Verba Dicendi Research Articles

Pragmatic markers and verba dicendi: An investigation of Mauritian Creole

Offering a detailed investigation of three Mauritian Creole pragmatic markers based on one of the verba dicendi, dir ‘say’, in a corpus of spoken discourse, this article sets out to offer a preliminary insight into a category of elements that, to date, is mostly unexplored. By applying a methodology inspired by Canonical Typology, each marker is scored against a set of defined features, identifying their most and least prominent uses, and a detailed and comprehensive description of their functions is given. Reflecting on their synchronic properties, the article also considers their diachronic development and reflects on their very different evolutionary paths and stages of grammaticalization.

From Object-Level Meaning to Metatextual Meaning. The Case of Polish Particles

The article focuses on particles derived from object-level expressions, but operating at a higher, metatextual level. Such particles are sourced chiefly from speaker-oriented parentheticals composed of verba dicendi and verba sentiendi. Following the elision of parentheticals and other expressions, functional homonymy arises: a particle/a different part of speech (most commonly an adverb). This results in an uncertainty regarding the status of particles. The understanding of particles as parts of speech is also problematic due to the linguistic tradition which relies on the Latin name particula, meaning ‘a little part’/‘a particle’. The classification of expressions operating both at the object and the metatextual level creates further concerns. The meaning of particles does not change, as at most they may undergo a phonetic change (cf. bodaj ‘probably’, ponoć ‘they say’/‘apparently’, oczywiście ‘of course’). The discrepancy between the two levels is brought about mainly by changes taking place at the object level (e.g. mówię w prawdzie ‘I am telling the truth’ ˃ wprawdzie ‘admittedly’; wiem za pewne ‘I know for sure’ > zapewne ‘probably’). Thus, a class of particles is being formed that is a separate and formally distinct part of speech.

Czy pytać to tylko ‘zadawać pytanie’? Kilka uwag o medialnym użyciu tego czasownika

The verb pytać [to ask] is one of the basic verba dicendi, thus its meaning seems obvious and its lexicographical descriptions exhaustive. At the same time, contemporary uses of this lexeme in the media suggest the presence of additional components, not yet taken into account in the studies of this verb. The author will therefore analyse selected quotations from informative Internet portals and TV dailies in order to then attempt to answer the question posed in the title. The description will take into account the pragmatic elements of the utterance: its context, information about the sender and the assumed recipient, as well as the entire communication situation; the conclusions will, in turn, be confronted with descriptions of the verb pytać [to ask] present in the linguistic literature.

From a Lexical Verb to a Pragmatic Marker: The Case of the French falloir ‘have to/must’

The paper seeks to present a semantico-functional analysis of the French verb falloir. The empirical data are obtained from a parallel corpus – the Corpus Parallèle de Textes Littéraires (CTLFR-LT), which is composed of French literary texts and their translations into Lithuanian. The paper uses quantitative, qualitative and comparative methods. It is based on the studies focusing on the polysemy of modal verbs (Chu 2010; Dendale 1994; Kronning 1988; Le Querler 2001; Rossari 2012) as well as on the development of discourse markers in language (Dostie 2004; Vold 2008).
 The findings show that the verb falloir, while maintaining its core meaning of necessity, can express conjecture. When it is used in patterns together with verbs of saying (verba cogitandi and dicendi) and verbs of visual perception, falloir no longer functions as a marker of necessity and becomes a pragmatic marker of connection and argumentation.
 The analysis of the translations of the French verb falloir into a typologically different language, Lithuanian, has also confirmed the entrenched use of the verb in question in the modal field of necessity and its rich functional potential in the French literary texts. The paper contributes to the existing contrastive studies between the French and Lithuanian languages, which are not numerous. The findings of the research could serve didactic purposes as well as add to the field of translation studies.

