| Abstract: | Clinical recommendations are central features of physician‐patient interaction. Mandative adjective extraposition (MAE; e.g. it's important to …) is one of many linguistic forms used by physicians in providing recommendations. This study decomposes MAE, a relatively unexplored sociolinguistic variable, into features that contribute to its deontic interpretation. It establishes that MAE's component features convey different degrees of illocutionary force, whereby some forms are perceived to be more compelling (i.e. stronger) than others. It further suggests that said forms index confidence in physician speech. Utilizing a large U.S.‐wide corpus of medical consultations, it demonstrates that physicians use stronger MAE forms as they gain professional experience. Within specific practice settings, physicians' use of strong MAE forms is additionally constrained by patients' medical severity. Collectively, this evidence points to socialization into medical practice as the major social force impacting MAE variation across physicians' professional lifespans, pushing physicians towards authoritative‐sounding variants despite interactional pressures favoring indirectness. |
