СТАТУС КВОТИТИВНОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ И СПОСОБЫ ЕЕ АКТУАЛИЗАЦИИ В НЕМЕЦКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

Научная статья
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.5.12
Выпуск: № 1 (5), 2016
PDF

Аннотация

Известно, что к источникам «обыденного» знания относятся чувственное восприятие мира; мыслительная активность человека, детерминированная его способностью помимо пассивного созерцания к анализу окружающей действительности; а также получение знания «из вторых рук» в ходе разностороннего обмена информацией в обществе. Обсуждаемая в данной работе проблема сосредоточена на знании «из вторых рук» или квотативной информации – заимствованной информации, в достоверности которой говорящий может сомневаться. Несмотря на неоднозначность в определении статуса квотативной информации, мы относим ее к самостоятельным источникам приобретения информации главным образом исходя из наличия в немецком языке специальных маркеров для ее актуализации.

Introduction

In recent years, the term "quotative", related to such English words as "quote", "quotation" has received a new interpretation. Initially, the word “quotative” referred to oblique mood. In Estonian, for example, the verb has four moods, one of which is quotative used to express improbability and doubt. Currently, some authors are using the Russian equivalent of the term – "tsitativ", which is used in the study of evidentiality. So, speaking of mediated information Plungian V.A. [1, p. 323] specifies it as derived from the third parties and indicating the presence of "tsitativ" in the verbal language system. In other words, the application of "tsitativ" is associated with the information acquired from other people.

Other researchers use the term "quotative", attributing additional meaning to the word. Andreeva E.V. [2, p. 187] following Kozintseva N.A., connects the term "quotative" with the semantics of oblique evidentiality (retelling), when the source of information is not personal observation or logical reasoning of the speaker, but the message of another person, when the speaker has the reason to doubt the truth of what is said.

To summarise what has been said, it can be noted that in recent studies the word "quotative" denotes not only oblique mood, but mediated information in general. In addition, the term "quotative" has acquired a new semantic component – the speaker questions the reliability of the information he reproduces. In this paper we define the status of quotative information in relation to other sources of "everyday" knowledge, which includes knowledge received from secondary sources and sensory or intellectual knowledge, and look into the ways of marking it in German.

Theoretical Background of the Study

Speaking of quotative information it is necessary to determine its place among other sources of knowledge acquisition. There are striking differences in the way linguists treat this issue. Thus, Yakovleva E.S. [3, p. 227] considers the knowledge of this kind to be direct, as well as Boulygina T.V. and Shmelev A.D. In contrast, Andreeva E.V. [2, p. 187] indicates logical output of information in quotatives.

For other researchers the place of mediated knowledge is not a question. According to Belyaeva E.I. [4, p. 163], the use of mediated knowledge allows to transfer the role of the subject of evaluation to a third party. Khadartsev O.A. [5, p. 186] considers that when there is no evaluation of probability, the speaker can indicate that he had received information from the third party: "[They say] X took place."

Finally, Zaliznyak A.A. claims that mediated knowledge can be attributed to different types of information. The author notes that the evidence of others, depending on the measure of their reliability, can provide knowledge and veracity when "it does not change the conceptual world of the subject, only adds another proposition 'X believes that" [6, p. 6].

As you can see, there are significant differences in the opinion of linguists concerning mediated knowledge among other sources of information about the world.

 

Quotative information as an independent way of receiving knowledge

In our understanding mediated knowledge is an independent kind of knowledge, which is not a part of perceptual or inferential knowledge. The interpretation of another's expertise as an independent type of information about the surrounding reality is based primarily on the fact that in German there are special and unique markers, characteristic only of this language, markers of secondary knowledge, which include units of different levels of language: subjunctive of indirect speech, modal verbs (MV) "sollen, wollen" in function of evaluation, modal words (MW) "angeblich, vorgeblich".

Regarding the German conjunctive, it should be noted that it is subdivided into present and past forms that can be regarded as paradigmatic synonyms, although on the syntagmatic level this synonymity is broken. The conjunctive use of different forms enables the speaker to actualise different levels of reliability of quotative information. In contrast to present conjunctive, which is aimed at marking a greater degree of confidence in the other's saying, past subjunctive expresses less confidence. For example: "Nein, sie würde zu Hause einfach sagen, daβ sie beim Volleyballspielen mit Ulrike zusammengestoβen sei und Ulrike mit ihren langen Fingernägeln am Hals gekratzt hätte (I. Heyne)".

Lexical and grammatical means of actualising quotative information include MV sollen and wollen, which are relevant for the explication of doubt about the authenticity of the original statement when reproducing it. Discrepancies in semantic volume of these lexical units refer to marking the subject of information: the use of MV sollen is used when talking about an indefinite subject, whereas MV wollen is associated with the actualisation of the subject of speech, identified with the subject of the action of the original statement and "transmitted" through reproduction: "Sie soll es ihm versprochen haben (B. Lebert); ... Ein Lamparter will beim Vorbeirennen ein Geschrei vernommen haben ... (R. Schneider)".

By MW angeblich and vorgeblich the speaker marks quotative information, the accuracy of which is doubtful. As for the source of information, it is of no interest for him and is not indicated in the statement: "Angeblich hörte er nichts, hob nur den Kopf ein bisschen und fragte ... (I. Schulze)".

Thus, quotative information, which has an independent status, indicates someone else's statement, the authenticity of which the speaker doubts. Means of its actualization in the German language include subjunctive indirect speech, MV sollen, wollen, MW angeblich, vorgeblich. It should be noted that such sources of information as perceptual and inferential knowledge are primary in relation to the speaker, in contrast to quotative information which is secondary.

Список литературы

  • Плунгян В. А. Общая морфология: Введение в проблематику : Учебное пособие. - М. : Эдиториал УРСС, 2000.

  • Андреева Е. В. Функции артикля в высказываниях с модальными признаками фактивности/нефактивности (на материале старофранцузского языка XII-XIII вв.). Проблемы функциональной грамматики. Категории морфологии и синтаксиса в высказывании. – СПб. : Наука, 2000. – С. 176-193.

  • Яковлева Е. С. Фрагменты русской языковой картины мира (модели пространства, времени, восприятия). – М. : Гнозис, 1994.

  • Беляева Е. И. Достоверность. Теория функциональной грамматики. Темпоральность. Модальность. / Отв. ред. А.В.Бондарко. – Л. : Наука, 1990. – С. 157-170.

  • Хадарцев О. А. Эвиденциальность и эпистемический статус в персидском языке: взаимодействие двух категорий. // Язык и речевая деятельность. – Т. 3, часть I. – СПб: Издательство С.-Петербургского университета, 2000. – С. 182-194.

  • Зализняк А. А. «Знание» и «мнение» в семантике предикатов внутреннего состояния. Коммуникативные аспекты исследования языка. – М. : Институт языкознания, 1986. – С. 4-15.