The present study investigates the use of hedging devices in the readers’ comment section of the newspaper The Guardian Online. Two comment sections were chosen for the contrastive study: ‘Politics’ in the subsection ‘Comment is free’ and the series ‘Problem solved’ in the subsection ‘Life and style’. The corpus-based analysis of the frequency of hedges has revealed that the incidence of hedging devices in comments on personal issues is higher (by 19.2%) than on political articles. Three of the most frequently occurring hedging devices, namely, might, SEEM and I (don’t) think underwent further contextual analysis: the utterances containing these items were classified according to their illocutionary force, applying Bach’s (2003) classification of illocutionary acts. The most commonly hedged speech act types, characteristic of each section, were revealed.  Subsequently, an attempt was made to account for these findings from the perspective of ‘face’ and ‘facework’ as represented by Brown and Levinson (1987), Lim and Bowers (1991), MacGeorge, Lichtman and Pressey (2002), Ting-Toomey and Kurogi (1998). Since hedging is considered to be an effective strategy in minimizing ‘threats’ to the face of the addressee, it has  been possible to conclude that in discussions of personal issues participants are more concerned to ‘save’ the addressee’s face than in the case of political matters where the comment writers’ ‘self-face seems to be in the forefront.

The diploma thesis examines the role of convention in J. L. Austin's speech act theory. It describes the possibility of "how to do things with words": such an analysis of language will be suggested that does not focus on the category of truth when dealing with particular utterances but rather replaces it with the category of felicity of a speech act in the social context. After having offered the explication including the central points of the given theory, there starts the investigation of which parts of the speech act theory are conventionally based and what role do conventions play in the speech act theory as a whole.

I argue that one cannot hold a Meinongian ontology of fictional characters and have a causal theory of reference for fictional names. The main argument presented refutes Edward Zalta's claim that storytelling should be considered an extended baptism for fictional characters. This amounts to the claim that storytelling fixes the reference of fictional names in the same way that baptism fixes the reference of ordinary names, and this is just a claim about the illocutionary force of these two types of utterance. To evaluate this argument, therefore, we need both a common understanding of the Meinongian ontology and a common taxonomy of speech acts. I briefly sketch the Meinongian ontology as it is laid out by Zalta in order to meet the former condition. Then I present an interpretation of the taxonomy of illocutionary acts given by John Searle in the late 1970s and mid 1980s, within which we can evaluate Zalta's claims. With an ontology of fictional characters and a taxonomy of speech acts in place, I go on to examine the ways in which the Meinongian might argue that storytelling is an extended baptism. None of these arguments are tenable-there is no way for the act of storytelling to serve as an extended baptism. Therefore, the act of storytelling does not constitute a baptism of fictional characters; that is, storytelling fails to ground a causal chain of reference to fictional characters.

I argue that one cannot hold a Meinongian ontology of fictional characters and have a causal theory of reference for fictional names. The main argument presented refutes Edward Zalta's claim that storytelling should be considered an extended baptism for fictional characters. This amounts to the claim that storytelling fixes the reference of fictional names in the same way that baptism fixes the reference of ordinary names, and this is just a claim about the illocutionary force of these two types of utterance. To evaluate this argument, therefore, we need both a common understanding of the Meinongian ontology and a common taxonomy of speech acts. I briefly sketch the Meinongian ontology as it is laid out by Zalta in order to meet the former condition. Then I present an interpretation of the taxonomy of illocutionary acts given by John Searle in the late 1970s and mid 1980s, within which we can evaluate Zalta's claims. With an ontology of fictional characters and a taxonomy of speech acts in place, I go on to examine the ways in which the Meinongian might argue that storytelling is an extended baptism. None of these arguments are tenable-there is no way for the act of storytelling to serve as an extended baptism. Therefore, the act of storytelling does not constitute a baptism of fictional characters; that is, storytelling fails to ground a causal chain of reference to fictional characters.

