EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN RUSSIAN CHILD SPEECH

The paper discusses the acquisition of epistemic modality (i. e. propositional attitude to situations and the linguistic means of its expression) in the early stages of speech ontogenesis in Russian L1, which still remains unstudied in modern linguistics. The results are based on naturalistic observations of spontaneous «caregiver — child» dialogue. The acquisition of epistemic semantics and the basic explicit means of its expression in Russian (parenthetical modal words) start to develop in the third year of life with the marking of uncertainty; however, it is present in children’s speech to varying degrees. The features of early epistemic repertoire in each of the semantic micro-fields of certainty and uncertainty are discussed andutteranceswhich are the basis forthe development of epistemic evaluation are characterized. The positional features of epistemic markers and their functions in children’s speech are also identified.Acquisition of epistemic modality indicates not only the expansion of epistemic repertoire, but also the expansion of epistemic evaluation from objective situations in the so-called physical world, to the so-called internal mental world. Both the prototypicality of a marker in the target system and its frequency of use influence its emergence and further development.