scholarly journals The Meaning and Functions of qSdk and yʕny as Discourse Markers in Saudi Arabic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-722
Author(s):  
Maram S. Alshammary
Keyword(s):  
Truth Condition ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Cognitive Effect ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Saudi Arabic

The current study aims at investigating two discourse markers that are used in Saudi Arabic, “qSdk and yʕny”, against Schourup’s characteristics of discourse markers which are connectivity, optionality, and non-truth conditionality. Additionally, this study investigates the pragmatic uses and procedural meanings of those discourse markers using Blakemore’s procedural meaning and relevance theory as a framework. By examining two discourse markers that received less attention in other studies, the current study builds on previous literature in this field. Regarding methodology, the current study is a corpus-based study in which two corpora containing texts written in Saudi Arabic are used to extract data and evidence. The study concludes that “qSdk and yʕny” behave as discourse markers by being optional, connecting two segments together, and having no influence on the truth condition of the sentence in which they are used. The discourse marker “qSdk” serves three procedural meanings: asking for clarification, correction and making irony whereas “yʕny” serves the procedural meanings of clarification and asking for clarification. Furthermore, the use of these discourse markers makes the sentence more relevant to listeners as they need less cognitive effect to derive the pragmatic meaning of the sentence.

THE USE OF DISCOURSE MARKER “MAʕ NAFSAK” IN SAUDI ARABIC: A PRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVE

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Rafat M Al Rousan
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Online Conversations ◽  
Saudi Arabic ◽  
Spoken Arabic

<p>The present study examines the use of the discourse marker maʕ nafsak in Saudi Spoken Arabic. Specifically, it explores the pragmatic functions of ma3 nafsak in the online conversations of young Saudis. The data, which were collected from 17 young Saudi students through user-diaries, consisted of 262 natural online conversations in which 132 cases of maʕ nafsak occurred. The data were analyzed with regard to the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker. The study reveals that maʕ nafsak serves 12 different pragmatic functions based on the context in which it is used. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of the context in the interpretation of discourse markers. Future research is recommended in this study.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Discourse Marker, Saudi Arabic, Pragmatic Perspective</p>

Outlining a grammaticalization path for the Spanish formula en plan (de): A contribution to crosslinguistic pragmatics

Linguistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1543-1579
Author(s):  
Paula Rodríguez-Abruñeiras
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Diachronic Study ◽  
Diachronic Development ◽  
The Early 21St Century

AbstractThis 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 a universal pathway of grammaticalization in the emergence of discourse markers.

scholarly journals Grammatical Positions of Focuser Like Among Native English-Speaking Undergraduate Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Basim Alamri
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking

Discourse markers (DMs) are used in everyday conversations to serve different meanings and functions. The present exploratory study investigated grammatical positions of focuser like among 60 undergraduate native-English-speaking students at a midwestern university in the United States. Students were asked to read and place focuser like in this sentence: “We have to read five chapters for the final exam”. Then students were required to indicate a degree of acceptability of the placement of like at every possible position in sentences that contained the discourse marker like in 10 different grammatical positions. The results showed that students preferred inserting the DM like before a noun phrase, at the beginning of a sentence, and before a verb phrase, respectively. In terms of gender, females frequently posited focuser like before a sentence, whereas males placed it before a noun phrase. Also, the discourse marker like does not occur within auxiliary. Finally, this study draws conclusions about different grammatical positions and broader usages of discourse marker focuser like among younger students. 

scholarly journals Le marche di lista in russo. Segnali riformulativi, estensivi, generalizzanti… i vse takoe

2016 ◽  
pp. 17-43
Author(s):  
Valentina Benigni
Keyword(s):  
Functional Properties ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Structural And Functional Properties

This paper offers a survey of list markers in contemporary Russian, i.e. discourse markers that signal the presence of a list and fulfil specific semantic and pragmatic functions, such as generalization (и все такое ‘and things like that’), exemplification (типа ‘such as/kind of’) or reformulation of the list content (так сказать ‘so to speak’). It also explores the structural and functional properties of general extenders within the framework of CxG, focusing particularly on the process of lexicalization and grammaticalization of the discourse marker и все такое ‘and things like that’.

scholarly journals Discourse Marker Sequencing and Grammaticalization

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Koops ◽  
Arne Lohmann
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Final Outcome ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Grammatical Functions

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:This paper deals with the grammatical properties of discourse markers (DMs), specifically their ordering preferences relative to one another. While the data presented here are synchronic, we approach the topic of DM sequencing from the perspective of grammaticalization. From this perspective, DMs can be understood as the result of a process in which elements serving other functions, for example grammatical functions at the level of sentential syntax, come to be conventionally used as markers of discourse-level relations, or what Schiffrin (1987: 31) operationally defined as “sequentially dependent elements which bracket units of talk.” Here we are concerned with the final outcome of this process. We ask: to what degree do fully formed DMs retain or lose the grammatical properties associated with their previous role, specifically their syntactic co-occurrence constraints? In other words, what degree of syntactic decategorialization (in the sense of Hopper 1991) do DMs display?

