Marking Discourse Coherence

Marking Discourse Coherence

Discourse Markers

Discourse markers - the particles oh, well, now, then, you know and I mean, and the connectives so, because, and, but and or - perform important functions in conversation. Dr Schiffrin's approach is firmly interdisciplinary, within linguistics and sociology, and her rigourous analysis clearly demonstrates that neither the markers, nor the discourse within which they function, can be understood from one point of view alone, but only as an integration of structural, semantic, pragmatic, and social factors. The core of the book is a comparative analysis of markers within conversational discourse collected by Dr Schiffrin during sociolinguistic fieldwork. The study concludes that markers provide contextual coordinates which aid in the production and interpretation of coherent conversation at both local and global levels of organization. It raises a wide range of theoretical and methodological issues important to discourse analysis - including the relationship between meaning and use, the role of qualitative and quantitative analyses - and the insights it offers will be of particular value to readers confronting the very substantial problems presented by the search for a model of discourse which is based on what people actually say, mean, and do with words in everyday social interaction.

Marking Discourse Coherence and Social-Interpersonal Meaning

Through cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives, this book uncovers unexplored areas of the semantic shifts and functional developments of discourse-pragmatic markers by examining historical and contemporary language usage of Korean and other languages. The discourse-pragmatic markers examined in this book evince multifaceted and multifunctional characteristics. On the textual level discourse-pragmatic markers build intra-textual coherence and sequential coordination; on the interpersonal level they index the speaker s epistemic and interpersonal stances in relation to interlocutors and upcoming discourse. The semantic shifts engendered through the metaphoric and metonymic processes and functional development of these markers manifest unidirectionality and regularity in semantic change. This book should be especially useful to researchers as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students in disciplines dealing with language and culture in general, particularly linguistics and communications. Anyone interested in online social interaction and computer mediated communication across cultures will find valuable insights in this volume.