Abstract
AbstractVariational pragmatics, one of the youngest branches of pragmatics, studies the different pragmatic values of items across varieties, and the different realisations of the same pragmatic function across varieties through different forms. Studies on (inter)subjectivity, and on pragmatically sensitive items in general, have started to include Inner Circle, Outer Circle and learners’ varieties of English, also thanks to the increased availability of computerised material. In particular, the expression of stance, one of the crucial functions of several language forms that undergo pragmaticisation, is increasingly the focus of variation studies. The paper aims at contributing to such studies, focusing on the parenthetical construction I'm afraid across texts included in the GloWbE corpus in different varieties of English. This discourse marker shows a range of stance‐expressing functions and a complex pragmaticisation path, as demonstrated by previous studies. The marker appears with widely diverging frequencies across the corpus – the study attempts to map this diversified scenario, which could point to a predominance, in different varieties of English, of different pragmatic strategies for the expression of stance.
Highlights
The fact that the uncontracted form often predominates in terms of absolute frequencies may have to do with the usually higher levels of formality when using a language in writing, especially a second language, and does not detract from this conclusion
A more systematic comparison within the GloWbE corpus between different varieties could hopefully indicate whether the differences in the acquisition of face-threatening values is a function of the different levels of pragmatic competence typical of second-language varieties or whether it corresponds to a different set of stance-taking strategies related to the texttypes typical of this corpus
Sorry tends to be used with different pragmatic functions in Inner and Outer Circle varieties and tends to encroach on functions that are entrusted to other markers in Inner Circle varieties – a preliminary indication could be the fact that its frequency in the GloWbE, and in the selected varieties, is many times higher than that of I (a)m afraid, and there could be some overlapping in some of the functions, such as indicating apology or regret
Summary
The expression of stance is one of the crucial loci in the processes through which language forms tend to undergo pragmaticisation (Brinton, 2010; Fischer, 2007; Tan, 2010, pp. 238–240), that is, start to be used with the aim of adding to the meta-communicative level. Studies on stance-taking, and on pragmatically sensitive items in general, have started to include uses of speakers of English both as a dominant (Amador Moreno, 2005; Beeching, 2016; Kallen, 2005) and as a non-dominant language (Nwabeze Ogoanah, 2011; Tan, 2010), but have often focussed on learners’ varieties or on English as a Lingua Franca (Baumgarten & House, 2010; Kaminen, 2006; Müller, 2005) Research on such a massive linguistic reality as English may profit from larger recourse to variational pragmatics, given the multifarious contexts in which English is employed and negotiated by a multitude of speakers with widely diverging sociolinguistic and cultural backgrounds, provided that the implicit postulate of homogeneity is avoided. This type of study lags behind, partly due to the inherent difficulty of retrieving the relevant data from computerised corpora, as it requires a decidedly more qualitative approach
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