b[Doub(Dou2,Dou3)] as a counter-expectation discourse-marker: On the pragmatic functions of Doub from the perspective of discourse analysis

Abstract

The conventional implicature of Doub indicates that a speaker make a judgment on the state of affairs described by a proposition, and he/she believes that the possibility of the state of affairs is inferior-to-expectation (or normal). It is a non-truth procedural pragmatic meaning which carries interpersonal functions and textual functions in discourse. In this paper, “counter-expectation information” is divided into two main classes, “adversity-to-expectation” and “deviation-from-expectation”, and four subclasses, “contradictory relation”, “contrary relation”, “superior-to-expectation”, and “inferior-to-expectation”. Based on this scheme, the semantic function and pragmatic functions of Doub as a counter-expectation discourse marker is analysed. This study has shown that the pragmatic scale of the possibility of occurrence or existence of a situation is the pragmatic scope of Doub; and the “inferior-to-expectation” is its pragmatic condition. The informative intention of Doub is to state that the possibility of occurrence or existence of a situation is lower than the expectation (or normal), and the communicative intention is to provide the proof or support for the declaration and the assertion of the speaker, namely for evidentiality or to enhance illocutionary force and mood in language. This is the meta-pragmatic awareness of Doub. In a textual structure, a Doub sentence is usually an “assistant” of a declaration or an assertion, and it is seldom used as an independent sentence/ expression. The textual relevance types of Doub sentences mainly include: progressive, adversative, certificative, causation, and suppositional. And Doub is often used in spoken discourse.