Quando affermare non è confermare. Per uno studio di "sì" a confronto con "esatto", "infatti", "già" (e "okay")

In current literature on Italian language, notions of affermazione (affirmation), conferma (confirmation), accordo (agreement) are used to identify the functions of a subclass of discourse particles used in reply utterances, such as sì, già, infatti, esatto, appunto, okay. These particles are neither syntactically nor functionally equivalent. On the basis of previous literature available on single particles and of a small corpus of dyadic conversations, the study aims at single out some of the relevant parameters which can disentangle more specific functions. Among them are found: the distinction between an ideational and an interpersonal level as the possible scope for the particle; the speech-acts involved in the stimulus and reply utterances; the status of the information exchanged, in terms of accessibility and sharing between speakers.