Mandarin Chinese buguo (‘but’) as a metacoherence marker in TV/radio interview talks

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-144
Author(s):  
Yufang Wang ◽  
Shu-ing Shyu ◽  
Wayne Schams ◽  
Hsun-Chen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Previous Proposition ◽  
Topic Shift ◽  
News Interviews

Abstract This study examines the uses of Mandarin Chinese buguo ‘but’ as a contrastive discourse marker (CM) in spoken discourse. The data were taken from casual conversations, TV/radio single-interviewee interviews and TV panel news interviews. We found that two main types of the CM buguo were used to mark contrast: restrictive buguo and cancellative buguo. Restrictive buguo is similar to the adv buguo in usage in that it modifies the validity of the preceding proposition to signal implicit contrast. Cancellative buguo is used to cancel the validity of a previous proposition to indicate explicit contrast. As such, restrictive buguo can serve as a topic-shift marker and to convey implicit disagreement; cancellative buguo often acts as a topic-change marker used to introduce explicit disagreement. In particular, both restrictive buguo and cancellative buguo can serve as metacoherence markers, which are often employed by interview hosts/hostesses to make the discourse optimally coherent.

Restrictiveness, exclusivity, adversativity, and mirativity

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Fang Wang ◽  
Mei-Chi Tsai ◽  
Wayne Schams ◽  
Chi-Ming Yang
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
English Only ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Turn Taking

Mandarin Chinese zhishi (similar to English ‘only’), comprised of the adverb zhi and the copula shi, can act as an adverb (ADV) or a discourse marker (DM). This study analyzes the role of zhishi in spoken discourse, based on the methodological and theoretical principles of interactional linguistics and conversation analysis. The corpus used in this study consists of three sets of data: 1) naturally-occurring daily conversations; 2) radio/TV interviews; and 3) TV panel discussions on current political affairs. As a whole, this study reveals that the notions of restrictiveness, exclusivity, and adversativity are closely associated with ADV zhishi and DM zhishi. In addition, the present data show that since zhishi is often used to express a ‘less than expected’ feeling, it can be used to indicate mirativity (i.e. language indicating that an utterance conveys the speaker’s surprise). The data also show that the distribution of zhishi as an adverb or discourse marker depends on turn taking systems and speech situations in spoken discourse. Specifically, the ADV zhishi tends to occur in radio/TV interviews and TV panel news discussions, while the DM zhishi occurs more often in casual conversations.

scholarly journals Pragmatic functions of discourse marker ‘well’ in selected spoken discourse of Philippine English

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-201
Author(s):  
Jimmylen Tonio
Keyword(s):  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Speech Event ◽  
Current Topic ◽  
Suggested Classification ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

The present paper investigates the use of the discourse marker “well,” one of the expressions that evoke emotive rather than referential functions. Taking a discourse-pragmatic approach, this study examines the functions of well as a discourse marker in selected spoken discourse of Philippine English. This paper investigates the functions and frequency of the discourse marker well in various speech event categories set in a dialogue and monologue environments. The data for the analysis have been selected from the International Corpus of English – Philippines (ICE-PHI). Also, the study focuses on the spoken component of the ICE-PH, which is one of the least studied dimensions of Philippine English. Further, it employs both quantitative and qualitative analyses while applying the suggested classification proposed by Ran (2003) and Jucker (1993). This study claims that the discourse marker well has several discourse-pragmatic functions in various speaking contexts, including 1) initiating utterance; 2) indicating the speaker's hesitancy; 3) mitigating various Face Threatening Acts; 4) correcting one's utterance; and 5) changing or shifting the current topic, based on 346 cases of well in four different spoken types.

scholarly journals Mandarin Chinese sentence final de as a marker of private evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Hooi Ling Soh
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Epistemic Modals ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Discourse Particles ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries ◽  
Specific Proposal

