Discourse markers and regional variation in French
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Gaétane Dostie
Abstract
This chapter examines several discourse markers (DMs) which are common in spontaneous Quebec French and which derive from verbs of perception/cognition (coudon ‘hey, by the way’, écoute ‘listen’) and temporal and consecutive markers (pis ‘and, so, so what?’, alors ‘so’, (ça) fait que ‘so’). From a lexico-semantic point of view, regional variation – a not insignificant characteristic of DMs – results from the fact that an item whose meaning predisposes it to become a pragmatic item becomes pragmaticalized in one region but not necessarily in the other, or does not attain the same degree of pragmaticalization in one region as in another.
Abstract
This chapter examines several discourse markers (DMs) which are common in spontaneous Quebec French and which derive from verbs of perception/cognition (coudon ‘hey, by the way’, écoute ‘listen’) and temporal and consecutive markers (pis ‘and, so, so what?’, alors ‘so’, (ça) fait que ‘so’). From a lexico-semantic point of view, regional variation – a not insignificant characteristic of DMs – results from the fact that an item whose meaning predisposes it to become a pragmatic item becomes pragmaticalized in one region but not necessarily in the other, or does not attain the same degree of pragmaticalization in one region as in another.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
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Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
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Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
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Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
-
Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
-
Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
