2025 Vol. 16 №2

Pragmatics of epistemic warrants of the real, the possible and the probable in discourse

DOI

10.5922/2225-5346-2025-2-1

Pages

13-27

Abstract

The ‘pragmatics of language’ is a set of pragmatic means of a particular language, the meanings of which not only change the world, but also themselves change in the framework of discourse. At the same time, ‘linguistic pragmatics’ is a branch of linguistics that examines linguistic units from the point of view of their use. The ‘pragmatic turn’ of the 1970s in lin­guistics meant an interest in using language as an action in which words acquire their ac­tual mea­nings, sometimes radically different from their non — contextual dictionary mea­nings. The study of the contribution that linguistic means of epistemic modality make to the mea­ning of discourse is a subject of epistemic pragmatics and has great applied potential. The article examines the lines of demarcation between linguistic semantics and pragmatics, as well as research directions in the field of epistemic pragmatics, including the use of epistemic modalities in the text. Strategies and tactics of manipulative influence on the audience play a crucial role in the presentation of epistemic warrants — guarantees that shape the epistemic credit history of communicants and may sometimes result in epistemic default. Some communicative techniques used in this process are analyzed: appeal to the guarantor of truth and reliability (authority), cognitive and communicative maneuvering, toggle words in media texts, etc.

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