Speech-act adverbs in English and Polish: a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural comparison

Agata Rozumko

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Abstract

Speech-act adverbs constitute one of the categories of epistemic expressions. There is considerable terminological confusion regarding epistemic adverbs, speech-act adverbs included. The present study uses the classification proposed by Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer (2007), who define speech-act adverbs as those which refer to speech acts which could potentially be used to support the speaker’s opinion or raise voices against his/her point of view, e.g. admittedly, arguably, indisputably, unarguably, unquestionably, undeniably. The aim of this study is to identify Polish equivalents of such adverbs, and analyze the cross-cultural significance of the differences between the ranges and uses of speech-act adverbs in the two languages.

Keywords:

adverbs, epistemic, speech acts, English, Polish, intercultural