Four kinds of subjectivity

From speaking to communicating

Bibliographic Data

ID14760958
AuthorsHenrik Bergqvist (0000-0001-6114-5527, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume111
Pages101745
Publication date2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0388-0001 • E-ISSN: 1873-5746
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101745
OpenAlexW4412524925
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

The aim of the paper is to argue for the utility of subjectivity as a descriptive notion and to support this aim by distinguishing between different levels of linguistic analysis where subjectivity plays a role. The idea behind this is to develop and promote the use of the notion of subjectivity in the framework of descriptive linguistics and cross-linguistic comparison. Subjectivity is conceptualized as the speaker’s expression of “self” and the paper identifies four kinds of subjectivity: Subjectivity of speaking – the speaker’s choice to say one thing instead of another; Subjectivity of reference – how speaking subjects position themselves with respect to objects, places, times, and other speaking subjects; Subjectivity of stance – how speaking subjects position their attitudes to knowledge of the world with respect to the knowledge-states of other speaking subjects; Subjectivity of communication - how speaking subjects position their utterances with respect to the potential and actual utterances of other speaking subjects. On the communicative level, subjectivity is argued to be a useful notion in the definition of grammatical forms that primarily serve communicative, rather than referential functions. On this level, the speaker’s responsibility for an utterance constitutes a subjective orientation that may be contrasted with a non-subjective, public orientation where the speaker shares responsibility with a larger group

Epistemology · Linguistics · Sociology · Subjectivity · Communication · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology

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