Epistemic Verbs Research Articles

Epistemic verbs and zero complementizer

This article addresses the question of why certain epistemic verbs, particularly (I) think, have very high rates of zero complementizer in their clausal complements. I consider and reject the influential proposal from Thompson & Mulac (1991b) that the occurrence of zero complementizer in these contexts is associated with syntactic reanalysis of the epistemic verb and its subject to an adverbial-like epistemic phrase. Instead, I propose that zero complementizer signals a shift in the informational structure of the utterance, in which the embedded clause conveys the main assertion, but the syntactic structure of the sentence need not be altered. Further routinization is evident with I think but not with other epistemic verbs. Results from a study of newspaper prose are presented in support of the analysis.

From Subordinate Marker to Discourse Marker: <i>que</i> in Andean Spanish

This paper proposes an analysis of a redundant use of que ('that') found in Andean Spanish as an expression which has undergone a grammaticalization process. Evidence suggests that the function of que as subordinate marker is much more generalized in this variety than in other dialects of Spanish. que is found to be used as a marker introducing both nominal and adjectival clauses, suggesting that adjectival subordinates behave as nominal subordinates in this variety of Spanish. An intrusive que appears in restricted syntactic and semantic contexts with clauses that have nominal and adjectival functions, and even appears replacing adverbial expressions in some adverbial subordinates (temporal, spatial, and manner). Furthermore, it is found to be sensitive to the degree of the argument’s thematic/semantic function in the subordinate clause. In particular, it seems to occur more often with low-agency arguments in adjectival and nominal contexts, and, in nominal subordinates, tends to appear with a restricted set of epistemic and evidential main verbs (e.g. creer 'to believe', saber 'to know', decir 'to say'). The analysis suggests that que has developed a new function in this variety of Spanish, namely, one of indicating that the information contained in the subordinate clause does not constitute background information (as would be expected in non-contact varieties of Spanish) but instead contains information relevant to the discourse.

A Topological Model of Epistemic Intentionality

Beyond their linguistic and rhetorical uses, the mental epistemic verbs to knowand to believe reveal a basic conceptual system for human intentionality and the theory of representational mind. Numerous studies, particularly in the field of child development, have been devoted to the conditions under which knowledge and belief are acquired. Upstream of this empirical approach, this paper proposes a topological model of the conceptual structure underlying the linguistic use of to know and to believe. A cusp model of catastrophe theory is chosen to model the formation of epistemic states. Its main characteristic is considering to believe as an intermediate state which lacks stability and presents the delayed effect of hysteresis. The attribution of mental states to the other (viewpoint of the third person) is obtained by the crossing of first and third person knowledge and belief, which gives rise to new categories (to know if and to falsely believe) and closes the system. Another merging of the beliefs of persons A and B, using the butterfly catastrophe, provides a model of interpersonal belief appreciated by an independent observer along a potential evolving from agreement to disagreement.

Spanish Subjunctive Clauses Require Ordered Alternatives

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Inflected Infinitives Revisited: Genericity and Single Event

AbstractThis article argues for a minimalist approach to the variation between Romance languages with respect to the generic interpretation associated with infinitival complements of epistemic verbs. It is proposed that epistemic verbs have inherent temporal features and that they assign a tense feature to their complement. These features are checked under a Spec-head relation through two temporal projections, related either to the object position or the subject position. The variation observed between Portuguese and French, Italian and Spanish with respect to the event interpretation of infinitives is formulated in terms of the strong/weak status of the [+specific] feature of Tense. The difference in the temporal interpretation of the inflected infinitives with respect to the presence or absence of thehave+ past participle sequence is derived from the hypothesis that the tense of the participle raises to the TP projection that c-commands it when it is morphologically invisible, the indicative present being visible in Portuguese, but not in the other languages.

Hedges and textual communicative function in medical English written discourse

This paper discusses how the communicative purpose of the different rhetorical sections of research papers (RP) and case reports (CR) in medical English written discourse influences the frequency and category distribution of the modulation devices (hedges) used in each section. To this end, we analyzed a corpus of 15 articles drawn from five leading medical journals. Hedges were identified by means of a contextual analysis, their frequency was recorded in the different rhetorical sections of the 15 articles, and their percentages (over the total number of running words) were computed. The hedges recorded were then classified according to five pre-established categories, and their percentual distribution per category was evaluated in each rhetorical section. The results were analyzed by means of chi-square tests. Our research indicates that the three most frequently used hedging devices in both genres (shields, approximators, and compound hedges) account for over 90% of the total number of hedges used in our sample. The Discussion (RP)/ Comment (CR) sections are the most heavily hedged sections, whereas the Methods (RP) and the Case Report sections (CR) are the least-hedged rhetorical divisions ( p = .001 and .071, respectively). The Introduction section of both RP and CR favors shields (mainly epistemic verbs) as a hedging convention followed by approximators (negative or quasi-negative expressions in RP Introductions, and adaptors of frequency in CR Introductions). In the Introduction, hedges allow researchers to establish an “early niche” for their research. Scientific writers mostly resort to approximators as a hedging technique in the Methods section ( p = .0001) as well as in the Results sections of RP and in the Case Report sections of CR. Shields (mostly modal verbs) are also used (although to a much lesser extent) in the Result section of RP to evaluate, interpret and comment on the findings of the research being reported. Both shields and compound-hedges are the most frequently encountered hedging devices in the Discussion/Comments sections of RP and CR. Finally, the distribution of hedges in the Case Report section in CR resembles that observed in the Result section in RP, but it is significantly richer in approximators ( p = .0001) used for describing symptoms and for conveying the idea of range. We conclude that the choice of expression of tentativeness and flexibility is dictated by the general structure of the discourse, by its communicative purpose, by the level of claim the writers wish to make, and by the authors' pretension to universality and generalization. Because hedging in scientific discourse is a necessary and vitally important skill, we finally present some pedagogical implications of our research such as the use of sensitization, translation and rewriting exercises in ESP courses.

Grammar and the Intersubjectivity of Language. Focus on Epistemic Verbs

This paper argues that Jürgen Habermas' theory of universal pragmatics is valuable for semantic and text-linguistic theory. Habermas' distinctions between communicative action (Kommunikatives Handeln) and discourse (Diskurs; debate on the validity of statements) are reflected in linguistic structure, as is his distinction between the four dimensions involved in every speech, act: comprehensibility, truth, sincerity, and correctness. The primary question is: Given that Habermas' distinctions are universal, what means of signalling them do natural languages contain? The present article limits itself to contrastive focus and epistemic verbs. The application of contrastive focus, to epistemic verbs enables speakers to mark the distinction between communicative action and discourse (the level of debate) and to clarify the dimension, under debate: comprehensibility, truth, sincerity, or correctness.

Would have become: empty or modal will

In an earlier paper (Huddleston, 1977) I analysed the would of (I) If he had stayed in the army, he would have become a colonel as the unreal mood form of an epistemic modal verb WILL that figures in the underlying syntactic representation and falls within the semantic scope of a past element realized by HAVE. Palmer (1978) criticizes this analysis, claiming that WILL is ‘obviously’ semantically empty, a mere ‘dummy’ inserted to carry the mark of unreality – that would have become is ‘the Unreal and Past form of BECOME’.