Native worldviews, Scott Momaday frequently qualifies declarative sentences focusing on these themes with evidential hedges formed with epistemic modals and adverbials as well as with attitudinal hedges consisting of pronoun-verb constructions. Since an assertion implies knowledge of the proposition, hedges are therefore indicative of a distancing from convictions of its truth, or at least of a weakened commitment to its assertoric force.  Article visualizations:<img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0946/a.php" alt="Hit counter" />

Highlights

Momaday frequently qualifies declarative sentences dealing with these themes with evidential hedges expressed by epistemic modals and adverbials as well as with attitudinal hedges consisting of pronoun-verb constructions
Since an assertion implies knowledge of its proposition, the application of a hedge can be indicative of a cautious surmising of its truth, or at least of a weakened commitment to its assertoric force (Turri 2016; Benton and Elswyk 2020, 4)
For a more robust form of qualification, Momaday relies on attitudinal hedges, most often consisting of a construction of the first-person-singular subjective pronoun and a verb such as believe, suspect, or think, which he inserts in either medial or final sentential position

Summary

Introduction

Guillermo Bartelt HEDGED ASSERTIONS IN MOMADAY’S THE MAN MADE OF WORDS sacredness of the landscape, the continued relevance of oral tradition, and the power of language in shaping the worldview of a culture. To this end, Momaday frequently qualifies declarative sentences dealing with these themes with evidential hedges expressed by epistemic modals and adverbials as well as with attitudinal hedges consisting of pronoun-verb constructions. Since an assertion implies knowledge of its proposition, the application of a hedge can be indicative of a cautious surmising of its truth, or at least of a weakened commitment to its assertoric force (Turri 2016; Benton and Elswyk 2020, 4)

The Sacred Landscape

Oral Tradition

Language and Worldview

Conclusion