The Rise of Discourse Markers

Abstract

Discourse markers constitute an important part of linguistic communication, and research on this phenomenon has been a thriving field of study over the past three decades. However, a problem that has plagued this research is that these markers exhibit a number of structural characteristics that are hard to interpret based on existing methodologies, such as grammaticalization. This study argues that it is possible to explain such characteristics in a meaningful way. It presents a cross-linguistic survey of the development of discourse markers, their important role in communication, and their relation to the wider context of sociocultural behaviour, with the goal of explaining their similarities and differences across a typologically wide range of languages. By giving a clear definition of discourse markers, it aims to provide a guide for future research, making it essential reading for students and researchers in linguistics, and anyone interested in exploring this fascinating linguistic phenomenon.

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“…Vom încerca să conturăm explicații valide pentru acele valori care nu sunt supuse procesului de transfer. În ceea ce privește setul de valori ale marcatorului englezesc anyway ne-am raportat la studiile bine cunoscute ale lui Ferrara (1997), Heine et al (2021) și la lista de valori discursive din Oxford Learner's Dictionary. Pentru oricum, am inventariat valorile pe baza unui corpus alcătuit din texte orale (IVLRA), texte de tip comentarii sau conversații scrise preluate de pe platforme de socializare (Facebook, Reddit), de pe Scketch Engine (RoTenTen16), texte caracterizate printr-un grad înalt de oralitate.…”

From Peripheral Structure to Discourse Operator: No Veas

“…The above-mentioned constructions initiate a subjectivization process, which can culminate in the grammaticalization (for others, pragmaticalization, Dostie 2004; Diewald 2011) or cooptation (Heine et al 2021) of the structures. Hence, they indicate the continuous activity of the linguistic system and the creativity of speakers to produce expressions showing their involvement in what is said.…”

Unpacking the function(s) of discourse markers in academic spoken English: a corpus-based study

“…The framework of the present study is Discourse Grammar (Kaltenböck et al, 2011) which as proposed by Heine et al (2013Heine et al ( , 2020 rose out of the analysis of spoken and written linguistic discourse on the one hand and of the work conducted on thetical expressions on the other. In other words, it is based on the distinction between two organizing principles of grammar where one concerns the structure of sentences (sentence grammar) and the other the linguistic organization beyond the sentence (thetical grammar).…”

“…The situation of discourse refers to the cognitive frame used by interlocutors to construct and interpret spoken or written texts; it is delimited by three components, namely, (i) text organization, (ii) attitudes of the speaker, and/or (iii) speaker-hearer interact. The last two are sometimes called interpersonal [or modal] functions and relate, respectively, to the terms "subjectivity" and "intersubjectivity" (Heine et al, 2020).…”