Cover not available

Article In: Pragmatics: Online-First Articles

“I don’t know” in Spanish couples therapy

Pragmatic uses and entitlements to knowledge

ORCiD logo with link | Universitat de València
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This paper focuses on the use of first-person negative constructions with the verb saber (‘to know’) in a sample of Spanish-language couples therapy. The analysis considers the form of these constructions, along with their position, scope, the contextual features related to the topics discussed, the speakers’ roles, and the exclusive/shared entitlements of the speakers to knowledge. The results highlight the relevance of examining the use of both cognitive and non-cognitive uses of no sé (NS). Cognitive NSs are used referentially as knowledge disclaimers, but also carry rhetorical functions related to the speaker’s reluctance to talk about topics to which she/he is not entirely entitled. In addition, non-cognitive NSs can be used by speakers as polyfunctional discourse markers (DM), especially for textual, mitigating and interactional purposes, which, to an extent, can also be interpreted in the light of who is entitled to know (and talk about) a given subject.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Meaning and functions of no sé
    • 1.1The expressions of not knowing: Cognitive and referential use
    • 1.2Pragmatic functions of NS as a discourse marker
  • 2.Not knowing as a matter of epistemic rights and entitlements
  • 3.Materials and methods
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Cognitive uses of NS
    • 4.2Functions of NS as a discourse marker
    • 4.3NS and knowledge entitlements
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (27)
References
Briz Gómez, Antonio. [1998] 2010. El español coloquial en la conversación. Esbozo de pragmalingüística. Barcelona: Ariel.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fuentes Rodríguez, Catalina. 2009. Diccionario de conectores y operadores del español. Madrid: ArcoLibros.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
González, Montserrat. 2018. “‘No sé’. Epistemic Stance, Evidential Grounding and Scope in Unplanned Oral Genres.” In Perspectives on Evidentiality in Spanish, ed. by Carolina Figueras Bates, and Adrián Cabedo, 147–172. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heinemann, Trine. 2009. “Participation and Exclusion in Third Party Complaints.” Journal of Pragmatics 41: 2435–2451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Helmer, Henrike, Silke Reineke, and Arnulf Deppermann. 2016. “A Range of Uses of Negative Epistemic Constructions in German: ICH WEIß NICHT as a Resource for Dispreferred Actions.” Journal of Pragmatics 106: 97–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heritage, John, and Geoffrey Raymond. 2005. “The Terms of Agreement: Indexing Epistemic Authority and Subordination in Talk-in-Interaction.” Social Psychology Quarterly 68 (1): 15–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hutchby, Ian. 2002. “Resisting the Incitement to Talk in Child Counselling Aspects of the Utterance I Don’t Know.” Discourse Studies 4 (2): 147–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, Susan M. 2004. The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection. New York: Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kärkkäinen, Elise. 2010. “Position and Scope of Epistemic Phrases in Planned and Unplanned American English”. In New Approaches to Hedging ed. by Gunther Kaltenböck, Wiltrud Mihatsch, and Stefan Schneider, 203–236. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keevallik, Leelo. 2016. “Abandoning Dead Ends: The Estonian Junction Marker maitea ‘I Don’t Know.’” Journal of Pragmatics 106: 115–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindström, Jan, and Susanna Karlsson. 2016. “Tensions in the Epistemic Domain and Claims of No-knowledge: A Study of Swedish Medical Interaction.” Journal of Pragmatics 106: 129–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindström, Jan, Yael Maschler, and Simona Pekarek Doehler. 2016. “A Cross-Linguistic Perspective on Grammar and Negative Epistemics in Talk-in-Interaction.” Journal of Pragmatics 106: 72–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Llopis Cardona, Ana. 2020. “Funciones, posición y unidades discursivas en no sé y yo qué sé.” In Aportaciones desde el español y el portugués a los marcadores discursivos, ed. by Antonio Messias Nogueira da Silva, Catalina Fuentes Rodríguez, and Manuel Martí Sánchez, 249–271. Sevilla: Editorial Universidad de Sevilla.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
López Serena, Araceli, and Sara González Márquez. 2018. “La construcción no sé en español coloquial. Valores pragmáticos y posición discursiva.” Normas 8: 80–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montañez Mesas, Marta Pilar. 2015. Marcadores discursivos conversacionales y posición final. Hacia una caracterización discursiva de sus funciones en unidades del habla. PhD dissertation. Universitat de València.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muntigl, Peter, and Kwok Tim Choi. 2010. “Not Remembering as a Practical Epistemic Resource in Couples Therapy.” Discourse Studies 12 (3): 331–356. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pekarek Doehler, Simona. 2016. “More Than an Epistemic Hedge: French je sais pas ‘I don’t know’ as a Resources for the Sequential Organization of Turns and Actions.” Journal of Pragmatics 106: 148–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pichler, Heike, and Ashley Hesson. 2016. “Discourse-Pragmatic Variation across Situations, Varieties, Ages: I don’t know in Sociolinguistic and Medical Interviews.” Language and Communication 49: 1–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pomerantz, Anita. 1980. “Telling My Side: ‘Limited Access’ as a ‘Fishing’ Device.” Sociological Inquiry 50 (3–4): 186–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan. 1996. Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction. London: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Power, Anne. 2020. “My Questions about Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and a Few Answers.” Attachment 14 (1): 23–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sacks, Harvey. 1992. Lectures on Conversation, vol. 2. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Santos Río, Luis. 2003. Diccionario de partículas. Salamanca: Luso-Española de Ediciones.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsui, Amy B. M. 1991. “The Pragmatic Functions of I Don’t Know.” Text 11 (4): 607–622.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Val.Es.Co. 2014. “Las unidades del discurso oral. La propuesta Val.Es.Co. de segmentación de la conversación.” Estudios de Lingüística del Español 35: 13–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weatherall, Ann. 2011. “I Don’t Know as a Prepositioned Epistemic Hedge.” Research on Language and Social Interaction 44 (4): 317–337. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiebe, Stephanie A., and Susan M. Johnson. 2016. “A Review of the Research in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples.” Family Process 55: 390–407. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-dark jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-light jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold prag Twitter_Logo_Blue