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Resumo

This paper provides a description of the pragmatics of language use in Egyptian English newspaper editorials. Editorials are defined as 'acts of passing judgement', and Searle's (1976) taxonomy of illocutionary acts is used to compare editorials from Egyptian English, American English, and Egyptian Arabic newspapers. The results show that Egyptian English conforms neither to the American English nor to Egyptian Arabic patterns with regard to the use of representatives and declaratives. It uses more declaratives and fewer representatives than American English, but fewer declaratives and more representatives than Egyptian Arabic. Qualitative as well as quantitative differences in the usage of the illocutionary acts are discussed, and it is hypothesized that American English places more emphasis on Grice's (1975) maxim of quality, while Egyptian English places more emphasis on the maxim of quantity.

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