Search results for "Discourse marker"
showing 10 items of 39 documents
Using discourse markers to negotiate epistemic stance: A view from situated language use
2021
Abstract In this paper, I analyse the usage of a discourse marker =mari, belonging to the epistemic paradigm attested in Upper Napo Kichwa (Quechuan, Ecuador). I show that the use of =mari indicates that the information is known well to the speaker, but also to some extent familiar to the addressee. In situated language use, the marker contributes to creating a knowing epistemic stance of the speaker. The analysis presented here is based on a 13-h documentary corpus of interactive Upper Napo Kichwa discourse, recorded on audio and video. For the purpose of the paper, the relevant utterances are analysed in their broad interactional context, including not only the surrounding text, but also …
Outlining a grammaticalization path for the Spanish formula en plan (de): A contribution to crosslinguistic pragmatics
2020
Abstract This article discusses the diachronic development of the Spanish multifunctional formula en plan (with its variant en plan de, literally ‘in plan (of)’ but usually equivalent to English like). The article has two main aims: firstly, to describe the changes that the formula has undergone since its earliest occurrences as a marker in the nineteenth century up to the early 21st century. The diachronic study evinces a process of grammaticalization in three steps: from noun to clause adverbial and then to discourse marker. Secondly, to conduct a contrastive analysis between en plan (de) and the English markers like and kind of/kinda so as to shed new light on the potential existence of …
What genres tell us about evidentials and vice versa
2018
Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to delve into the influence of contextual discursive factors in determining the type of evidential chosen and the pragmatic functions developed by evidentials in Spanish parliamentary discourse; second, it shows how evidentials can also provide useful new insight on the genre. A corpus study has been carried out studying the Spanish evidential discourse marker al parecer in parliamentary debates. The analysis shows how real examples of al parecer hardly fit any category of evidentials posited previously; data also illustrates how factors such as the discursive role or the part of the parliamentary process do affect the meaning of al …
Co-occurrence of discourse markers in English : from juxtaposition to composition
2019
Abstract In this paper, we report on a qualitative analysis of co-occurring discourse markers, that is, sequences of adjacent discourse markers that belong to the same unit but may express different functions. We examine several formal and functional features of these co-occurring strings on the basis of corpus examples extracted from conversational data in English. In particular, we focus on scope, meaning-in-context (or functions), syntactic category and position. Our analysis reveals several degrees of integration: differences in scope allow us to differentiate juxtaposition and combination of markers. In the case of combination, difference in meaning integration allows us to distinguish…
Using discourse segmentation to account for the polyfunctionality of discourse markers:The case of well
2021
Abstract A large number of studies describe the many different functions of polyfunctional discourse markers like well in different contexts and from different theoretical perspectives. In the current paper, we propose to systematize the many different uses identified based on their position with respect to the discourse units they are associated with. Not only can previous findings on well be integrated into a single coherent representation of its uses and functions, but the positions with respect to the discourse units can also be associated with specific functions, thus shedding light on how the polyfunctionality of well is brought about.
Combinations of discourse markers with repairs and repetitions in English, French and Spanish
2020
Abstract Discourse markers have a central role in planning and repairing processes of speech production. They relate with fluency and disfluency phenomena such as pauses, repetitions and reformulations. Their polyfunctionality is challenging and few form-function mappings are stable cross-linguistically. This study combines a functional and a structural approach to discourse markers and their combination with and within repetitions and self-repairs in native English, French and Spanish, in order to establish the inter-relation between these three fluency-related devices and to find potentially universal patterns of use. Qualitative coding and quantitative analyses of categories of markers a…
Dubbing dialogues… naturally: a pragmatic approach to the translation of transition markers in dubbing
2012
Although research in Audiovisual Translation is said to have come of age in the past decade, there are still several key issues that have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. In the case of dubbing, the study of the naturalness of dubbed dialogue is a case in point. The aim of the present article is to analyse the use of transition markers in dubbing in order to look precisely at the naturalness of dubbed dialogue while taking into account the dubbing constraints at play. This analysis is carried out by comparing the dubbed dialogue (English-Spanish) of a popular American sitcom to the non-translated but prefabricated dialogue of a Spanish sitcom and finally to spontaneous con…
¿Cómo se replica afirmativamente en español e italiano?
2017
This article is part of a broader project aiming to describe the pragmatic strategies in Spanish and Italian task-oriented dialogues. Specifically it intends to highlight the different communicative dynamics depending on the use of affirmative responses carried out with the Spanish particles hum, sí, vale, ya, bien, exacto, etc. and Italian markers uhm, sì, okay, perfetto, etc. The method of analysis used has allowed to delineate two ‘stylistic’ tendencies that differ on the characterisation of the speaker’s stance about the interaction: Italian speakers present themselves as guides leading the achievement of the task, Spanish speakers moreover present themselves like autonomous individuals…
Discourse markers, structure, and emotionality in oral narratives
2013
This paper presents a comparative analysis structure and frequency of discourse markers in two kinds of oral narratives: objective, emotionally neutral ones on the one side, and highly emotional, spontaneous ones on the other. The results prove that emotionality plays a crucial role in the structuring of oral narratives as well as in the type of discourse markers employed in them. Objective oral narratives show a higher number of discourse markers, whereas highly emotional ones present a higher variety of discourse markers, as well as a higher frequency of other pragmatic markers, in order to guide the listener through the multiplicity of side stories and the broken structure they show. In …
Discourse markers and modality in spoken Catalan: The case of (és) clar
2012
Abstract The present paper illustrates the fuzzy limits between modality markers and discourse markers by analysing the different uses based on the word clar ‘clear’ in oral Catalan. Clar is lexically described as an adjective, but it has developed different functions in various syntactic and pragmatic contexts. In the adverbial and the interjective uses, (es) clar (que) ‘it is clear that’ is a modality marker indicating certainty and shared knowledge. As a conjunction, clar que has developed a concessive meaning (‘but, nevertheless’). When (es) clar acts as a discourse marker (i.e. introducing an utterance) it can be an effective mitigation device used to soften a potentially face-threaten…