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image of Turn-initial ki ‘because’-clauses as a rhetorical responsive practice in Hebrew Facebook
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Abstract

This study examines the pragmatic-rhetorical functions of turn-initial Hebrew ‘because’-clauses in readers’ comments on politicians’ Facebook posts. An analysis of 100 -clauses, responding to either politicians’ posts or comments by other commenters, reveals that they provide explanations and justifications for claims and positions regarding a particular action, general conduct or way of thinking of the previous speaker, or a third party. It is argued that such explanations serve to either support or challenge others’ positions, both sincerely and ironically, in accordance with the corpus’s dual nature as both a platform for uniting political camps and a battleground for opposing camps. When affiliative, -clauses justify the previous speakers, at times by ironically justifying third parties, making them a shared target. Conversely, when disaffiliative, -clauses expose the absurdity underlying the position of the previous speaker, often ridiculing them through ironic echoing.

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2026-03-31
2026-04-21
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