the discourse marker Well
The Analysis of the Characteristics of Discourse Marker WELL
话语标记语WELL特征分析
摘 要 言语交际中的话语标记语虽在句子中不占据句子成分,却是在交际中很常见的现象。本文以言语交际中的话语标记语WELL为研究对象，分析和判断它在交际中的特征，为正确理解话语交际意图，准确对其进行翻译提供参考。
关键词 话语标记语；WELL；交际意图；翻译
Abstract It is very common in English to use the expression form like “well”, “oh”, “you know”, “you see”, “I mean”, “that is to say”, “in other words”, “as I said”, which are all discourse markers. They are small words which do not contribute to the propositional content of the utterance which they modify. The present paper focuses on the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker WELL in verbal interaction. It is beneficial for English learners to analyzing its pragmatic functions in translation practice.
Keywords discourse marks; WELL; communicating purpose; English learners
1. Introduction
It is very common in English to use the expression form like “well”, “oh”, “you know”, “you see”, “I mean”, “that is to say”, “in other words”, “as I said”, which are all discourse markers. They are small words which do not contribute to the propositional content of the utterance which they modify. They are ubiquitous in conversations, where they express the speaker’s attitudes to the addressee, negotiate background assumptions, express emotions and contribute to coherence. (Andersen & Fretheim, 2001)
Since Levinson suggests that learning from pragmatic aspect on their own characteristics is extremely called for, discourse markers arouse linguists’ great interests in the pragmatic field. Linguists study discourse markers from different perspectives such as the coherence theory (Schiffrin), the syntactic-pragmatic perspective (Fraser) and the relevance theory (Blakemore). Schiffrin maintains that discourse markers function to “add to discourse coherence” and that coherence is “constructed through relations between adjacent units in discourse” (Shiffrin, 1987:24-25). Fraser approaches discourse markers from a syntactic-pragmatic perspective but he also
话语标记语WELL特征分析
摘 要 言语交际中的话语标记语虽在句子中不占据句子成分,却是在交际中很常见的现象。本文以言语交际中的话语标记语WELL为研究对象，分析和判断它在交际中的特征，为正确理解话语交际意图，准确对其进行翻译提供参考。
关键词 话语标记语；WELL；交际意图；翻译
Abstract It is very common in English to use the expression form like “well”, “oh”, “you know”, “you see”, “I mean”, “that is to say”, “in other words”, “as I said”, which are all discourse markers. They are small words which do not contribute to the propositional content of the utterance which they modify. The present paper focuses on the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker WELL in verbal interaction. It is beneficial for English learners to analyzing its pragmatic functions in translation practice.
Keywords discourse marks; WELL; communicating purpose; English learners
1. Introduction
It is very common in English to use the expression form like “well”, “oh”, “you know”, “you see”, “I mean”, “that is to say”, “in other words”, “as I said”, which are all discourse markers. They are small words which do not contribute to the propositional content of the utterance which they modify. They are ubiquitous in conversations, where they express the speaker’s attitudes to the addressee, negotiate background assumptions, express emotions and contribute to coherence. (Andersen & Fretheim, 2001)
Since Levinson suggests that learning from pragmatic aspect on their own characteristics is extremely called for, discourse markers arouse linguists’ great interests in the pragmatic field. Linguists study discourse markers from different perspectives such as the coherence theory (Schiffrin), the syntactic-pragmatic perspective (Fraser) and the relevance theory (Blakemore). Schiffrin maintains that discourse markers function to “add to discourse coherence” and that coherence is “constructed through relations between adjacent units in discourse” (Shiffrin, 1987:24-25). Fraser approaches discourse markers from a syntactic-pragmatic perspective but he also
Bibliography: [1]Andersen, G., & Fretheim, T(eds). (2001). Pragmatic Markers and Sociolinguistic Variation: Relevance Theoretic Approach to the Language Adolescents. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. [2]Blakemore, D. (2002). Indicators and Procedures: Nevertheless and But. Journal of Linguistics, 36(pp.463-486). [3]Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness. Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [4]Dickens, C. (1994).David Copperfield. London: Penguin Books. [5]Fraser, B. (1990). An Approach to Discourse Markers. Journal of Pragmatics, 14 (pp.383-395). [6]Fraser, B. (1999). What are Discourse Markers?. Journal of Pragmatics, 31 (pp.931-952). [7]Hickey, L. (2001).The Pragmatics of Translation.Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,(pp. 57). [8]Klerk, V. (2005). Procedural Meanings of Well in a corpus of Xhosa English. Journal of Pragmatics, 37 (pp.1183-1205). [9]Norrick, N.R. (2002).Discourse Markers in Oral Narrative. Journal of Pragmatics, 33 (pp.849-878). [10]Schiffrin, D. (1987). Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [11]Schourup, L. (2001). Rethinking Well. Journal of Pragmatics, 33 (pp.1020-1060). [12]Schourup, L. (1985).Common Discourse Particles in English Conversation. New York: Garland [13]何自然 [14]何兆熊. (2000). 新编语用学纲要. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社. [15]姜望琪. (2000). 语用学理论及应用. 北京: 北京大学出版社. [16]冉永平. (2000). 话语标记语的语用学研究综述. 外语研究(4). [17]冉永平. (2003). 话语标记语well的语用功能. 外国语(3).