STOP-SHORT UTTERANCES AS MARKERS OF UNDERSTATEMENT

Abstract

The linguistic conditions for forming understatements lie in indirect nomination of the signified by the speaker caused by his desire to minimize the threat to the face. The understatement as a sentence strategy of saying less than one means occurs where the general question of the emotional acceptability of the content of an utterance becomes acute. Its aim is to make utterances more acceptable and thus to increase their chance of ratification by the hearer.