A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English
-
Martin Schweinberger
Abstract
This study compares the use of like in Irish English (IrE) to its use in southeastern British English (SE-BrE). There are significant differences between the use of like in IrE and SE-BrE in terms of overall frequency, social meaning and positioning. This paper argues that the differences in the use of like require a functional explanation on two levels, namely on a language-external social level and on a language-internal discourse-pragmatic level. On the extra-linguistic level, the differences in like’s social profile indicate distinct social meanings while, on a language-internal level, differences in positioning suggest that either like is used to perform distinct pragmatic functions or that uses of like in clause-medial and clause-final positions compete to perform similar functions, e.g. focusing elements. The substantial differences revealed by the analysis are accounted for by historical and identity-related factors.
Abstract
This study compares the use of like in Irish English (IrE) to its use in southeastern British English (SE-BrE). There are significant differences between the use of like in IrE and SE-BrE in terms of overall frequency, social meaning and positioning. This paper argues that the differences in the use of like require a functional explanation on two levels, namely on a language-external social level and on a language-internal discourse-pragmatic level. On the extra-linguistic level, the differences in like’s social profile indicate distinct social meanings while, on a language-internal level, differences in positioning suggest that either like is used to perform distinct pragmatic functions or that uses of like in clause-medial and clause-final positions compete to perform similar functions, e.g. focusing elements. The substantial differences revealed by the analysis are accounted for by historical and identity-related factors.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The Pragmatics of Irish English and Irish 17
- “I always think of people here, you know, saying ‘like’ after every sentence” 37
- A corpus-based investigation of pragmatic markers and sociolinguistic variation in Irish English 65
- Kind of and sort of 89
- A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English 114
- “Actually, it’s unfair to say that I was throwing stones” 135
- “’Tis mad, yeah” 156
- Turn initiators in professional encounters 176
- “And your wedding is the twenty-second <.> of June is it?” 203
- “Hurry up baby son all the boys is finished their breakfast” 229
- Pragmatic markers as implicit emotive anchoring 248
- “Sure this is a great country for drink and rowing at elections” 270
- Blathering Beauties 292
- Pragmatic markers in contemporary radio advertising in Ireland 318
- “Yeah well, probably, you know I wasn’t that big into school, you know” 348
- “There’s, like, total silence again, roysh, and no one says anything” 370
- Now in the speech of newcomers to Ireland 390
- The significance of age and place of residence in the positional distribution of discourse like in L2 speech 408
- Name index 433
- Subject index 437
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The Pragmatics of Irish English and Irish 17
- “I always think of people here, you know, saying ‘like’ after every sentence” 37
- A corpus-based investigation of pragmatic markers and sociolinguistic variation in Irish English 65
- Kind of and sort of 89
- A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English 114
- “Actually, it’s unfair to say that I was throwing stones” 135
- “’Tis mad, yeah” 156
- Turn initiators in professional encounters 176
- “And your wedding is the twenty-second <.> of June is it?” 203
- “Hurry up baby son all the boys is finished their breakfast” 229
- Pragmatic markers as implicit emotive anchoring 248
- “Sure this is a great country for drink and rowing at elections” 270
- Blathering Beauties 292
- Pragmatic markers in contemporary radio advertising in Ireland 318
- “Yeah well, probably, you know I wasn’t that big into school, you know” 348
- “There’s, like, total silence again, roysh, and no one says anything” 370
- Now in the speech of newcomers to Ireland 390
- The significance of age and place of residence in the positional distribution of discourse like in L2 speech 408
- Name index 433
- Subject index 437
