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Article published In:
Functions of Language
Vol. 26:3 (2019) ► pp.275–307

Evidentiality in adverbs of manner of perceivability

The case of English manifestly, noticeably, patently and visibly

| Complutense University of Madrid
This paper presents an analysis of the expression of evidentiality by the English adverbs manifestly, noticeably, patently and visibly (MNP&V). I propose that the adverbs have a meaning of manner and an evidential meaning, and that both meanings often coexist, in which case evidentiality is shown to be a pragmatic implication of the meaning of manner. An account is provided of the factors of the linguistic context that trigger MNP&V’s evidential meaning, as a single meaning or as an implication: propositional scope, realis assertion, no premodification by degree adverbs mapping on to a construal of totality and no coordination with adverbs of manner. Position is also shown to strengthen or weaken the evidential implication when MNP&V have syntactic clausal scope. The evidentiality expressed by MNP&V is also characterised according to mode of access, domain, subjectivity and reliability. The adverbs have been submitted to a quantitative analysis of all their occurrences in the British National Corpus; the results show that MNP&V are evidential by implication in most cases, and also uncover individual differences in features such as position and domain of evidence and in the extent to which each adverb can be considered as an evidential expression.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and structure of the paper
  • 2.The data analysed
  • 3.The concept and scope of evidentiality
  • 4.A description of MNP&V
    • 4.1The selection of MNP&V for the study
    • 4.2The dictionary meanings of MNP&V
    • 4.3MNP&V in the literature
    • 4.4MNP&V’s meaning of manner
    • 4.5MNP&V’s evidential meaning
    • 4.6Coexistence of the two meanings
  • 5.Qualitative analysis of the evidential meanings of MNP&V
    • 5.1Criteria for distinguishing evidential and non-evidential occurrences
      • 5.1.1Witnessing of evidence and realis assertion
      • 5.1.2Temporal location of the proposition
      • 5.1.3Modifiers of degree
      • 5.1.4Coordination with evidential adverbs and with adverbs of manner
      • 5.1.5Position
      • 5.1.6Recapitulation of the criteria
    • 5.2Parameters of evidentiality
      • 5.2.1Mode of access to the evidence
      • 5.2.2Domains of evidence
      • 5.2.3Intersubjectivity
      • 5.2.4Evaluation of the evidence: High reliability
  • 6.The quantitative analysis
    • 6.1The database
    • 6.2Results and discussion
  • 7.Conclusions and suggestions for further research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Primary sources
  • References
Published online: 25 November 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.00024.car
References (43)
Primary sources
The Cambridge Dictionary: [URL]
Collins English Dictionary: [URL]
WordReference.com English dictionary: [URL]
Oxford English Dictionary: [URL]
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