Discourse markers a discourse-pragmatic view文档.docVIP

Discourse markers in English: a discourse-pragmatic view Diana M. Lewis 0. Introduction 0.1. Approach A glance at a sample of English spontaneous conversation is likely to find it peppered with expressions such as well, I mean, so, in fact, though, of course, anyway, actually, on the other hand, commonly described as discourse particles or discourse markers.1 Although they have attracted particular attention from linguists working on the spoken language, these and similar expressions permeate written language too. This chapter takes the view that the discoursal use of the expressions mentioned above is part of the wider phenomenon of speakers attitudes towards the ideas they express. The study of discourse markers is therefore a part of the study of modal and metatextual comment, and is best approached under the rubric of discourse structure. Our discussion of the meaning of discourse markers will defend a panchronic view of sense spectra; that is, the view that the synchronic senses of a polysemous lexeme map earlier and ongoing functional splits. The English data are drawn mostly from synchronic and diachronic corpora, with a few constructed examples. 0.2. Problems The many recent studies of individual discourse-marking expressions, often based on corpus data, have provided valuable insights into the phenomenon. Nonetheless, our understanding of discourse markers is still sketchy. First, the category itself is poorly defined: a plethora of category labels refers to overlapping groups of expressions. Do the sorts of expression that have been dubbed discourse markers form a natural class or are they, rather, a collection of misfits? This problem of definition is addressed in section 1. Second, there has been uncertainty over how to characterize discourse marker meanings, and this has sometimes led to claims that these are purely pragmatic. What, if any, are the semantic values of discourse markers? Why are the forms used for discourse marking so typically polyfun