Sourcedenoting

Sourcedenoting is a term used in linguistics to describe the set of linguistic devices and strategies through which a speaker marks the provenance or source of information. It covers how a proposition is linked to its authority, whether the information comes from direct observation, hearsay, a report, a belief, or an inference. The concept sits within the broader domain of evidentiality and attribution but focuses specifically on encoding the source itself rather than only the speaker’s certainty about the proposition.

In theory, sourcedenoting can be modeled as an operator that combines a content proposition with a source index or label. This captures how different sources affect the interpretation and credibility of the utterance. Realizations of sourcedenoting occur across languages and registers through lexical items (for example, according to, reportedly, allegedly, allegedly), verbs of attribution (X states, Y reports), quotatives, and other evidential markers. The same content can be sourced differently to convey varying degrees of reliability or distance from the speaker’s own knowledge.

Examples illustrate its range. “According to a recent study, the drug is effective.” “The spokesperson said that the policy will be delayed.” “The witness reportedly saw the event.” These forms demonstrate how source-denoting elements coexist with content to modulate epistemic stance and trustworthiness.

Sourcedenoting has applications in discourse analysis, journalism, translation, and natural language processing. It helps explain how information is framed in interaction and how translations or summaries preserve source relationships. Challenges include establishing a precise cross-linguistic taxonomy and distinguishing sourcedenoting from related notions like evidentiality and attribution in different linguistic communities.