The Italian Epistemic Disclaimer Non so [I Don't Know] in a Corpus of Gynaecological Interactions

Bibliographic Data

ID5900524
AuthorsRamona Bongelli (0000-0002-1276-4660, University of Macerata, corresponding author), Andrzej Zuczkowski (0000-0002-9146-7807, University of Macerata), Ilaria Riccioni (0000-0001-8449-6012, University of Macerata)
Year2023
Volume8
Issue4
Pages226
Publication date2023-09-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages8040226
OpenAlexW4386961112
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited61

Viewing conversations from an epistemic perspective involves analysing how participants navigate their knowledge, handle uncertainty, and address their lack of knowledge. This article focuses on the use of epistemic disclaimers, i.e., linguistic expressions that speakers employ to indicate uncertainty or lack of knowledge, in a collection of Italian gynaecological conversations throughout pregnancy. Specifically, the study examines the occurrences, features, and pragmatic functions of the epistemic disclaimers, with a specific focus on Non so, which is the Italian equivalent of "I don't know" in English, the most extensively researched epistemic disclaimer. The study aims to (1) investigate the types and frequency of uncertain and unknowing epistemic disclaimers in the gynaecological corpus and (2) identify their characteristics and pragmatic functions. The primary findings indicate that epistemic disclaimers are primarily used to convey unknowledge rather than uncertainty. However, while patients use more epistemic disclaimers than doctors, they mainly use them to communicate unknowledge, whereas doctors mainly use them to express uncertainty. Regardless, their usage does not appear problematic in conversational terms since the topics for which they are used fall outside the domains of knowledge of each party

Disclaimer · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence