When discourse markers (DMs) occur in sequences of multiple markers, their linear order is generally quite rigid. Still, there are clear cases of reversible DM sequences. This article examines the ...reasons for DM reversibility and explores its implications for theories of DM sequencing. A corpus analysis of the English DMs so and and suggests that one reason for their reversibility is that the different orders achieve different effects. When so follows and (And so…) it more often marks the upcoming utterance as a result or conclusion (‘therefore’). When so precedes and (So and…) it is more often used to change the discourse topic. Crucially, both of these functions are part of so's known functional spectrum. This shows that functional accounts of DM syntax must be sensitive to DM polyfunctionality. Moreover, a close analysis of each marker's individual contribution to their cumulative effect as a sequence points to a general ordering principle: In DM sequences, the earlier DM constrains the interpretation of the later DM by providing a particular interpretive context for it. This explains why alternative sequence positions may go along with different functions. In this way, the temporality of spoken language acts as a general constraint on DM sequencing.
•Discourse marker (DM) polyfunctionality helps explain DM sequencing constraints.•Alternative positions of DMs in DM sequences can invoke different DM functions.•In DM sequences, earlier DMs provide the basis for the interpretation of later DMs.
This article investigates the linearization order of English discourse markers (DMs) in two- and multipart sequences at the beginning and the end of turns-at-talk in unplanned conversations, e.g. ...well I mean you know or yeah but actually. Based on statistical measures of the probability of individual DMs to occur first in all possible combinations involving 26 different DMs it will be shown that the order of DMs has a functional motivation and can be interpreted as reflecting the temporal order of communicative tasks that speakers deal with when opening or closing a turn.
•Discourse markers are often combined into sequences.•Sequences typically occur at the beginning and the end of conversational turns.•The order of discourse markers in such sequences has a functional motivation.•It reflects the temporal order of communicative tasks in speech production.•Discourse marker sequences provide evidence for a syntax outside the clause.
Demonstrative forms in Cebuano are highly versatile and, as often seen crosslinguistically, can serve discourse deictic, discourse marking, and placeholding functions. Some of the demonstratives have ...also developed into speaker stance markers. Using data from spontaneous conversations, this paper examines how Cebuano demonstratives, especially the form kanάng, have extended their use from the referential domain to the non-referential (in particular, pragmatic) domain. The demonstrative form kanάng, spoken with a tone of uncertainty, is often used as a repair marker and filler, as a topic marker and mental staging device for upcoming information, as well as a hedge when a speaker is dealing with sensitive or awkward topics. This study also compares kanάng with other stance markers, in particular negation markers and interjectory particles that are likewise recruited in clause-initial position to mark varying stance intensities, with results indicating that kanάng expresses the mildest stance, hence its frequent use as a politeness marking device.
•Demonstrative forms in Cebuano are highly versatile.•Cebuano kanang is used as a hedge for dealing with sensitive or awkward topics.
En este estudio vamos a ocuparnos de la combinación de una conjunción y un marcador en posición final de enunciado. Los marcadores que más a menudo aparecen en este contexto son vamos, en fin y es ...que, que, en la mayoría de los casos, aparecen precedidos de la conjunción adversativa pero. El hecho de que un conector o un operador cierre el enunciado y aparezca coordinado con una predicación previa va más allá de las posibilidades sintácticas que a estas unidades se les ha asignado tradicionalmente y que han consistido en, o bien enlazar enunciados (conectores), o bien modificar una predicación aportando a esta valores modales, enunciativos, informativos o argumentativos (operadores).
The non-lexical schwa-like sound öö is traditionally regarded as a hesitation marker in Hungarian conversation that has a role in speech planning. This study provides examples in which öö can be ...analysed as a discourse marker. In research on discourse markers, there is a view that regards items that control the turn-taking system or other aspects of conversation management as discourse markers. Relying on this background, this paper explores öö from a conversation analytic perspective. Findings show that öö can serve as a device to take the floor at the transition-relevance place. In overlapping speech, öö can manage turn-taking by helping speakers keep the floor. If the speaker intends or needs to speak but does not yet know what to say or intends to avoid unintelligibility during overlapping speech, she can deploy öö as an overt but non-lexical element that projects further talk. Consequently, by using öö the speaker can claim or keep the turn space without using lexical elements. Since these functions influence the distribution of turns among participants, i.e. the sequential structure of the conversation, öö can be regarded as a discourse marker in these contexts.
•The Hungarian öö sound from a pragmatic and conversation analytic perspective.•öö is not only a hesitation marker but it has a role in the turn-taking system.•Because of its discourse organising function it can be regarded as a discourse marker.
While a significant amount of research related to discourse markers in the Russian language has been devoted to particles, very few scholars have focused on verb-derived discourse markers such as ...slušaj (‘listen’), smotri (‘look’), znaeš’ (‘y'know’), ponimaeš’ (‘d'you understand’), and vidiš’ (‘d'you see’). In this paper, I focus on slušaj and smotri, exploring their functions of information management and interpersonal regulation in talk-in-interaction. Based on data collected from YouTube interview videos, I examine the features of slušaj and smotri in terms of speaker roles, position in utterances, utterance structure, and lexical co-occurrence. A qualitative analysis supported by quantitative results shows how slušaj and smotri perform their information management and interpersonal functions in requesting/providing information, reformulating utterances, establishing contact, and indicating empathy. Considering the similarities and differences observed from the analysis, the results of this study suggest that slušaj is likely to be an interpersonal marker typical of response utterances, while smotri is an information-oriented marker leading a hearer to understand an utterance.
•Slušaj is followed by utterances conveying personal opinions or experiences.•Slušaj is used to establish empathy between the interlocutors.•Smotri requires complex mental processes such as remembering and analyzing.•Smotri points to important information necessary for understanding an utterance.
This paper focuses on the multifunctional non-compositional construction wanle as a discourse marker (DM) and an expressive in Modern Chinese as well as how they came into being in the history of ...Chinese. There have been a few works on the semantics and pragmatic function of the chunked wanle, however, none of them discusses it from a diachronic constructional perspective, and none has proposed the differences between its use as a DM and as an expressive. Based on the extensive classical data, we argue that even though both the DM and the expressive wanle originated from the inflected change-of-state verb, they developed with different trajectories. From a diachronic constructional point of view, we further argue that the development of the DM and the expressive wanle may have involved multiple mechanisms and multiple inputs.
•The similarities and differences between a DM and expressive are illustrated by the Chinese construction wanle.•The DM and expressive wanle developed with different trajectories.•The emergence of the DM wanle involved multiple mechanisms and multiple inputs.•The development of the expressive wanle involved multiple mechanisms and multiple sources.
The German expression dann (then) has been described in grammars as an adverb in its temporal and conditional semantics, yet it is barely known for its conclusive communicative potential, which is ...frequently exploited for summative statements or to recapitulate results at the end of a conversation. This usage is supported by the findings of the present analysis of everyday conversational situations, which not only examines the traditional functions of dann as a temporal and conditional adverb, but also provides empirical evidence that dann is used conventionally to express conclusiveness in conversational closings. In this function, dann even occurs in the pre-prefield position and, in addition to this syntactic criterion, it also fulfills all other (sequential, morphological, semantic, pragmatic and prosodic) criteria present within the group of German discourse markers.
•The German adverb dann not only fulfills temporal and conditional but also conclusive functions.•As a conclusive adverb, dann is routinely used to introduce explicit conclusions of conversations.•Dann also operates as a discourse marker and initiates conversational closings.
This study examines the referential and nonreferential uses of unsa ‘what’ expressions in Cebuano, including accompanying enclitics, if any, the kind of context or situation in which the expression ...is uttered, and whether the ‘what’ expression is part of the uttered statement or syntactically disjunct from the rest of the utterance, as well as the pathways in which these expressions have extended their use and meaning. The data used in this study consisted of five approximately thirty-minute long casual conversations between friends. The data show that the ‘what’-word unsa is used not only as an interrogative pronoun to seek information but also as an indefinite pronoun; it has also evolved into a placeholder, an idiomatic expression, and a discourse marker. In terms of form, they may be nominal (or part of a noun phrase), verbal (or part of the predicate), or disjunctive (i.e., independent from the main clause). More than half of the time (55%), unsa does not occur with any aspectual or modal particle, while almost two-fifths of unsa tokens (39%) are realized with the mitigating enclitic = man to tone down the force of a question. Similar to Lee et al. (2017), there is a tendency for these ‘what’-expressions to express the speaker's negative stance, especially in the rhetorical idiomatic unsa phrases. In this paper, specific morphosyntactic environments have been identified in relation to the epistemic and (dis)affiliative speaker stance uses of unsa.
•Cebuano unsa is multifunctional and may evolve non-referential uses like placeholders, idioms, and discourse markers.•unsa ‘what’ expressions are usually distributed clause-initially, with the exception of its use as a filler/placeholder.•unsa ‘what’ in Cebuano occur with mitigating enclitic = man to tone down the force.•unsa ‘what’ expressions in Cebuano tend to be situated in negative circumstances.
This paper investigates three pragmatic markers which hitherto have not been discussed in Nigerian English. It examines the meaning, grammatical properties and discourse-pragmatic functions of these ...pragmatic markers: o, sha and abi in the International Corpus of English-Nigeria, from a grammatical-pragmatic approach. The results reveal that o is an emphasis marker and a mitigation marker, sha is a discourse marker, an attention marker and a mitigation marker while abi occurs as a discourse marker and as an agreement marker. The three markers are syntactically optional; they mostly occupy the clause-final position and are mainly found in informal talks. While o is derived from various Nigerian indigenous languages including Yoruba, Igbo and Ishan, sha and abi are borrowed from Yoruba. The paper concludes that o may be a likely candidate for inclusion in Standard Nigerian English, due to its frequency, distribution and functions in Nigerian English.
•O, sha and abi are pragmatic markers borrowed from Nigerian indigenous languages into Nigerian English.•The data were taken from the International Corpus of English-Nigeria.•O is an emphasis marker and a mitigation marker.•Sha is a discourse marker, an attention marker and a mitigation marker.•Abi occurs as a discourse marker and as an agreement marker.
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