A relevance-theoretic account of the use of the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-179
Author(s):  
Wu Guangjun
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Pragmatic Enrichment ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Special Category

Abstract Discourse markers are a special category of words or expressions which have been shown to pose challenges during the translation process. This article adopts a relevance-theoretic perspective and, based on the two English translations of the Chinese play Leiyu (Thunderstorm), explores the use of the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English. The findings show that the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English is added in two scenarios: to intensify weaker forms of a similar Chinese discourse marker or as an addition when omitted in Chinese. Moreover, interlingual pragmatic enrichment will ensue and the English translations, in comparison with their Chinese originals, become more determinate. Based on this study, we can conclude that discourse markers are important pragmatic elements in translation from Chinese into English. Likewise, contrastive pragmatics is shown to be of potential in the process of translation.

‘I Assume You Know’

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-102
Author(s):  
Maher Bahloul
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
Truth Value ◽  
And Function ◽  
Discourse Connectives ◽  
Formal Features

This paper is a pilot study on the form and function of the Arabic discourse marker ‘ṭabʕan’. Discourse markers in language have been the focus of myriad studies under a number of denotations such as discourse operators, discourse connectives, modal markers, cue phrases, amongst several others. While such markers occur in written and spoken forms of language, they are much more abundant in formal and informal conversations. ṭabʕan, for instance, is observed in media Arabic in formal and semi-formal contexts. The paper highlights its formal features, its syntactic distribution, and identifies its core pragmatic function. Although the marker does not change the truth value of utterances or alter them in any significant way, it tends to cluster around the speaker. Thus, it injects some modal features oscillating between assertiveness and evidentiality.

Semasiological cyclicity in the evolution of discourse markers

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Scivoletto
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Cyclical Change ◽  
Interpersonal Values ◽  
Temporal Conjunction

Abstract This study addresses the evolution of the Sicilian discourse marker mentri to explore the concept of cyclicity in semantic–pragmatic change. Stemming from Latin dŭm ĭntĕrim (‘while, in the meantime’), the temporal conjunction develops – like its Romance cognates – an adversative function meaning ‘whereas’, which further evolves from an oppositional to a counter-expectational contrast value meaning ‘though’. The latter serves as a bridging context for the emergence of discourse-pragmatic uses and is examined below. Mentri evolves as discourse marker: formally, it gains greater syntactic and positional independence, and it increases in scope; functionally, it displays both textual and interpersonal values. In its overall path, mentri shows a cyclical change in respect to the adversative function: oppositional contrast emerges out of the temporal meaning, it then develops into counter-expectation, and it eventually fades into the discourse-pragmatic values. The rise of mentri as a discourse marker is thus interpreted as a case of cyclicity from a semasiological perspective.

A comparative analysis of invariant tags in three varieties of English

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgie Columbus
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Canadian English ◽  
Indian English ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Language Variety ◽  
Esl Pedagogy

Discourse markers are a feature of everyday conversation — they signal attitudes and beliefs to their interlocutors beyond the base utterance. One particular type of discourse marker is the invariant tag (InT), for example New Zealand and Canadian English eh. Previous studies of InTs have clearly described InT uses in one language variety (e.g. Berland 1997, on London teenage talk; Stubbe and Holmes 1995, on NZ English; on sociolinguistic features e.g. Stubbe and Holmes 1995 and on single markers e.g. Avis 1972; Love 1973; Gibson 1977; Meyerhoff 1992 and 1994; Gold 2005, 2008 on eh). However, the class of InTs has not yet been fully described, and the variety of approaches taken (corpus- and survey-based) does not easily allow for cross-varietal or cross-linguistic comparison. This study investigates InTs in three varieties of English from a corpus-based approach. It lists the InTs available in New Zealand, British and Indian English through their occurrences in their respective International Corpus of English (ICE) corpora, and compares usages of four tags across the varieties. The description offers a clearer overview of the InT class for descriptive grammars, as well as more explicit definitions and usage guides for e.g. EFL/ESL pedagogy. An unambiguous description of several InTs and their meanings will also allow more thorough comparison in studies of other English varieties. Finally, the results offer another viewpoint on the issue of representativeness in corpora with respect to regional versus national varieties of the Englishes.

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