The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’
This study provides an account of the pragmatic functions of the stance markers ‘I don't think’ and ‘I think + not’, based on naturally-occurring L1 (American English speakers) and L2 (Chinese and Persian English speakers) classroom corpora. Of the four pragmatic functions, emphatic, evaluative...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Routledge
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69780 |
| _version_ | 1848762132486684672 |
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| author | Sabet, P. Zhang, Grace |
| author_facet | Sabet, P. Zhang, Grace |
| author_sort | Sabet, P. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study provides an account of the pragmatic functions of the stance markers ‘I don't think’ and ‘I think + not’, based on naturally-occurring L1 (American English speakers) and L2 (Chinese and Persian English speakers) classroom corpora. Of the four pragmatic functions, emphatic, evaluative, tentative and mitigating, evaluative (informative) is used the most and mitigating (interpersonal) is used the least. The two expressions can also be explained in terms of fluidity and stretchability. There is a certainty degree of fluidity in the use of ‘I don't think’ and ‘I think + not’; they may perform more than one function simultaneously in the same utterance. Stretchability is manifested in that from the default evaluative function, the expressions stretch upwards (strengthening) to the emphatic and downwards (softening) to the tentative and mitigating functions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:42:42Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-69780 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:42:42Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-697802019-01-22T01:39:46Z The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ Sabet, P. Zhang, Grace This study provides an account of the pragmatic functions of the stance markers ‘I don't think’ and ‘I think + not’, based on naturally-occurring L1 (American English speakers) and L2 (Chinese and Persian English speakers) classroom corpora. Of the four pragmatic functions, emphatic, evaluative, tentative and mitigating, evaluative (informative) is used the most and mitigating (interpersonal) is used the least. The two expressions can also be explained in terms of fluidity and stretchability. There is a certainty degree of fluidity in the use of ‘I don't think’ and ‘I think + not’; they may perform more than one function simultaneously in the same utterance. Stretchability is manifested in that from the default evaluative function, the expressions stretch upwards (strengthening) to the emphatic and downwards (softening) to the tentative and mitigating functions. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69780 10.1080/07268602.2018.1470459 Routledge restricted |
| spellingShingle | Sabet, P. Zhang, Grace The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title | The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title_full | The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title_fullStr | The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title_short | The Pragmatic Functions of ‘I Don't Think’ and ‘I Think + Not’ |
| title_sort | pragmatic functions of ‘i don't think’ and ‘i think + not’ |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69780 |