This thesis explores how question FORCE (Rizzi 1997) is represented and licensed in Korean polar alternative questions (Korean PAQs). The syntactic properties of polar alternative questions have not been fully discussed in the literature; this work seeks to address that gap. The thesis has two main components. First, I provide an initial detailed investigation into the syntactic structure of Korean polar alternative questions (Korean PAQs), also called A-not-A questions, such as ciwu-nun ca-ni an ca-ni? ‘Is Jiwoo sleeping or not?’ I argue that Korean PAQs consist syntactically of a single clause. In this respect, Korean PAQs are distinct from both alternative questions and polar questions. The second goal of this thesis is to account for the asymmetric behaviour of complementizers in main clauses and embedded clauses. Variant complementizers occur in main clauses in Korean PAQs, while neutralized ci is the only complementizer which is licensed to appear in embedded clauses. Furthermore, Korean PAQs are incompatible with constituent questions in main clauses, but compatible with them in embedded clauses. This asymmetry is explained by appealing to the notion of a unique illocutionary question force in main clauses. In main clauses, the syntactic constituent ForceP cannot carry more than one kind of illocutionary question force: it bears either constituent question force or polar alternative question force, but not both. In contrast, since embedded clauses contain non-question (non-answer-requiring) complementizers, separate question forms do not conflict with each other in this location. Based on a wide range of empirical data from Korean, this thesis proposes to distinguish Force (‘question’) complementizers in the main clauses from Type (‘interrogative’) complementizers in embedded clauses. The novel data from Korean polar alternative questions require a major rethinking of the received view on the analysis of complementizers as expressed in Rizzi (1997). My analysis shows that the pragmatic categories of illocutionary force are highly significant for syntactic analysis in ways that have not been treated consistently in theoretical discussions of questions, in particular as regards the very distinct roles of main and embedded ‘questions’. / Graduate

This paper focuses on three aspects of the recipe minilect in translation from Swedish to German. These aspects concern illocutionary speech acts, reader address and ellipsis. The study aims to find out how frequently different translation strategies are used when translating illocutions, reader address and ellipses and to determine why these translation strategies were chosen. The analysis is mainly based on theories on minilects by Nordman (1994), on reader address and illocutionary acts by Rathmayr (2009) and on ellipsis by Teleman et al. (1999) This theoretical background facilitates the classification of the occurrences of illocutions, reader address and ellipsis quantitatively. Also, a qualitative analysis of representative examples is carried out in order to investigate the reason behind the chosen translation strategy. The results show the primary use of infinitives in illocutionary speech acts in German cookbooks in contrast to the imperative in Swedish cookbooks as well as the prominent avoidance of direct reader address in German. Moreover, ellipses are as frequent in German as it is in Swedish cookbooks, the study shows.

No description available.

The drama of Senkatana by S.M. Mofokeng is analysed by applying principles provided by speech act theory, using as basis the explication of the theory by Bach and Harnish (1979). The socio-cultural context in the play has as its starting point the realm of myth and legend. From here all categories of relationships within the protagonist/antagonist encounter unfold, as do opposing sets of contextual beliefs characters rely on; these are primarily responsible for the growing conflict in the drama. Enhancing the mythical character of the play is the absorbing role played by the diboni, acting as seers, as prophets and as additional 'authorial voice'. Their and those of other characters' speech acts reflect this and more; they operate in a substantiated sign-system which provides a framework for evaluating each semiotic act from locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary dimensions of meaning. Chapter 1 comprises a historical survey of studies on speech act theory, and includes a brief summary of the position of the theory in the field of semiotics. The micro speech act analysis of the play is facilitated by the division of the text into smaller action units (summarised in Addendum 1). Chapter 2, containing the greater part of the exposition, commences the narration of the folktale and offers a clear rendering of the epic rise of the hero. Chapter 3 portrays the rise and progress of the antagonists challenging the hero, coupled with intensifying anxiety among the protagonists. Chapter 4 provides a vivid overview of how the values of the hero triumph over those of the antagonist despite the physical slaying of the hero. Chapter 5 offers a graphic outline of how the macro speech act is accomplished in the play. It is shown how an investigation of the speech act profiles of characters, coupled with the evaluation of illocutionary tactics and illocutionary/perlocutionary dynamics, communicates significant information pertaining to characterisation. A graph illustrating the rise and fall of micro speech acts within the larger macro speech act is provided in Addendum 2. Suggestions are made regarding future research in literary texts. / African Languages / D.Lit. et Phil. (African Languages)

