Stasemes

Stasemes are a type of linguistic unit that are used to express a speaker's attitude or stance towards a proposition. They are distinct from the propositional content of a sentence, which is the information being conveyed. Stasemes can be categorized into two main types: evidentials and evaluatives.

Evidentials are stasemes that indicate the source or basis of the speaker's knowledge about a proposition. For example, in the sentence "I think it will rain," the staseme "think" indicates that the speaker's belief about the proposition "it will rain" is based on their personal opinion or intuition.

Evaluatives, on the other hand, express the speaker's judgment or evaluation of a proposition. For instance, in the sentence "I believe that climate change is real," the staseme "believe" indicates the speaker's positive evaluation of the proposition "climate change is real."

Stasemes play a crucial role in communication, as they help convey the speaker's perspective and attitude towards the information being shared. They are often used in combination with other linguistic elements, such as modal verbs and adverbs, to create complex expressions of stance.