5.3 History of Epistemic Parentheticals 135( 1982 : 161, 170) argues that while forms such as I guess are used in writ-
ing primarily for indirectness, they are used in speech primarily for planning
(which is speaker- oriented) and politeness (which is interaction- oriented).
First- person epistemic parentheticals in Present- day English “have an impor-
tant role to play in mediating interpersonal meaning” and in “expressing
addressee- oriented meaning” (Coates 1987 : 120). They are typically used for
purposes of positive politeness, where the speaker acts as if she or he wants
what the hearer wants, considers the hearer important, and likes the hearer
(Brown and Levinson 1987[1978]: 67, 75). Coates ( 1987 : 127) observes that
in reducing the force of utterances, fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals serve
to diminish speakers’ claims for themselves and express their need to be liked
and admired. They blur speakers’ intents and avoid precise communication of
speakers’ attitudes (Brown and Levinson 1987[1978]: 121– 122). They thus
serve as a modesty device.
More importantly, it has been argued that fi rst- person epistemic parentheti-
cals serve the purposes of negative politeness (Coates 1987 : 121, 126), or the
speaker’s recognition of the hearer’s desire not to be impeded or imposed upon,
including expressions of deference, self- effacement, restraint, and avoidance
(Brown and Levinson 1987[1978]: 67, 75, 77). First- person epistemic paren-
theticals, though they are subjective in nature, are in fact oriented toward the
hearer. By not taking full responsibility for the reliability of information (see
Brown and Levinson 1987[1978]: 159, 169), the speaker leaves open the pos-
sibility of the hearer’s responding to that information as he or she sees fi t.
First- person epistemic parentheticals can be used if the speaker is not certain
about how the hearer will respond and does not want to offend or impose by
assuming a certain response. For example, Coates ( 1987 : 122, 129) argues that
It’s quite bitter Guinness, I think is “a strategy for facilitating open discussion”
and avoiding disagreement; she sees such forms as a means “to express the
speaker’s sensitivity to the addressee.” However, as Corum ( 1975 : 134– 135,
139) observes, the use of fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals may also be a
“devious,” “manipulative,” “deceptive,” or “sneaky” way “to inveigle or seduce
the addressee into believing the content of the proposition.” That is, they may
be used to “elicit [the] addressee’s explicit agreement” (138).
5.3 The History of Epistemic Parentheticals:
Review of Previous Studies
Most of the diachronic attention on fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals has
focused on forms of me thinks and I think (see López- Couso 1996 ; Palander-
Collin 1996 , 1997 , 1999 ; Wischer 2000 ). The form me thinks/ me thinketh
(occasionally me thought ) arises from the impersonal verb construction with
thinken (MED: s.v. thinken (v.1)) plus oblique experiencer pronoun. The form