Arbitror as epistemic predicate in Cicero’s Epistulae ad Familiares

Abstract

This paper relieves, describes and analyses the 72 arbitror’s cases, a to syntax and thematic argument structure, in Cicero’s Epistulae ad Familiares as an epistemic predicate in the constructions called performative epistemic judgements by Nuyts (2001:129). Although the analysis of the 72 samples confirms the prevalence of AcI clauses as most frequent verb complement, followed by the arbitror’s parenthetical use, the analysis also shows remarkable syntactic contexts that can be proposed as new parenthetical settings (interlaced relative clauses) and lexical combinations that mark different positions along the epistemic scale and are red as speaker’s different commitment levels. So, certain syntactic details, thoroughly read, set specific functional senses and subtle discursive strategies.