How Evidential is the Epistemic Conditional?

doi:10.1344/afel2020.10.4

Abstract

This paper aims to reassess how —and if— the epistemic conditional in French relates to evidentiality, focusing on its use in reportative and non-reportative declarative sentences as well as in conjectural polar questions. It is proposed that the epistemic conditional developed from the modal hypothetical use, which accounts for its ability to establish an epistemic frame. The epistemic conditional is defined as a construction that conveys an assumption whatever the source of information. It is claimed that the epistemic conditional does not primarily encode information source. Although the epistemic nature of the epistemic conditional makes it prone to draw on reportative evidence, it is not primarily an evidential marker. Nonetheless, the epistemic conditional is claimed to have indirect evidential and mirative extensions. Rather than the type of information source, the conditional encodes the speaker’s lack of control over information, which affects her level of commitment. Such an approach allows handling the different uses of the epistemic conditional in declarative sentences as well as in conjectural questions in a unified way.

Highlights

This paper aims to determine how the epistemic conditional in French relates to evidentiality
The epistemic conditional is typically found in reportative contexts, it is argued that secondhand information is not a part of its semantics
The epistemic conditional is a case in point, all the more so as French has a tensemodal system and does not require marking information source

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This paper aims to determine how the epistemic conditional in French relates to evidentiality. The epistemic conditional is typically found in reportative contexts, it is argued that secondhand information is not a part of its semantics. This is shown through applying diagnostics that are generally used to determine the semantic properties of reportative evidential markers across languages. Epistemic uses that are unrelated to secondhand information are examined in declarative and interrogative contexts. As a primary exponent of a tense-modal system, it has indirect evidential and mirative extensions These extensions arise when information is incomplete, uncertain or surprising.

THE CONDITIONAL IN FRENCH

EPISTEMIC FRAME AND CONTROL

THE EPISTEMIC CONDITIONAL IN DECLARATIVE SENTENCES

REPORTED SPEECH AND FRAMING PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

THE EPISTEMIC CONDITIONAL IN CONJECTURAL POLAR QUESTIONS

CONCLUSION