On two types of dicendial causal markers (with a special focus on the languages of Eurasia)

Constructions involving speech act verbs are a well-known diachronic source of adverbial connectors, but the latter have so far received less attention in the literature compared to other common products of grammaticalization of verba dicendi, such as reportatives or complementizers. This paper focuses on dicendial causal markers in the languages of Eurasia. The majority of such elements fall into two distinct types (“saying / having said” and “if you / one say(s) why”), defined on the basis of their formal make-up, but clearly diff erent in their positional and semantic properties as well. It is shown that the differences between the two types are directly linked to their diachronic origins. Previously proposed universal grammaticalization clines for speech act verbs can only be relevant for the fi rst type. The paper also puts forward hypotheses concerning the syntactic status of causal clauses introduced by markers of the two types and sketches prospective avenues for further languagespecific research.

The Verb Katalegein in Herodotus: Homeric Influence and the Writing Of History

This paper examines Herodotus’ use of verba dicendi as a narrative device. Investigating the application of verba dicendi in historiography, one of the earliest products of Greek prose, may teach us about the evolving conventions of this genre and help us detect its development and its divergence from Homer, as well as trace semantic developments across genres and periods. This paper focuses on the verb katalegein, a frequently applied verb of speaking in Homer and Herodotus, and refers to recent studies in literary, narratological, and linguistic aspects in ancient Greek historiography.

„Verba dicendi” w dialogach jako przejaw stereotypizacji w postrzeganiu mamy i taty w serii książek „o Basi” Zofii Staneckiej i Marianny Oklejak

The aim of the article is to show to what extent verba dicendi can create the stereotypical image of parents. Following the analysis, it can be concluded that the assumed hypothesis has proved to be correct, i.e. the use of verbs consistent with the characteristic (stereotypical) qualities of mother and father were present in the Basia book series.

The translation and transmission of \u2018diatribal\u2019 verbs in the textual traditions of the Zlatostruj collection

The ‘diatribe’ is a dialogical mode of exposition, originating in Hellenistic Greek, where the author dramatically performs different voices in a polemical-didactic discourse. The voice of a fictitious opponent is often disambiguated by means of parenthetical verba dicendi, especially φησί(ν). Although diatribal texts were widely translated into Slavic in the Middle Ages, the textual history of the Zlatostruj collection of Chrysostomic homilies especially suits an investigation not only of how Greek ‘diatribal’ verbs were translated, but also how the Slavic verbs were transmitted or developed in different textual traditions. Over time, Slavic redactional activity led to a homogenization of verb forms. The initial variety of the original translation was partly eliminated, and the verb forms and became more firmly established as prototypical diatribal formulae. Especially the (increased) use of the 2sg form has theoretical consequences for the text’s dialogical structure. Thus, an important dialogical component of the diatribe was reinforced in the Zlatostruj’s textual history on Slavic soil.

Manifestations of language awareness in the use of persuasive acts of speech in Middle Polish Sejm diaries

Persuasion as a rhetorical action is the basic indicator of parliamentary speech. Therefore, it seems reasonable to ask whether the diarists describing the course of Sejm proceedings were aware of the use of persuasive acts of speech by MPs. The material analysed — 24 lexemes referring to the verbal acts of the speakers — was extracted from a dozen or so Sejm diaries documenting the proceedings in the Middle Polish period. The research has proven that diarists use verba dicendi, which indicate the result of a verbal act (e.g. namawiać, zagrzewać, pobudzać, obmawiać, napominać and animować) or that they pay attention to the persuasion process itself (e.g. dowodzić, emundować się, perswadować, wywodzić, konwinkować, allegować, okazować and remonstrować). In addition, the following nouns are used: dowód, wywód, komparacyja, argument, perswazyja, konkluzyja and racyja. Diarists deliberately use a variety of lexis because they strive to name the verbal acts of the speakers as precisely as possible.

