(Inter)subjectivity in Estonian registers

Abstract

This issue focuses on a little-studied aspect of (inter)subjectivity (S/ IS) in language: the expression of S/ IS in different registers. In the introduction, we overview the background and approach, describe the central registers in connection with using S/ IS devices, and correlate the choice and frequency of S/ IS devices with the situative features of registers. The introduction also includes a brief overview of the articles in the issue.

We have studied three groups of S/ IS devices: (1) pragmatic particles, (2) CTP markers based on complement-taking predicates, and (3) modal verbs. Our central data comes from the Estonian Pragmatic Corpus. We look mainly at the expression of S/ IS in seven registers, broadly divided into three groups: spoken, online, and printed texts.

The papers on the issue deal with the use and development of different particles in registers of Estonian and the use of S/ IS differences between registers to develop metrics for distinguishing registers.