“’Tis mad, yeah”
-
Michael McCarthy
Abstract
The study of pragmatic markers has stressed their function of relating segments of discourse one to the other, including the functions of response to previous talk and the marking of stance. This chapter investigates the turn-opening slot as an important locus for pragmatic marking. Tao’s (2003) work on turn-openings concluded that turn-openers were primarily lexical and linked with prior talk. McCarthy’s (2002) study of single-word lexical response tokens revealed variation in the use of tokens between British and North American English but that work did not cover turn-openers in general. The present chapter compares turn-openers in informal Irish and British English, focusing on lexically freestanding pragmatic markers. The chapter discusses variety-specific items in their role as turn-initial pragmatic markers.
Abstract
The study of pragmatic markers has stressed their function of relating segments of discourse one to the other, including the functions of response to previous talk and the marking of stance. This chapter investigates the turn-opening slot as an important locus for pragmatic marking. Tao’s (2003) work on turn-openings concluded that turn-openers were primarily lexical and linked with prior talk. McCarthy’s (2002) study of single-word lexical response tokens revealed variation in the use of tokens between British and North American English but that work did not cover turn-openers in general. The present chapter compares turn-openers in informal Irish and British English, focusing on lexically freestanding pragmatic markers. The chapter discusses variety-specific items in their role as turn-initial pragmatic markers.
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