Clause Structure and Illocutionary Force in Medieval Gallo-Romance: Clitic Position in Old Occitan and Early Old French Sentential Coordination

Abstract This paper analyzes the position of object and adverbial clitic pronouns in coordinated affirmative verb-first declaratives introduced by e(t) “and” in Old Occitan and early Old French, a context in which clitics are variably preverbal or postverbal. An empirical study reveals that this variation is principled and reflects semantico-discursive properties in the same way in these two related and grammatically similar medieval Gallo-Romance varieties. On a theoretical level, I posit that preverbal clitics occur when conjunction occurs at the TP level, and postverbal clitics occur when conjunction occurs at the CP level, and that the choice of clause structure (TP vs. CP) for second conjunct clauses depends on illocutionary force, which in turn depends on discourse coherence relations and the semantics of verba dicendi (verbs of utterance).

L’imperfetto narrativo nel greco tardoantico: uno studio preliminare

Besides its typical imperfective functions, the Greek imperfect appears to be used also in perfective contexts, where an aorist indicative would seem more appropriate. This phenomenon is well attested in Ancient Greek, especially with verbs of saying, but its characteristics in Late-Antique and Proto-Byzantine Greek have received little attention so far. In the first part of the present article some data about the frequency of imperfect and aorist indicatives up to the 2nd century AD will be presented (section 1.1). Following an introduction to the concepts of ‘foreground’ and ‘background’ (section 1.2), Moser’s hypotheses about the use of the imperfect in Late- Antique Greek will then be reviewed (sections 2.1–2.2): according to these, the imperfect was used in the same way in both Late-Antique and Modern Greek and had lost, by the Late-Antique Period, some of the ‘perfective’ functions it had in Classical Greek. However, a qualitative analysis of three 7th-century hagiographical texts shows that in the Proto-Byzantine Period the imperfect still retained its Classical uses, which are discontinued in Modern Greek, especially with the verba dicendi (sections 2.3–2.4). These preliminary findings thus suggest that the matter needs to be investigated further.

The Slavic Rendition of Greek Speech Reporting Verbs in Chrysostom’s Homilies in the “Codex Suprasliensis”: A Case Study into the Transmission of Diatribal Discourse Organization

Chrysostom’s homilies are characterized by a high degree of dialogicality. Multiple voices are not only expressed in lively quotes, but in enacted confrontations with fictitious opponents, such as Biblical characters, Jews or heretics. Chrysostom ‘plays’ both his own part and the opponents’ voices, who are thus not just quoted, but ‘enacted’. In order to demarcate the different voices, linguistic means can be employed; these are often fixed formulae that have occurred in Greek since the Hellenistic period as part of the ‘diatribal’ style. This article identifies a number of Greek diatribal formulae that were taken over into an Old Church Slavonic translation in the “Codex Suprasliensis”. The main focus of the article is on the function of “verba dicendi” in the ‘assignment’ of the different voices in the discourse. The distribution of “verba dicendi” is presented quantitatively, but also analysed qualitatively. The present study allows us to evaluate the extent to which the dialogical features of the diatribe have been preserved in translated Old Church Slavonic texts. This, in turn, serves as a starting point for a further assessment of diatribal influences in other translated and original Slavic texts.

Aspetti della Subordinazione a verbo non finito nella Vulgata1

SummaryThis paper aims at describing some of the main structural and functional characteristics of two subordinate patterns, namely infinitive clauses governed by verba dicendi et sentiendi (i.e. the so-called Accusativus cum Infinitivo) and participial clauses, as they occur in the Vulgate. The characteristics of the use of the Accusativus cum Infinitivo will be interpreted within the context of the uses of this structure in other Latin texts written in different periods. In particular, and in the framework of a functional-typologi- cal approach, we will investigate word-order phenomena.

