Mitigation in the speech of the non-professional participants during trials. A case of powerless language?

Authors

  • Cristina Villalba Ibáñez UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA / UNIVERSITAT JAUME I

Keywords:

Mitigation, powerless language, powerless speech, trials, argumentation

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to study the way in which the mitigation manifests itself in the lay participants speech during trials. Traditionally, the use of devices related to mitigation (such as hedges or politeness forms) has been linked to powerless language, since people who use these resources in their statements limit their commitment to what was said and are perceived as less credible and less intelligent (Erickson, Lind, Johnson & O'Barr, 1978). However, after analysing a corpus of 12 Spanish oral trials from criminal court, it has been observed that the use of these and other devices related to mitigation can be used for other purposes related to argumentation. In this sense, the reduction of the ilocutive force, the commitment to what has been said or the degree of imposition should not always be understood as cases of powerless language, but as tools to satisfy a communicative goal.

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Published

2020-12-01

How to Cite

Villalba Ibáñez, C. (2020). Mitigation in the speech of the non-professional participants during trials. A case of powerless language?. Revista Signos. Estudios De Lingüística, 53(104). Retrieved from https://revistasignos.cl/index.php/signos/article/view/695

Issue

Vol. 53 No. 104 (2020): December

Section

Monographic Section Articles

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