Epistemic incongruence, intensifying particles and information elaboration

Abstract

This paper explores a discourse pattern found in responses to assertions. The pattern includes a particle that stresses agreement (e.g., Sp. claro, por supuesto, evidentemente) followed by a segment where the second speaker elaborates on the information provided by the first. It is argued that, in the contexts analysed here, these particles index epistemic incongruence: although the second speaker shows agreement with the semantic content proposed by the first, the content is known or even obvious for the second speaker and the assertion is therefore, in a sense, problematic. Drawing from this analysis, a distinction is proposed between two levels within the general category of (dis)agreement: one level relates to content and the other relates to the assumptions about the epistemic configuration that are carried in an assertive speech act itself.