Page 17 - Dalle origini ai giorni nostri: convergenze e divergenze tra lingue slave

Epistemic and pragmatic functions of ja ne znaju ‘I don’t know’ in contemporary Russian

of speech, or an uncertainty due to the lack of the cognitive elements
necessary to give a reliable assessment of the state of things described.
Literal uses tend to appear turn-initially, at the beginning of a response
to a question, or as fully responsive stand-alone turns, as is the case in
the following example (1), in which the responder doesn’t have enough
knowledge to answer the question.
Ja ne znaju can have a more pragmatic function when it is used to in-
dicate a downgrading of the speakers’ commitment to the truth of the
proposition. There are instances when, regardless of the real degree of the
speakers’ knowledge or opinion, it is used to avoid taking a position on is-
sues that speakers do not wish to engage in, as in example (2), where the

Example 2
- Kak kak u nas s otečestvom?
how how by us with fatherland
- Nu ne znaju patriarchu vidnee
well NEG I.know patriarch more.visible
- How is it with our Fatherland?
- Well, I don’t know the patriarch knows better
Example 3
- I deneg formal’no v ramkach bjudžeta deneg net
and money formally in confines budget money NEG
Možet byt’ oni i est’ možet byt’ ich
may be they and is may be them
daže očen’ mnogo
even very much
- Možet byt’ oni dlja kogo-to est’ a dlja
may be they for someone is but for
kogo-to možet byt’ i net
someone may be and NEG
- Nu dlja kogo-to est’ da možet oni
well for someone is yes may they
v kakich-to takich jaščikach ležat tam košelëčkach ja
in some such drawers lay there purses I
ne znaju no formal’no esli brat’ naš bjudžet
NEG know but formally if take our budget
to on treščit po švam
than it cracks by seams
- And officially there is no money in the budget. Maybe there is. Maybe even lots of it.
- Maybe there is for someone. Maybe not for others.
- Well, for someone there is, yes. Maybe it is in some of these drawers there, purses. I don’t know.
But officially, if we take our budget, it is bursting at the seams.

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