The epistemic use of "I (don't) think" and its translational equivalents in Czech and Swedish

Abstract

Our conversations invariably involve exchange of ideas, attitudes. Nevertheless, each one of us possesses an emotional and social sense referred to as 'face', which we expect everyone else to recognize. Whenever we share our point of view on something, we constantly put our face in danger of being exposed to a possible threat. Thus we seek ways, on the one hand, to express ourselves, but on the other hand, we at the same time strive to lessen the risk of a possible threat to our expectations as much as possible. The expression I think represents a very helpful tool in this process. Consequently, speakers make an extensive use of this particular expression for various reasons, either on purpose or unconsciously. The present paper digs deeper into the complex use of I think and attempts to analyze the diverse shades of meaning of I think cross-linguistically. Technically, the following thesis consists of two main sections: the theoretical and the research part. This paper picks up the threads of the previous studies of the epistemic I think on a cross-linguistic level. Before launching my study, I want to take stock of the key concepts and terminology that appeared in the two previous studies and that will likewise be used in the present one. Consequently, in the theoretical part I will address certain...

V kazdodennej komunikaeii predstavuje vyraz (ne)myslim (I (don't) think) uzitocnu pomoeku na vyjadrenie vlastneho postoja, nazoru, ci predpokladu. CieIom tejto praee bolo skumaf na kontrastivnej baze prekladove varianty tohoto vyrazu, ktoryeh roznorodosf mala ukazaf odtiene. jeho rozlicne vyznamove Teoretieka casf si stanovila dva hlavne eiele: vysvetlif lingvistieke pojmy, ktore sa objavili v predehadzajueieh studiaeh a boli pouzite aj v tejto praei; zhrnuf predehadzajuee dve studie istotneho pouzitia vyrazu I think (myslim) v anglictine, od ktoryeh sa odvijal aj sucasny vyskum. Praktieka casf sa zamerala na samotnu analYzu. Autorka v nej popisala skumane materialy a postup pri analYze. Vysledky nasledne zhrnula a doplnila tabuIkami. Praeu uzavrela strucnYm prehladom hlavnyeh zisteni a porovnala ieh so zisteniami autoriek predehadzajueieh dvoeh studii.