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Turn-initial ki ‘because’-clauses as a rhetorical responsive practice in Hebrew Facebook comments

ORCiD logo with link | Achva Academic College
 | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
 | Bar-Ilan University
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Abstract
This study examines the pragmatic-rhetorical functions of turn-initial Hebrew ki ‘because’-clauses in readers’ comments on politicians’ Facebook posts. An analysis of 100 ki-clauses, responding to either politicians’ posts or comments by other commenters, reveals that they provide explanations and justifications for claims and positions regarding a particular action, general conduct or way of thinking of the previous speaker, or a third party. It is argued that such explanations serve to either support or challenge others’ positions, both sincerely and ironically, in accordance with the corpus’s dual nature as both a platform for uniting political camps and a battleground for opposing camps. When affiliative, ki-clauses justify the previous speakers, at times by ironically justifying third parties, making them a shared target. Conversely, when disaffiliative, ki-clauses expose the absurdity underlying the position of the previous speaker, often ridiculing them through ironic echoing.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The discursive characteristics of readers’ comments to politicians’ Facebook posts
  • 3.Causal adverbial clauses
  • 4.Corpus and methodology
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Overview
    • 5.2Sincere ki-clauses
      • 5.2.1Supporting prior position
      • 5.2.2Challenging prior position
    • 5.3Ironic ki-clauses
      • 5.3.1Supporting prior position
      • 5.3.2Challenging prior position
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
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