epistemik

Epistemik is an adjective used in philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science to denote concepts related to knowledge and the justification of beliefs. In philosophy, epistemik concerns questions about how knowledge is acquired, what counts as evidence, and the limits of justification. In linguistics and the study of language, epistemik or epistemic refers to modality that expresses the speaker's stance toward the truth of a proposition. Epistemik expressions include adverbials like perhaps, probably, certainly in English, and modal verbs such as must, may, might, which convey deduction, possibility, or necessity based on evidence rather than external obligation.

The term is derived from epistemology, the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, justification, and criteria for belief. Epistemic modality contrasts with other modalities such as deontic (permission or obligation) and dynamic (ability). Cross-linguistically, languages differ in how they encode epistemic stance; some use specialized evidential markers to indicate how the speaker knows what they claim, while others rely on mood or adverbs.

In related fields, epistemic uncertainty refers to what is unknown due to limited knowledge, as distinct from aleatory uncertainty caused by inherent randomness. In statistics and decision making, acknowledging epistemic uncertainty can motivate the collection of more information to improve knowledge.

Overall, epistemik encompasses theories and linguistic resources involved in expressing, analyzing, and evaluating knowledge and its sources.