O objetivo deste trabalho é ampliar o conhecimento translinguístico sobre a categoria modo estudando-a em uma língua indígena brasileira. A motivação deste estudo se dá principalmente porque pouco se sabe a respeito dessa categoria em línguas não pertencentes ao tronco indo-europeu (Palmer, 2001). O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa é a língua Karitiana (família Tupi, subfamília Arikém) e o corpus analisado é formado por dados provenientes dos mitos e narrativas dessa língua e de dados coletados pelo autor da pesquisa com falantes nativos. A metodologia de coleta de dados foi a elicitação contextualizada defendida por Matthewson (2004) e Mendes (2014). Modo em Karitiana foi primeiramente analisado por Storto (2002). A autora afirma que a língua possui um sistema de modo bastante desenvolvido, porém, ainda pouco compreendido. Para ela, essa língua possui seis morfemas de modo: na(ka)-/ta(ka)- (declarativo), pyt- (assertivo), pyn- (deôntico), iri- (citativo), jy- (condicional) e a/-/-y (imperativo). Esses morfemas ocorrem entre o morfema de pessoa e a raiz verbal como observado em yn a-taka-hit-ø kat (glosa: eu 2p-dec-dar-nfut isso, tradução: eu te dei isso (Storto, 1999)). Nessa primeira análise, Storto (com. pess.) classifica esses morfemas como modo porque, segundo ela, eles marcam diferentes tipos de sentença na língua. A semântica e a pragmática formal foram utilizadas como embasamento teórico da pesquisa. Alguns trabalhos assumem que modo é um morfema que marca modalidade (Bybee, 1985; Palmer, 1986). Para a semântica formal modalidade é uma categoria do significado que está relacionada à expressão de necessidades e possibilidades (Kratzer, 1981; von Fintel, 2006; Hacquard, 2011). Outros trabalhos consideram que modo é um morfema que marca tipos de sentença. Na pragmática tipos sentenciais estão relacionados à força ilocucionária da sentença (Saeed, 2009; Portner, 2011). Seguindo a terminologia de Portner (2011), esta dissertação se refere aos morfemas de modo que estiverem relacionados à expressão de modalidade como modo verbal e os morfemas de modo que estiverem relacionados ao tipo sentencial são chamados modos sentenciais. A análise dos morfemas do Karitiana classificados como modo mostrou que essa língua possui dois lugares na estrutura morfossintática do verbo para marcar a categoria \'modo\' e não apenas um como assumido anteriormente como ilustrado por a-ta-jy-hit-ø celula-ty (glosa: 2p-dec-con-dar-nfut celular-obl tradução: eu te daria um celular). Esta pesquisa assume que cada posição marca um tipo específico de modo: os morfemas que ocorrem na primeira posição (e.g. na(ka)-/ta(ka)-) marcam tipos sentenciais, ou seja, são modos sentenciais e os morfemas que ocorrem na segunda posição (e.g. pyn- e jy-) marcam modalidade, ou seja, são modos verbais. Modos verbais e modos sentenciais podem coocorrer o que é uma evidência da existência de duas posições. O estudo da categoria modo em Karitiana possibilitou um melhor entendimento dessa categoria translinguisticamente. Segundo Sadock & Zwicky (1985) morfemas de modo não coocorrem e esta dissertação