The use of positively valued adjectives and adverbs in Polish and Estonian casual conversations

Abstract In this paper cultural differences between Polish and Estonian conversational strategies are analysed in respect of how the evaluative words are used and what their degree of deliberateness is. The study compares the usage of adjectives and adverbs with positive value in the excerpts from Polish and Estonian corpora of casual conversation. The quantitative and qualitative comparison demonstrates that their overall frequency and the pragmatic functions are very similar. The differences of the conversational styles lay in greater accumulation and intensification of the evaluatives in the Polish conversations and in the tendency to externalize the positive affect in the Estonian ones.…