This article explores the use of evidentials, or markers of source of information in witness depositions from England in the period 1680–1710. By comparing the results with those from a previous study on the Salem witch trials (Grund 2012), I point to significant similarities in the linguistic forms and deployment of markers signaling sensory evidence, inference, assumption, and quotatives (i.e. information based on what other people have said). I also demonstrate the importance of considering the socio-historical and situational context in the interpretation of the evidentials: the legal setting and concerns such as appearing reliable and credible or not providing potentially questionable evidence probably significantly influenced deponents’ choices of evidential strategies.
2024. (Un)certainty, Suspicion, and Some “Horrifying Sickness:” On Pragmatic (or Stance) Markers in Hungarian Witchcraft Records. In Cultural Linguistics and (Re)conceptualized Tradition [Cultural Linguistics, ], ► pp. 429 ff.
WHITT, RICHARD J.
2023. Epistemic space and key concepts in early and late modern medical discourse: an exploration of two genres. English Language and Linguistics 27:2 ► pp. 241 ff.
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