Twelve articles by leading linguists and linguistic anthropologists
develop an important series of case studies that show how ideas such as
"responsibility," "agency," "authority," and "evidence" are
simultaneously aspects of social meaning and implications of linguistic
form. The studies show how speakers attribute responsibility for acts
and situations, how particular forms of language and discourse relate to
claims and disclaimers of responsibility, and how verbal acts are
themselves social acts, subject to such attributions. This book will
serve as a landmark volume in the study and analysis of oral discourse.