This paper explores an argumentative discourse taken from John’s Gospel. The intention is to investigate the way speakers express their individual degree of certainty/uncertainty towards the piece of information they are giving or receiving. The paper analyzes the speakers’ different attitude regarding the reliability of the communicated information (Epistemicity), focusing on the major linguistic markers that are used to support or criticize it and that reveal its truthfulness (Evidentiality). According to a pragmatic oriented approach, the paper reconstructs the whole discourse through a detailed scheme. This permits to analyze each dialogue as a coherent whole of speech acts, seen as argumentative moves aimed at bringing about a possible resolution of the difference of opinion, thus reaching an analytic overview.
Salvato, L. A., The communication of certainty/uncertainty within a Gospel passage (John 9:1-41), in Cantarini, S., Abraham, W., Leiss, E. (ed.), Certainty-uncertainty - and the Attitudinal Space in Between, Benjamins, Amsterdam 2014: 327- 341. 10.1075/slcs.165 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/63050]
The communication of certainty/uncertainty within a Gospel passage (John 9:1-41)
Salvato, Lucia Amelia
2014
Abstract
This paper explores an argumentative discourse taken from John’s Gospel. The intention is to investigate the way speakers express their individual degree of certainty/uncertainty towards the piece of information they are giving or receiving. The paper analyzes the speakers’ different attitude regarding the reliability of the communicated information (Epistemicity), focusing on the major linguistic markers that are used to support or criticize it and that reveal its truthfulness (Evidentiality). According to a pragmatic oriented approach, the paper reconstructs the whole discourse through a detailed scheme. This permits to analyze each dialogue as a coherent whole of speech acts, seen as argumentative moves aimed at bringing about a possible resolution of the difference of opinion, thus reaching an analytic overview.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.