Epistemic modality in Ghanaian Pidgin English

This study investigates the expression of epistemic modality in a corpus of Ghanaian Pidgin English (GhaPE). The epistemic expressions are manually identified and thereafter distinguished from each other in terms of grammatical status and their indication of different epistemic and evidential notions. 7 different elements are found, ranging from 1 pre-verbal marker, 1 adverb, 2 particles and 3 complement-taking predicates. The results indicate, in line with existing research, that to differentiate between usage properties of individual modal expressions it may be necessary to subdivide them in terms of not only epistemic but also evidential meanings. Moreover, a functional parallel between the GhaPE particle abi, the Swedish modal particle väl and the Spanish adverbs a lo mejor and igual is demonstrated, with respect to their simultaneous function of expressing epistemic probability and asking the hearer for confirmation. Finally, the results suggest, contrary to previous accounts, that the pre-verbal marker fit may indicate epistemic possibility without the addition of a preceding irrealis marker go. It is proposed that future researchers should make use of bigger corpora in order to arrive at a more ample conception of both individual modal categories and their interrelations.

Finlandssvenska åsikter om och attityder till modern språkpåverkan

The study describes and analyzes Finland Swedes attitudes to modern-day linguistic influence, the relationship between informants explicitly reported views and the implicit attitudes they express towards language influence. The methods are primarily sociolinguistic. For the analysis of opinions and attitudes I have further developed and tested a new tool in attitude research. With statistical correlation analysis of data collected through a quantitative survey I describe the views that Swedish-language Finns (N=500) report on the influence of English, on imports, and on domain loss. With experimental matchedguise techniques, I study Finland-Swedes (N=600) subconscious reactions to English imports in spoken text. My results show that the subconscious reactions in some respects differ markedly from the views informants explicitly report that they have: informants respond that they would like English words that come into Swedish to be replaced by Swedish replacement words, but in a matched-guise test on their subconscious attitudes, the informants consider English words in a Swedish context to have a positive effect. The topic is further dealt with in interviews where I examine 36 informants implicit attitudes through interactional sociolinguistic analyses. This study comes close to pragmatic discourse analysis in its focus on pragmatic particles and modality. The study makes a rather strict distinction between explicitly expressed opinions and implicit, subconscious attitudes. The quantitative analyses suggest that the opinions we express can be tied to the explicit in language. The outcome of the matched-guise test shows that it is furthermore possible to find subconscious, implicit attitudes that people in actual situations rely on when they make decisions. The discourse analysis finds many subconscious signals, but it also shows that the signals arise in interaction with one s interlocutor, the situation, and the norms in the society. To account for this I have introduced the concept of socioconscious attitude. Socioconscious attitudes reflect not only the traditions and values the utterer grew up with, but also the speaker s relation to the social situation (s)he takes part in.

Epistemic marking and multiple perspective : an introduction

This paper discusses forms of epistemic marking that instantiate multiple perspective constructions (see Evans 2005). Such forms express the speaker’s and the addressee’s simultaneous epistemic perspectives from the point of view of the speaker, crucially relying on the assumptions of the speaker with regard to the addressee’s knowledge. The analysis of forms considers established semanto-pragmatic concepts, such as semantic scope, mitigation strategies and communicative intention (as marked by sentence-type) in the exploration of forms. In addition, the notion of knowledge asymmetry is discussed alongside the concepts of epistemic status and stance as tools for a semantic analysis of investigated forms