“I first have to decide whether there were any notes in the first place. I consider that there probably were”: Adverbials of Stance in Equity Judges’ Argumentation

This paper intends to expand on this research, by shedding light on a widely spread textual device revealed by Chancery Division judgments, i.e. adverbials of stance, i.e. those “commenting on the content or style of a clause or a particular part of a clause” (Biber et al. 1999: 853). Key-adverbials (Scott 1998) obtained by comparing the selected judgments with House of Lords judgments will thus be the object of a qualitative study aimed at investigating their capability of acting as signals of the dialogic argumentative structures underlying judicial discourse. In particular, data will provide evidence that adverbials of stance are effective clues that contribute to the interactive and at once evaluative dimension (Hunston and Thompson 2000) characterising Chancery judgments.