ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

Contextual explanation · NAV-G05-053

Surprise

This explanation addresses the term in its originating context. It is not an additional canonical Atlas profile.

Explanation

Surprise concerns a departure from expectations or an unexpected informational situation. In the context of mirativity, the experience must be distinguished from its possible linguistic marking. A conventional form may present information as new or unexpected from a particular perspective without directly proving the speaker's actual inner state. The relevant perspective may also belong to a character or addressee. Not every exclamation marks mirativity, and not every indication of information source expresses surprise. Analysis therefore compares context, grammatical form and attributed expectation rather than inferring them from an exclamation mark alone.

Movement of thought

1. Identify the expectation holder. 2. Record the new information. 3. Examine linguistic marking. 4. Analyse evidentiality separately. 5. Distinguish experience from convention.

Example

“You're here already!” can indicate an unexpectedly early arrival; the same wording can be performed in a scene without genuine surprise.

Counter-test

Reporting how information was obtained does not automatically mark surprise.

Scientific use case

Pragmatics can compare mirative readings across controlled expectation contexts.

Effect

The concept makes the relationship between information and expectation visible.

Resonance

Something becomes new partly by arriving differently from what was expected.

Distinction

Distinguish surprise from conventional mirativity, evidentiality, exclamation and a confidently diagnosed inner state.

Sources