Epistemic marker or stance framer? The use of “eu acho” in conversational interactions of BP
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study aims to analyse whether “eu acho” is used as an epistemic marker of low certainty, as proposed in the classical literature, or as a stance marker. For this, we used the corpora of recordings of four semi-structured interactions between pairs of young adult college students, speakers of Standard Brazilian Portuguese. We identified 145 occurrences, transcribed, annotated, and analyzed, taking as our starting point its use as a marker of supposition and the dimensions of the stance triangle: evaluation (/positioning) and alignment. Our analysis also led to the creation of two other categories related to the use of “eu acho” as a discursive organizer: the insertion of a digression and the conclusion of an argument. The results show that “eu acho” is predominantly used as a metadiscursive framing device for evaluation, followed by its use as a framing device for supposition and alignment.
Source: Lenguaje
Institution: Southwest Bahia State University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225061122