Epistemic Modality: Functional properties and the Italian system (Studies in Language Companion Series)

Pietrandrea, Paola

ISBN 10: 9027230846 / ISBN 13: 9789027230843

Published by John Benjamins Publishing Compan, 2005

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0002944619

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Epistemic Modality: Functional properties and the Italian system (Studies in Language Companion Series)
• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Compan
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027230846
• ISBN 13: 9789027230843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This volume offers an original theoretical and methodological approach to the hotly debated issue of epistemic modality. The analysis is conducted in a rigorous typological frame developed after a careful consideration of a wealth of cross-linguistic data, and focuses on Italian, a language often disregarded in comparative analyses. The complexity of the Italian epistemic system provides relevant information that will undoubtedly foster a better understanding of the topic. A new definition of epistemic modality is proposed on a functional basis and the structure of the Italian epistemic system is closely described. The morpho-syntactic characteristics of Italian epistemic forms are regarded as the result of the dialectic between universal functional pressures and peculiar system resistances. Shaped by the system, epistemic modality emerges as an intrinsically linguistic category, which cannot be downsized to a mere conceptual notion, as other approaches would propose.