Modal particles in Italian

This study investigates the properties of a set of Italian adverbs (among others: pure ‘also’, solo ‘only’, un po’ ‘a bit’) that, in specific contexts of use, modify the speech acts in which they appear. On the one hand, these elements specify the way in which a speech act should be interpreted with...

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Main Author: Favaro, Marco
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Language Science Press 2024
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Online Access:OCN: 1423777594
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author Favaro, Marco
author_browse Favaro, Marco
author_facet Favaro, Marco
author_sort Favaro, Marco
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This study investigates the properties of a set of Italian adverbs (among others: pure ‘also’, solo ‘only’, un po’ ‘a bit’) that, in specific contexts of use, modify the speech acts in which they appear. On the one hand, these elements specify the way in which a speech act should be interpreted with reference to the specific interactional context, modifying its illocutionary force. On the other hand, they index presupposed/inferred meanings active in the common ground of the interaction, integrating the speech act in the common ground. These functions closely resemble those of the elements that, especially in the German linguistic tradition, are called modal particles. Drawing on original data from Italian – both from the standard language and regional varieties – the goal of the study is to describe the synchronic features of these elements and to explain the emergence of the modal uses. For this purpose, it jointly employs theoretical notions of pragmatics (speech act theory, inferences in interaction), models of language change (reanalysis and conventionalization) and the descriptive tools of sociolinguistic approaches. Through the presentation of four case studies, integrating corpus and questionnaire data, the present work gives a thorough analysis of the modal functions and the contexts of use of the adverbs under investigation: it explores their role at the semantics/pragmatics interface, it discusses their place in a layered model of grammar and it examines their distribution across different language varieties.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1380502026-06-12T10:03:56Z Modal particles in Italian Favaro, Marco Language Arts & Disciplines Linguistics bic Book Industry Communication::C Language::CF linguistics This study investigates the properties of a set of Italian adverbs (among others: pure ‘also’, solo ‘only’, un po’ ‘a bit’) that, in specific contexts of use, modify the speech acts in which they appear. On the one hand, these elements specify the way in which a speech act should be interpreted with reference to the specific interactional context, modifying its illocutionary force. On the other hand, they index presupposed/inferred meanings active in the common ground of the interaction, integrating the speech act in the common ground. These functions closely resemble those of the elements that, especially in the German linguistic tradition, are called modal particles. Drawing on original data from Italian – both from the standard language and regional varieties – the goal of the study is to describe the synchronic features of these elements and to explain the emergence of the modal uses. For this purpose, it jointly employs theoretical notions of pragmatics (speech act theory, inferences in interaction), models of language change (reanalysis and conventionalization) and the descriptive tools of sociolinguistic approaches. Through the presentation of four case studies, integrating corpus and questionnaire data, the present work gives a thorough analysis of the modal functions and the contexts of use of the adverbs under investigation: it explores their role at the semantics/pragmatics interface, it discusses their place in a layered model of grammar and it examines their distribution across different language varieties. 2024-05-16T04:32:02Z 2024-05-16T04:32:02Z 2024-05-15T05:32:07Z 2024 book OCN: 1423777594 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/90235 9783985540860 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/138050 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/90235/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/90235/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/90235/1/external_content.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/90235/1/external_content.pdf Language Science Press Language Science Press 10.5281/zenodo.10259474 10.5281/zenodo.10259474 ed03121b-b998-4b50-8d58-1d0745565558 Knowledge Unlatched 9783985540860 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) Language Science Press 2021-2023 Language Science Press open access
spellingShingle Language Arts & Disciplines
Linguistics
bic Book Industry Communication::C Language::CF linguistics
Favaro, Marco
Modal particles in Italian
title Modal particles in Italian
title_full Modal particles in Italian
title_fullStr Modal particles in Italian
title_full_unstemmed Modal particles in Italian
title_short Modal particles in Italian
title_sort modal particles in italian
topic Language Arts & Disciplines
Linguistics
bic Book Industry Communication::C Language::CF linguistics
topic_facet Language Arts & Disciplines
Linguistics
bic Book Industry Communication::C Language::CF linguistics
url OCN: 1423777594
work_keys_str_mv AT favaromarco modalparticlesinitalian