In this paper, I present new empirical observations regarding discourse restrictions and interpretative effects associated with Mandarin Chinese sentence final de in a bare de sentence. I propose an analysis of de as a discourse marker that marks “private evidence”.  I then consider a prediction of the analysis regarding the distribution of de in yes/no questions.  I show that the pattern of restrictions observed with de in yes/no questions follows from the proposed analysis, coupled with a specific proposal about the syntax of de, and certain standard assumptions about the syntax of yes/no questions and modal auxiliaries.  Specifically, I argue that de heads a projection below TP and above a modal projection for non-epistemic modals.  I then discuss apparent counter-examples to the proposed discourse restrictions and suggest that the apparent counter-examples are not bare de sentences, but rather shi…de sentences with a silent shi.  The proposed analysis has implications on the syntax of modal auxiliaries, the relation between bare de sentences and shi…de sentences, and the syntax of discourse particles.  It connects de with discourse particles that mark the speaker’s belief about whether the (evidence for the) asserted proposition is shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer and whether the (evidence for the) proposition is “verifiable on the spot” (e.g., German ja (Kratzer 1999, 2004; Gutzmann 2009); English parenthetical I’m telling you (Reese and Soh 2018)).

Zur Analyse von νῦν bei Homer

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz Conti
Keyword(s):  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Topic Shift ◽  
Discourse Topic

Zusammenfassung In Homer, νῦν generally functions as an adverb referring to the present or the immediate future of the speaker. Apart from this use as a temporal adverb, νῦν has also developed a use as a discourse marker: it functions as a marker of discourse topic shift and as an adversative particle; besides these two values, νῦν also functions, as we will try to demonstrate, as an illustrative particle. The line between the use of νῦν as a temporal adverb or a discourse marker is blurred, as could be expected, but contexts in which the verb expresses past states of affairs totally exclude an interpretation of νῦν as a temporal adverb. This paper aims at determining the factors that have triggered the development of νῦν as a discourse marker. It will also describe the conditions that allow the use of νῦν in the description of states of affairs that took place in a distant past.

Development of the discourse marker kulentey (‘but, by the way’) in Korean

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung-Ock S. Sohn
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Functional Asymmetry ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Source Form ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Way

This study examines the diachronic and synchronic development of the discourse marker kulentey (‘but, by the way’). Etymologically, having derived from the sequence of the deictic predicate and the clause-final suffix –nuntey (‘but, in the circumstance that’), kulentey is frequently used as a turn-initiator in spoken discourse. While each source form of kulentey is attested in the earliest text written in Korean (fifteenth century), the form itself is found only in early-twentieth-century texts. The development of kulentey at peripheries shows unique features in terms of discourse functions and prosody. There exists a functional asymmetry between the left and the right peripheral kulentey. Prosodically, LP kulentey forms a salient disjuncture, while the RP kulentey is integrated into the preceding element. Using both written and spoken corpora, this study investigates the emergence and development of kulentey at peripheries, and its interaction with prosody.

Discourse markers as stance markers

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoko I. Sakita
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Conversational Interaction ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Topic Shift

Stance is inherent in conversational interaction and is interactional in nature. When speakers take a stance, they pay attention to both prior stances and stance relations, as well as to the anticipated consequences of their stancetaking. They manage stance relations as a way of dealing with the “sociocognitive relations” of intersubjectivity (Du Bois 2007). Using the dialogic framework proposed by Du Bois, this paper shows that the discourse marker well in American English works as a resource for the management of relationships among stances. With its referential and grammatical flexibility, it is uniquely characterized as a meta-stance marker because, rather than indexing a specific stance, it negotiates and regulates stance relations. Well is analyzed in two contextual categories: first, at stance divergence among utterances, and second, at stance shifts embedded in topic shift.

scholarly journals Coherence relations in academic spoken discourse

Linguistica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliano Desiderato Antonio ◽  
Fernanda Trombini Rahmen Cassim
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Rhetorical Structure ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Coherence Relations ◽  
Discourse Relations

According to Rhetorical Structure Theory, implicit propositions emerge from the combination of pieces of text which hang together. Implicit propositions have received various labels as coherence relations, discourse relations, rhetorical relations or relational propositions. When two portions of a text hold a relation, the addressee of the text may recognize the connection even without the presence of a formal sign as a conjunction or a discourse marker. In this paper we claim that some intrinsic spoken discourse phenomena like paraphrasing, repetition, correction and parenthetical insertion hold coherence relations with other portions of discourse and, thus, may be considered strategies for the construction of coherence. The analysis, based on academic spoken discourse (five university lectures in Brazilian Portuguese), shows that these phenomena are recurring and relevant for the study of spoken discourse.

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