mostra que eles podem ocorrer se não estiverem ambos relacionados a força ilocucionária ou modalidade. / This research aims to increase the crosslinguistic knowledge about the categories mood within a study in a Brazilian indigenous language. The reason for this study is that there are not many reliable studies of this category in unfamiliar languages (Palmer, 2001). The object of study of this research is Karitiana language (Tupi family, Arikém subfamily) and the corpus analyzed here is composed by data from the miths and stories of this language as well as data collected by the author of the research from native speakers. We used contextualized data elicitation proposed by Matthewson (2004) and Mendes (2014). Mood in Karitiana was firstly analyzed by Storto (2002) who states that this language has a quite developed mood system that is at the same time not well understood. For her, this language has six mood morphemes: na(ka)-/ta(ka)- (declarative), pyt- (assertive), pyn- (deontic), iri- (citative), jy- (conditional) and a/-/-y (imperative). These morphemes occurs between the person morpheme and the verbal root as can be seen in yn a-taka-hit-ø kat (gloss: I 2p-dec-give-nfut that, translation: I gave you that (Storto, 1999)). In this first analysis, Storto (p.c.) assumes that those morphemes mark different types of sentence, being sentential mood morphemes. We used formal semantics and pragmatics as the theoretical background for the research. Some studies assume that mood is a morpheme which marks modality (Bybee, 1985; Palmer, 1986). In formal semantics modality is a category related to the expressions of possibilities and necessities (Kratzer, 1981; von Fintel, 2006; Hacquard, 2011). Other studies consider that mood is a morpheme which marks sentential types. In pragmatics the types of sentences are related to the illocutionary force of the sentence (Saeed, 2009; Portner, 2011). We follow the terminology used by Portner (2011) and call mood morphemes related to modality verbal mood and morphemes related to sentential type are called sentential mood. The analysis of the morphemes in Karitiana classified as mood has shown that this language has two positions in the morphosyntactical structure of the verb to the mood category and not only one as previously proposed. This can be seen in a-ta-jy-hit-ø celula-ty (gloss: 2p-dec-con-give-nfut cellphone-obl translation: I would give you a cellphone). This research proposes that each position mark a specific type of mood: Morphemes of the first position (e.g. na(ka)-/ta(ka)-) mark types of sentence, therefore, they are sentential moods and morphemes that occur in the second position (e.g. pyn- e jy-) mark modality, therefore, they are verbal moods. Verbal and sentential moods can co-occur what is an evidence for the existence of two positions. The study of mood done by this research allowed a better understanding of mood category crosslinguistically. For Sadock&Zwicky (1985), mood morphemes should not co-occur and this research has shown that they can co-occur if they are not both related to illocutionary force or modality.

