On the causes of enunciation and the subjective response stances in the reformulative utterances with the discourse marker Decí que in the Rio de la Plata Spanish variety

Abstract

In this work, we analyze the reformulative utterances with the discourse marker decí que, typical of the Rio de la Plata Spanish variety. As we show, decí que always introduces an emphatic and complicit statement Y, which makes the previous formulation X seen as problematic. This distancing from X can give rise to a reformulation either by conversion, or by attenuation, or by reinforcement. The work is rooted on the theoretical framework |of the Dialogical Approach to Argumentation and Polyphony. The analysis focuses on how the subjective stances are argued in the reformulative enunciation in response to the discourse frames that constitute its dialogic cause. We conclude that the change in enunciative perspective that every reformulation introduces must be analyzed as the result of a kind of internal dialogue shown in the enunciation itself and from which the responsive stance is justified.