Aspetti della subordinazione completiva nel De consolatione philosophiae di Boezio*

Summary:This paper aims at describing some of the main structural and functional characteristics of completive clauses governed by verba dicendi et sentiendi in Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae. The characteristics of the use of the Accusativus cum Infinitivo (AcI) will be analysed in comparison with the uses of other Latin authors. The data will be described on the basis of two main aspects: constituent order, and the coreferentiality of the subject of the AcI with elements in the main clause. Compared to the predominance of AcI constructions, quod-clauses show a consistent pattern and are limited to well- defined contexts. Some aspects of the use of quin and ut will also be described. Special attention will be given to the problems of syntactic and semantic interpretation of the governing verbs, which can be difficult to define clearly. This study will also set the ground for further research on the influence of Boethius's Latin model on Italo-Romance literary texts in the Middle Ages, both on the syntactic and the stilistic level.

Significant Instances of Paraphrasis in Sabuncuoğlu’s Illustrated Turkish Translation of al-Zahrāwī’s Arabic Surgical Masterpiece Al-Maqāla al-thalāthūn

ABSTRACT Around the year 1000, Muslim physician Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Zahrāwī composed a voluminous medical encyclopedia, Al-Taṣrīf li-man ʿajiza ʿan al-tāʾlīf, the thirtieth treatise (Al-Maqāla al-thalāthūn) of which was subsequently translated into many languages, for embodying a ground-breaking illustrated work on the surgical knowledge and instruments of its time. In Anatolia circa 1465, the Ottoman physician Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu produced his own surgical magnum opus Cerrāḥiyyetü’l-ḫāniyye by rendering this work into Turkish and replicating its instrumental drawings, and adding to it new chapters and supplementary miniatures. In this study, we both confirm the genuineness of the added chapters by comparison with Leclerc’s French translation of Al-Maqāla al-thalāthūn, which similarly appears to contain additional parts, and investigate the nature of the core text annexed from Al-Maqāla al-thalāthūn. In producing the translated portion of his work, Sabuncuoğlu remained for the most part within the bounds of metaphrasis, i.e., literal translation, though with both significant and insignificant instances of paraphrasis based on omission or interpolation. The relatively insignificant instances typical of most medieval works of translation include contributions of adjectival, adverbial or nominal specification, further elaboration and non-essential addition in one or a few words. The longer instances include professional anecdotes interpolated occasionally either with some demarcating verba dicendi or through a seamless transition, and missing lines that appear to have been omitted or to be absent due to their unavailability in the source text(s). By presenting a number of typically exemplifying excerpts, we attempted to specify these divergences of Cerrāḥiyyetü’l-ḫāniyye from Al-Maqāla al-thalāthūn, to which the literature so far has very generally referred as “the contribution of Sabuncuoğlu”. Moreover, we found that the second set of paraphrastic divergences, to which we attributed special significance, provided clues as to the source text(s) of Cerrāḥiyyetü’l-ḫāniyye, by which we propose a connection with the contemporaneous Huntington manuscript.

Verbos dicendi na notícia: pontos de um continuum argumentativo na construção da intertextualidade

Este artigo versa sobre a intertextualidade explícita e tem como objetivo investigar como os verbos dicendi, responsáveis por introduzir o discurso de outrem, contribuem para construir uma linha argumentativa na notícia. Propõe-se uma análise comparativa de duas notícias a partir do paradigma interpretativo-qualitativo. Toma-se como corpus duas notícias que abordam um mesmo acontecimento, publicadas em dois veículos midiáticos. Partindo da base teórica que considera a argumentação como característica inerente ao uso da linguagem, observou-se que os verbos dicendi são empregados num continuum argumentativo, que vai de uma posição menos marcada para uma posição mais marcada argumentativamente, e retratam estratégias que direcionam a interpretação do leitor a respeito dos fatos noticiados e mesmo a respeito do veículo que publica a notícia.

