Abstract
This paper is concerned with the Czech particle 'prý' (i.e. he says, it is said) and its English equivalents.
Originating as a reporting clause (on praví, i.e. he says), 'prý' is now usually classified as a modal or evidential particle (Rejzek 2001: 511; Machek 1997: 481; SSČ; SSJČ). The particle can introduce direct and indirect speech, and can be employed as a marker of hearsay. Apart from the reportative/quotative function, the particle can attain evaluative overtones, including epistemic or attitudinal assessment; these meanings are, however, highly context-dependent and pragmatically implicated (Hoffmannová and Kolářová 2007, 2008; Martinková and Janebová 2017; SSČ; SSJČ; Hoffmannová et al. 2019).
Drawing on the previous research on the particle (Hoffmannová and Kolářová 2007, 2008; Martinková and Janebová 2017; Hoffmannová et al. 2019), the present paper sets the following objectives. Firstly, it examines English reporting structures that functionally correspond to the particle. Secondly, it explores the potential cohesive (textual) role of the particle. Thirdly, it discusses its employment in argumentative contexts, i.e. at the textual-rhetorical level. Finally, the textual function of the particle is interpreted from the perspective of subjectification (Diewald 2011; Traugott 1989, 1995, 2010; Traugott and König 1991; Heine et al. 1991; Company 2006; Olbertz 2007; Travis 2006; De la Mora and Maldonado 2015).
The research is based on a synchronic quantitative-qualitative analysis of a Czech-English parallel corpus, a part of the multi-lingual Czech-based parallel corpus InterCorp (Rosen et al. 2022). Drawing on the idea of 'tertium comparationis', the English structures were understood as formal correlates and functional equivalents of the (reporting) function expressed by the Czech particle (Johansson 2011; Krzeszowski 1990; Ebeling and Ebeling 2020; cf. Gast 2015). Regarding the textual(-rhetorical) role, context was searched for possible formal and functional ties between the particle and other forms of reporting, and for frequent collocations of the particle with cause-effect conjunctions. A cross-register comparison was made, including fiction, non-fiction, film subtitles and journalistic commentaries.
The results of the analysis suggest the following conclusions. Firstly, the particle is employed in a number of different registers, relates to various reported speakers and corresponds to a variety of English reporting structures; each register is characterised by a different configuration of the corresponding reporting forms. This points to the polyfunctionality and versatility of the particle, not unrelated to its general meaning and semantic/pragmatic inexplicitness.
Secondly, the particle shows a proclivity to appear in the vicinity of other reporting expressions, which are usually more explicit regarding the reported speaker and the reported speech/thought act. As the particle encodes neither of those aspects, it contracts formal and functional ties with semantically richer expressions and, operating at the level of the text, contributes to text cohesion. Thirdly, the particle readily collocates with Czech cause-effect conjunctions expressing reasons, causes, consequences and results in the contexts that serve explanatory or argumentative purposes (e.g. 'protože' because, 'proto' so, that is why, 'kvůli' because of) (cf. Hoffmannová and Kolářová 2007).