6533b7cffe1ef96bd12584e8

RESEARCH PRODUCT

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

subject

description

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. In general, Poles seem to pay more attention to their positive emotions and express their feelings deliberately. The Estonian style reveals a tendency to rely more on the societal norms and values than on one's individual affect and subjective opinions. The findings are discussed against the background of axiological semantics, the Appraisal Theory and a novel theoretical construct that captures the levels of metacommunicative awareness as a continuum that begins with semiautomatic usage of ready-made communicative patterns of positive feedback and ends with the deliberate attempts to impose one's perspective and values.