Evidentiality in Dutch

In this chapter, the main evidential markers in Dutch are presented. These include the modal verbs moeten ‘must’ and 'zou' 'should' in combination with a bare infinitive, various construction types involving the verbs of appearance schijnen, lijken and blijken, and a number of sentence adverbs, of which blijkbaar and kennelijk (both meaning ‘apparently, obviously, evidently’) are the most important ones. Most of these markers are associated with both inferential and hearsay values (whereby the hearsay value is to be considered an extension of the original inferential meaning). On top of that, Dutch has a number of dedicated reportive markers (het schijnt dat ‘it seems that’, naar verluidt ‘reportedly’, naar eigen zeggen ‘by one’s own account’). The zou + infinitive construction is highly polyfunctional, as it expresses - among other things - non-factuality (in unreal conditionals for instance) and functions as an evidential hearsay marker.

ISBN:978-3-11-072601-5

Jaar van publicatie:2022

Trefwoorden:H1 Book chapter

Toegankelijkheid:Closed