O objetivo deste trabalho é ampliar o conhecimento translinguístico sobre a categoria modo estudando-a em uma língua indígena brasileira. A motivação deste estudo se dá principalmente porque pouco se sabe a respeito dessa categoria em línguas não pertencentes ao tronco indo-europeu (Palmer, 2001). O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa é a língua Karitiana (família Tupi, subfamília Arikém) e o corpus analisado é formado por dados provenientes dos mitos e narrativas dessa língua e de dados coletados pelo autor da pesquisa com falantes nativos. A metodologia de coleta de dados foi a elicitação contextualizada defendida por Matthewson (2004) e Mendes (2014). Modo em Karitiana foi primeiramente analisado por Storto (2002). A autora afirma que a língua possui um sistema de modo bastante desenvolvido, porém, ainda pouco compreendido. Para ela, essa língua possui seis morfemas de modo: na(ka)-/ta(ka)- (declarativo), pyt- (assertivo), pyn- (deôntico), iri- (citativo), jy- (condicional) e a/-/-y (imperativo). Esses morfemas ocorrem entre o morfema de pessoa e a raiz verbal como observado em yn a-taka-hit-ø kat (glosa: eu 2p-dec-dar-nfut isso, tradução: eu te dei isso (Storto, 1999)). Nessa primeira análise, Storto (com. pess.) classifica esses morfemas como modo porque, segundo ela, eles marcam diferentes tipos de sentença na língua. A semântica e a pragmática formal foram utilizadas como embasamento teórico da pesquisa. Alguns trabalhos assumem que modo é um morfema que marca modalidade (Bybee, 1985; Palmer, 1986). Para a semântica formal modalidade é uma categoria do significado que está relacionada à expressão de necessidades e possibilidades (Kratzer, 1981; von Fintel, 2006; Hacquard, 2011). Outros trabalhos consideram que modo é um morfema que marca tipos de sentença. Na pragmática tipos sentenciais estão relacionados à força ilocucionária da sentença (Saeed, 2009; Portner, 2011). Seguindo a terminologia de Portner (2011), esta dissertação se refere aos morfemas de modo que estiverem relacionados à expressão de modalidade como modo verbal e os morfemas de modo que estiverem relacionados ao tipo sentencial são chamados modos sentenciais. A análise dos morfemas do Karitiana classificados como modo mostrou que essa língua possui dois lugares na estrutura morfossintática do verbo para marcar a categoria \'modo\' e não apenas um como assumido anteriormente como ilustrado por a-ta-jy-hit-ø celula-ty (glosa: 2p-dec-con-dar-nfut celular-obl tradução: eu te daria um celular). Esta pesquisa assume que cada posição marca um tipo específico de modo: os morfemas que ocorrem na primeira posição (e.g. na(ka)-/ta(ka)-) marcam tipos sentenciais, ou seja, são modos sentenciais e os morfemas que ocorrem na segunda posição (e.g. pyn- e jy-) marcam modalidade, ou seja, são modos verbais. Modos verbais e modos sentenciais podem coocorrer o que é uma evidência da existência de duas posições. O estudo da categoria modo em Karitiana possibilitou um melhor entendimento dessa categoria translinguisticamente. Segundo Sadock & Zwicky (1985) morfemas de modo não coocorrem e esta dissertação mostra que eles podem ocorrer se não estiverem ambos relacionados a força ilocucionária ou modalidade. / This research aims to increase the crosslinguistic knowledge about the categories mood within a study in a Brazilian indigenous language. The reason for this study is that there are not many reliable studies of this category in unfamiliar languages (Palmer, 2001). The object of study of this research is Karitiana language (Tupi family, Arikém subfamily) and the corpus analyzed here is composed by data from the miths and stories of this language as well as data collected by the author of the research from native speakers. We used contextualized data elicitation proposed by Matthewson (2004) and Mendes (2014). Mood in Karitiana was firstly analyzed by Storto (2002) who states that this language has a quite developed mood system that is at the same time not well understood. For her, this language has six mood morphemes: na(ka)-/ta(ka)- (declarative), pyt- (assertive), pyn- (deontic), iri- (citative), jy- (conditional) and a/-/-y (imperative). These morphemes occurs between the person morpheme and the verbal root as can be seen in yn a-taka-hit-ø kat (gloss: I 2p-dec-give-nfut that, translation: I gave you that (Storto, 1999)). In this first analysis, Storto (p.c.) assumes that those morphemes mark different types of sentence, being sentential mood morphemes. We used formal semantics and pragmatics as the theoretical background for the research. Some studies assume that mood is a morpheme which marks modality (Bybee, 1985; Palmer, 1986). In formal semantics modality is a category related to the expressions of possibilities and necessities (Kratzer, 1981; von Fintel, 2006; Hacquard, 2011). Other studies consider that mood is a morpheme which marks sentential types. In pragmatics the types of sentences are related to the illocutionary force of the sentence (Saeed, 2009; Portner, 2011). We follow the terminology used by Portner (2011) and call mood morphemes related to modality verbal mood and morphemes related to sentential type are called sentential mood. The analysis of the morphemes in Karitiana classified as mood has shown that this language has two positions in the morphosyntactical structure of the verb to the mood category and not only one as previously proposed. This can be seen in a-ta-jy-hit-ø celula-ty (gloss: 2p-dec-con-give-nfut cellphone-obl translation: I would give you a cellphone). This research proposes that each position mark a specific type of mood: Morphemes of the first position (e.g. na(ka)-/ta(ka)-) mark types of sentence, therefore, they are sentential moods and morphemes that occur in the second position (e.g. pyn- e jy-) mark modality, therefore, they are verbal moods. Verbal and sentential moods can co-occur what is an evidence for the existence of two positions. The study of mood done by this research allowed a better understanding of mood category crosslinguistically. For Sadock&Zwicky (1985), mood morphemes should not co-occur and this research has shown that they can co-occur if they are not both related to illocutionary force or modality.