An Appraisal Theory Approach to Point of View in Mansfield Park and its Translations

In order to achieve the goals of social commentary and moral judgement pursued in her novels, Jane Austen describes and evaluates different aspects of her characters’ personalities: social attitude, intellectual qualities and moral traits (Lodge 1966). Mansfield Park (1814) is one of her novels in which this moral awareness is most acute. In order to construct a community of shared values with her readers, Austen skilfully alternates different points of view as sources of evaluation. We propose an analysis of the first chapter of Mansfield Park that addresses this dialogic dimension by focusing on the resources of engagement, the subsystem of Appraisal Theory with which speakers/writers express their commitment to the truth of a proposition and their willingness to open the negotiation space to other voices (Martin & White 2005: 97).The linguistic subtlety and complexity of Jane Austen’s writing is a challenge to translators, who must try to identify all the concurrent interpretation possibilities and reproduce them in the target language. In this article we compare the English source text with various translations into Spanish, Catalan and German. Our analysis focuses on the lexicogrammatical realisations of engagement such as verba dicendi, epistemic expressions, lexical choices with a distinct attitudinal load, and also on the development of narration – as far as that is possible in a study centering on the first chapter –, since it is often the case that narrator stance is modified as the text unfolds.We discuss fragments of narrator discourse, direct speech and indirect/free indirect speech and consider the advantages of the framework to uncover changes in the evaluative dimension of meaning that affect the readings the translations will afford in their target society, from character building to the articulation of points of view.

Latvian verbs of speaking and their relations to evidentiality

The paper offers a functional analysis of three Latvian verbs of speaking used in their indicative third person forms – saka, runā and stāsta ‘say(s), speak(s) and talk(s)’ – based on the Latvian language corpus online (www.korpuss.lv) and, additionally, on examples excerpted from Internet discourse. The article discusses semantic and syntactic similarities and differences between these words, the functions of particular constructions distinguished according to specific syntactic criteria (presence vs. absence of a subject), and the use of these verbs in combination with the Latvian verb form traditionally associated with (potential) evidential meanings, the oblique (atstāstījuma izteiksme). While the use of verbs of speaking for introducing reported speech is seen as unproblematic, the relationship between verba dicendi and evidentiality requires more attention and remains in focus throughout this study. In order to offer an in-depth overview of the nature of this relationship, the relations between reported speech and evidentiality, as well as the oblique and evidentiality, are also briefly considered. The paper concludes that the possibility of the three verbs functioning as evidential markers depends on considerations of theoretical/terminological nature (how to define evidentiality, should reported speech be considered part of it, etc.) and also, to some extent, on the way the subject is realized in verba dicendi constructions (specific human agent vs. non-specific empty subject and absent or zero subject).

‘Finite’ infinitives in Ancient Greek

In this paper I argue that the unembedded Accusativus cum Infinitivo in Ancient Greek is a case of hearer-induced grammaticalization. AcI embedded under verba dicendi or δοκεῖν in deontic contexts are ambiguous: while the speaker intends the deontic reading as a side meaning of the embedding verb, it can also be attributed to the AcI. If the hearer opts for the latter analysis, a new function of the AcI emerges, which ultimately leads to its de-embedding. I show that this grammaticalization process is parallel to similar reanalyses in sound change. In a short outlook the analysis is extended to the emergence of absolute constructions.

Why byloti dievop ‘speak to God’, but prašyti dieviep ‘ask God’?

The paper aims to investigate the historical usage of two local cases, namely the Allative and the Adessive, governed by verba dicendi in Old Lithuanian. In Mikalojus Daukša’s Postil (1599) the Allative occurs with verbs of address and denotes the Addressee as a Goal of a verbal act. The Adessive, however, is governed by predicates of request and conveys the Source of a desired item. To verify whether this is part of Daukša’s idiolect or a general feature of Lithuanian at the beginning of its written period, the data from DP are compared to the texts of two other varieties of written Lithuanian of the 16th–17th century: Jonas Bretkūnas’ Postil (1591) and Konstantinas Sirvydas’ Punktay sakimu (two parts, 1629 and 1644). In order to explain the motivation for this usage, dialectal and typological data are used.