The role of pragmatics in the definition of evidentiality

Abstract

Abstract This paper argues that a definition of evidentiality as a linguistic notion should be based on the pragmatic properties of evidential forms and their distribution in spoken discourse. The prevailing definition of evidentiality as signaling “information source” is based on the idea that evidentials encode a solitary speaker’s perception and cognitive processes, but this definition does not fit well with observations regarding the use and distribution of evidentials. A definition of evidentiality in terms of “information source” has largely disregarded evidentials in-use, which is especially true for typologically oriented studies of evidentiality. Recent descriptions of evidentials and evidential systems have shown that evidentials encode meanings related to ownership of knowledge, rather than information source and it is evident from such descriptions that social and interactional parameters are encoded in evidential forms. The attested semantic and pragmatic complexity of evidential systems constitutes an analytical challenge that the present paper aims to address.

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