Jan Nuyts

Epistemic modality, language, and conceptualization: a cognitive-pragmatic perspective

The relationship between language and conceptualization remains one of the major puzzles in language research. This monograph addresses this issue by means of an in depth corpus based and experimental investigation of the major types of expressions of epistemic modality in Dutch, German and English. By adopting a systematic functional orientation, the book explains a whole range of peculiarities of epistemic expression forms (synchronically and diachronically), and it offers a clear perspective on which cognitive systems are needed to get from the concept of epistemic modality to its linguistic expression. On that basis the author postulates a sophisticated, layered view of human conceptualization. This book is of interest both to scholars working on modality and related semantic dimensions, and to the interdisciplinary field of researchers concerned with the cognitive systems involved in language use.

Subjectivity as an evidential dimension in epistemic modal expressions

This paper analyzes the role of subjectivity in epistemic modal expressions. It argues for an interpretation of the dimension of subjectivity as a separate evidential qualification. On the basis of corpus data, it attempts to show how the dimension manifests itself in linguistic structure in the context of expression forms of epistemic modality. It reflects on the precise nature of the dimension, and discusses its connections with some other notions of evidentiality. It further considers the relation between the present notion of subjectivity and the notion as found elsewhere in the literature.

Epistemic modal adverbs and adjectives and the layered representation of conceptual and linguistic structure

This paper attempts to deal with the question of what the differences are between constructions with modal adverbs such as probably and constructions with predicatively used modal adjectives of the type it is probable that.. in the way they express epistemic modal qualifications. the two expression types have several distinctive behavioral properties, and these are explained in terms of three different underlying factors : the discourse functionality of the constructions, the interaction of epistemic modal qualification with evidential marking, and the performative vs. descriptive nature of the modal expression

Spatial operations in deixis, cognition, and culture: where to orient oneself in Belhare

Introduction The question I want to raise, ‘Where to orient oneself’, addresses two issues. First, it asks for the type of deictic field within which spatial information is transmitted. This issue is motivated by my attempts to understand what Belhare people mean when they tell you, for instance, to move something toba ‘up’; for it is by no means obvious where toba is. Secondly, the question looks for the domain in which spatial information is encoded and for the relation of this domain to grammar, semantics, and cognition. More specifically, I inquire into the effects that spatial deixis has on the grammar of Belhare, on the quality of different ‘senses’ in deixis (is there linguistically resolvable polysemy? or mere contextual vagueness?), and on the relation of linguistic deixis to other cognitive modalities that are basic to spatial orientation and manifest in cultural patterns and social behaviour. I address the cross-modal questions from a linguistic point of view, seeking for structural parallels in non-linguistic cognition. The language and people I am concerned with are called Belhare (Nep. Belhālre or Belhārīya ) or Belhare Rai, the term Rai (Nep. Rāī ) being the collective ethnonym for a subgroup of the Kiranti (Nep. Kiratī ) people in Eastern Nepal (cf. Vikal & Rāī 2051, Bickel 1996). The language is spoken by some two thousand people. Virtually all speakers are bilingual, also speaking Nepali, the national Indo-Aryan lingua franca, but Belhare is still the preferred means of communication.

On determining the functions of language

Functionalism in the language sciences is based on the claim that language is instrumental — i.e., that it fulfills functions for its user. There is little agreement about which functions, however, and the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the clarification of this matter. After characterizing the problem, I will survey the literature explicitly dealing with it. An analysis of the structure of verbal communication will finally lead to a proposal for a functional scheme for linguistic behavior.

The “one-commitment-per-clause” principle and the cognitive status of qualificational categories

Abstract Combinations of performative deontic, epistemic and evidential expressions in a clause appear to be very rare in language. This article presents facts to this effect on the basis of Dutch corpus data, and attempts to explain them. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of the cognitive status of the semantic notions involved, and more generally of the phenomenon called “tense-aspect-modality marking” or the “qualification of states of affairs” in language. In particular, the aim is to contribute to current theorizing on the hierarchical nature of qualifications and the position of this hierarchical system in a cognitive language model.

Negative-raising reconsidered: Arguments for a cognitive-pragmatic approach

Abstract This paper is an attempt to sketch the outlines of an approach to ‘negative-raising’ and related problems which differs both from the traditional syntactic account in terms of a transformational rule, and from the traditional pragmatic account in terms of a pragmatic inference schema. The proposal is cast in terms of the theories of Functional Grammar and Functional Procedural Grammar, and the discussion is not only intended as a contribution to the solution of the negative-raising problem per se, but is also meant as an attempt to show that solving this problem requires levels of representation in a grammar ‘deeper’ than those available in the current model of Functional Grammar. This means that developing a more encompassing model such as Functional Procedural Grammar is not merely a matter of luxury.

Meaning change in the Dutch core modals : (inter)subjectification in a grammatical paradigm

This article presents a corpus-based analysis of the semantic developments of the three most “prototypical” Dutch modals, kunnen ‘can’, mogen ‘may’, and moeten ‘must’. It focuses on the implications for current concepts of (inter)subjectification. The three modals turn out not to behave in a uniform way and to show different diachronic profiles: kunnen and mogen do but moeten does not show clear processes of (inter)subjectification, while kunnen is a much “younger” modal than mogen and moeten. In terms of paths of semantic change, the investigation shows that evolutions toward more (inter)subjective meanings are often not linear. Even if they predominantly emerge from one other meaning, new meanings can have secondary sources. Furthermore, evolutions often happen in parallel, with one specific meaning serving as the source for several others (e.g., deontic, epistemic/evidential, and directive meanings typically all evolve in parallel from a dynamic modal meaning).

Processing epistemic modality: Some consequences for modeling language production

This paper aims to contribute (from a linguistic angle) to the issue of the nature and structure of the cognitive systems involved in language production, and specifically to how linguistic structures and processes relate to conceptual structures and processes in it, by means of an empirical analysis of (some aspects of) the linguistic behavior of epistemic modal expression forms and by considering its implications for the question of the status of ‘qualificational categories’ such as epistemic modality in language processing, and specifically in language production. The paper will focus more particularly on (the theoretical implications of) the effect of the structure of information in actual discourse situations on the use of the major epistemic expression types in Dutch (sentence adverbs, predicative adjectives, mental state predicates, and modal auxiliaries) and the (complex) relationship of this factor with the syntactic organization of these expressions.

What a Personal Pronoun Can Do for You: The Case of a Southern Dutch Dialect

This paper presents a functional analysis of the grammatical system of subject pronouns in a southern Dutch dialect (spoken in Antwerp, Belgium), aiming to illustrate how the high ‘pragmatic value’ of personal pronouns in a language may trigger considerable structural and functional sophistication in them. The dialect under consideration features a very complex set of subject pronouns, with 33 different forms including derived and reduplicated ones, as well as a system for syntactic pronoun doubling according to a number of fixed combinatorial patterns. Alternative forms and combinations turn out to serve a number of quite different interactive roles pertaining to different aspects of the special position of pronominal referents in conversation, with the two major functional dimensions determining pronominal choice being the coding of the informational salience of the referent on the one hand, and the expression of the speaker’s personal feelings and attitudes (positive as well as negative) regarding the interlocutor or the pronominal referent on the other hand.