Evidential Markers in English The Word Apparently Assignment

Evidential Markers in English The Word Apparently - Assignment Example The word apparently is representative of an act of cognition because it demonstrates the speaker’s state of mind and conveys what he or she thinks, believes or even guesses based on information received or observed indirectly. As Briton (1996) explains, words demonstrating an act of cognition are generally associated with a mental construction of â€Å"evidential markers from verbs of cognition† which are â€Å"analogous to the development of hearsay, sensory, and inferential evidential from verbs of perception† which mean â€Å"hear, see, and feel† (p. 243). Therefore the word apparently is a construction of information observed by the speaker. The speaker is not conveying infinitive information, but rather an information that is not only indirect but open to challenge. From a cognition perspective, there is always the possibility that the speaker is misinformed or has erroneously interpreted information observed or overheard. The mode of knowing is obvious in the use of the word apparently. Implicitly, the speaker is not conveying direct knowledge of a fact but rather an inference is drawn from information. The use of the word apparently is demonstrative of the speaker’s unwillingness to commit to a definitive conclusion but rather a willingness to offer an interpretation or perception of the information received or observed (Brinton, 1996). The speaker limits the information to an inferential form and is thus manifesting a degree of uncertainty by using the word apparently and failing to assert unequivocally that the information observed or received can be conclusively stated. Faller (2002) describes what is known as the reportative marker. The reportative marker is relevant to the word apparently because it offers a contradictory stance on the part of the speaker.