Les « adverbes d'opinion forte » selon moi, à mes yeux, à mon avis,... : point de vue subjectif et effet d'atténuation

Abstract

Within the general class of modal epistemic adverbials, we separate a small group of expressions (about a dozen) that we identified as "strong opinion Adverbs". In discourse, when such adverbials, appearing as parenthetical clauses in a sentence, include a I st person deictic element (i.e. in their "direct use"), their role is to express the speaker's subjective strong conviction about his utterance truth. But at the same time, they often fulfill a pragmatic function of attenuation: through them, the speaker explicitly assumes the responsibility of his affirmation - or of his appreciation — and by doing so, he demonstrates some kind of restraint that makes it easier for him eventually to adjust or to negotiate if a full agreement is not met with his addressee.