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Article published In: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 9:2 (2022) ► pp.304–328

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A discourse-pragmatic functional study of Chinese epistemic markers haoxiang “seem” and keneng “probably”

 | Carthage College
Published online: 6 December 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.20014.wan
Abstract
This study investigates the discourse-pragmatic functions of the epistemic markers haoxiang “seem” and keneng “probably” in natural conversations of Mandarin Chinese. By examining 107 cases of haoxiang and 152 cases of keneng in sequential contexts, it demonstrates that both haoxiang and keneng are hedge expressions showing the speaker’s attitude of lack of commitment to the truthfulness of their own utterance, which is often driven by an intersubjective motivation.
As epistemic markers, haoxiang tends to mitigate informational certainty that is based on the speaker’s personal but vague experience, while keneng is often used to mitigate the assertiveness of the speaker’s personal speculation deduced from background knowledge, general knowledge or commonly accepted logic.
Further, this study claims that both haoxiang and keneng often serve as politeness devices to mitigate various Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) such as disconfirmation, disagreement or negative assessment. In either case, haoxiang and keneng are not merely epistemic markers revealing the speaker’s subjective uncertainty, but also serve as politeness markers for the purpose of intersubjectivity, and their multiple discourse-pragmatic usages are rooted in their semantic meanings, respectively.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Epistemic modality
    • 1.2Epistemic markers in Mandarin Chinese
    • 1.3Previous studies of haoxiang and keneng
  • 2.Data
  • 3.The epistemic functions of haoxiang and keneng
    • 3.1Epistemic usages of haoxiang
    • 3.2Epistemic usages of keneng
    • 3.3Comparison of the epistemic usages of haoxiang and keneng
  • 4.Haoxiang and keneng as politeness markers
    • 4.1Haoxiang as a politeness marker
    • 4.2Keneng as a politeness marker
    • 4.3Haoxiang used in self-praise
    • 4.4The derivation of the functions of haoxiang and keneng
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
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