Verbs of Appearance and Argument Schemes: Italian Sembrare as an Argumentative Indicator

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of verbs of appearance as argumentative indicators analyzing the uses of the Italian verb sembrare (‘to seem’) in a sample of 40 texts chosen from a corpus of reviews, editorials and comment posts. An analysis conducted within the framework of the Argumentum Model of Topics shows that the verb, in its evidential-inferential uses, indicates specific argument schemes of the symptomatic as well as of the causal type.