英语口语中话语标记语的语用功能

英语口语中话语标记语的语用功能Abstract:Discourse markers (hereafter DMs) are pervasively used in spoken language, which have very important pragmatic functions-repair function and politeness function. It plays a very important role in our daily communication, and enables speakers to make logical and coherent utterances.Key words:discourse markers; communication; pragmatic functionsI. IntroductionWhen paying attention to spoken English, one will notice a group of lexical expressions in utterances. They do not convey any propositional meaning, but they are part of a discourse segment. These expressions are called discourse markers (DMs). DMs have very important pragmatic functions in communication. Many scholars (Schiffrin, 1996; Fraser, 1987; Blakemore, 2001) have showed keen interest in DMs and some have carried out a series of researches in an attempt to name and define these lexical expressions. This paper analyzes repair function and politeness function of DMs.II. Properties of DMsThe first and most established study of DMs is reported in Schiffrin(31). She defines DMs as “linguistic elements that signal relations and participation framework levels of the discourse”. To get a general knowledge about DMs, we can look at the following basic features that characterize DMs: they are free morphemes; they are more often used in spoken language; they are used to express speakers’intentions in communication, and to make utterances more fluent; they do not contribute to the meaning of utterances. If a discourse marker is removed from an utterance, the utterance will not become ungrammatical or change its meaning.III. Pragmatic Functions of DMsThere is no agreement on the pragmatic functions of DMs. In China, Ran Rongping (58) mainly analyzes the functions of “well”, that is, face-threatening mitigator, markers of hesitation, markers of lacking information, and markers of repair. Since the pragmatic functions of DMs in the present research are to add discourse coherence, a good command of employing DMs can make our conversation more lively, personal and genuine. And this study will especially focus on the repair function and the politeness function.A. Repair FunctionIn verbal communication, we often find that the speaker may have a slip of tongue or a slip of ear; he may choose incorrect words or misunderstand what the other has said. In such cases, the speaker or the hearer may “repair on line”.Bois put out four kinds of repair markers: reference editing (that is), difference editing (rather), error editing (I mean), and sta tement editing (well). The insertion of “well” in the discourse may fulfill the function of editing. For example: “The author stands for, well, is in favor of gun control.” The function of well is used to correct the mistake made by the speaker. The speaker may wake up to something incorrect in his utterance, for example, the slip of the tongue, a wrong use of a word or a wrongassumption. Well is used to mark a transition in a response to a question or to a preceding statement and thus to prepare the liste ner for the inference of the speaker’s implication.B. Politeness FunctionIn the study of linguistics politeness, the most relevant concept is “face”, which means one’s public self-image. This is the emotional and social sense of self that every person has and expects everyone else to recognize. When the speaker says something, he should mind his words and lessen the possible threat to the hearer’s face in order to keep a nice talk, otherwise, it would be impossible for them to carry on the talk.Speakers employ DMs, such as “well”, to express his hesitation or mitigation in interaction. Speakers take turns at speaking up in conversation. Typically, only one person speaks at a time and there tends to be an avoidance of silence between speaking turns. Participants will use discourse markers as a way to organize their turns at speaking, such as “Ok, you can go on speaking and I’m listening.” In this case Ok indicates the transition of topic in the process of communication. In addition, Ok is used as a signal to the hearer that the speaker has well comprehended the current discourse. Sometimes Ok can act as a marker of hearer’s acknowledgement to encourage the speaker to continue the conversation.IV. ConclusionResearch on DMs is still a fairly new sub-branch of linguistics, which is involved both in pragmatics and discourse analysis. A good command of using DMs can facilitate the smoothness of one’s communication and therefore achieve a successful communication. This study is just the beginning of long and hard work. It is a long way to improve the mastery of DMs. It is hoped that this paper can arouse people’s interest and make them aware of the importance of these DMs and therefore may contribute to further study.References:[1]Blakemore, D. Discourse and Relevance Theory[M]. Oxford:Basil Blackwell,2001.[2]Fraser, B. What are discourse markers? Journal of Pragmatics, 1999, (31) 931-952.[3]Schiffrin, D. Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.[4]陈丽霞. 话语标记语的语用功能研究[DB]. 中国知网, 2007.[5]李勇忠. 语用标记与话语连贯[J]. 外语与外语教学, 2003 (1): 62-64.[6]冉永平. 话语标记语的语用学研究综述[J]. 外语研究, 2000 (4): 8-14.[7]冉永平. 话语标记语well的语用功能[J]. 外国语, 2003 (3): 58-64.。