Home Linguistics & Semiotics 4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction
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4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction

  • Ana María Terrazas-Calero
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Socio-Pragmatic Variation in Ireland
This chapter is in the book Socio-Pragmatic Variation in Ireland

Abstract

Although some innovative linguistic features are claimed as badges of regional identity, they are often also negatively viewed by non-academic language commentators. One of these polarizing, multifunctional items is the upcoming, discourse pragmatic marker, Yeah, No (YN). While often attributed to Australia, YN has been observed in several varieties of English, yet it remains largely unexplored. One such variety is Irish English (IrE), where its use seems to be on the rise, as evidenced in contemporary fiction. This chapter examines longitudinally the use and development of YN as represented in a corpus of Paul Howard’s Ross O’Carroll- Kelly (RO’CK) series, which has often been praised for its rendering of orality in text. The corpus includes 12 RO’CK novels and comprises ca. 1,5 million words. The chapter analyzes the type of sociolinguistic values its use indexes in the context of Ireland. Using corpus linguistics, corpus stylistics and corpus pragmatics as methodological basis, this chapter explores quantitatively and qualitatively the various uses and pragmatic functions YN has in IrE. Furthermore, it sheds light on potential pragmatic developments that seem to have occurred in the span of 11 years covered by the books, such as the acquisition of previously undocumented, (inter) personal functions.

Abstract

Although some innovative linguistic features are claimed as badges of regional identity, they are often also negatively viewed by non-academic language commentators. One of these polarizing, multifunctional items is the upcoming, discourse pragmatic marker, Yeah, No (YN). While often attributed to Australia, YN has been observed in several varieties of English, yet it remains largely unexplored. One such variety is Irish English (IrE), where its use seems to be on the rise, as evidenced in contemporary fiction. This chapter examines longitudinally the use and development of YN as represented in a corpus of Paul Howard’s Ross O’Carroll- Kelly (RO’CK) series, which has often been praised for its rendering of orality in text. The corpus includes 12 RO’CK novels and comprises ca. 1,5 million words. The chapter analyzes the type of sociolinguistic values its use indexes in the context of Ireland. Using corpus linguistics, corpus stylistics and corpus pragmatics as methodological basis, this chapter explores quantitatively and qualitatively the various uses and pragmatic functions YN has in IrE. Furthermore, it sheds light on potential pragmatic developments that seem to have occurred in the span of 11 years covered by the books, such as the acquisition of previously undocumented, (inter) personal functions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 An introduction to sociopragmatic variation 1
  4. Part 1: Investigating sociolinguistic variables
  5. 2 The sociopragmatics of now in corpora of Irish English and Scottish English 11
  6. 3 Lookit – the story of a pragmatic marker in Irish English 31
  7. 4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction 45
  8. 5 New speakers of Irish English: Pragmatic and sociophonetic perspectives 69
  9. 6 Pragmatic markers in Ulster Irish and Irish English 87
  10. 7 Boring much? Semantic determinants of constructional attraction in Irish English 107
  11. Part 2: Metapragmatic structures: Identities, styles, and media
  12. 8 ‘Oh wait and I tell you . . .’: Narratives, pragmatics, and style in ICE-Ireland 133
  13. 9 Irish identities in a fictional TV series: Mediatised performance of Derry English in Derry Girls 155
  14. 10 Salutation and leavetaking formulae in 18th-century varieties of English 173
  15. 11 Automatically detecting directives with SPICE Ireland 205
  16. 12 Concluding remarks and future directions in studies on sociopragmatic variation 235
  17. Index 241
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110791457-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 An introduction to sociopragmatic variation 1
  4. Part 1: Investigating sociolinguistic variables
  5. 2 The sociopragmatics of now in corpora of Irish English and Scottish English 11
  6. 3 Lookit – the story of a pragmatic marker in Irish English 31
  7. 4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction 45
  8. 5 New speakers of Irish English: Pragmatic and sociophonetic perspectives 69
  9. 6 Pragmatic markers in Ulster Irish and Irish English 87
  10. 7 Boring much? Semantic determinants of constructional attraction in Irish English 107
  11. Part 2: Metapragmatic structures: Identities, styles, and media
  12. 8 ‘Oh wait and I tell you . . .’: Narratives, pragmatics, and style in ICE-Ireland 133
  13. 9 Irish identities in a fictional TV series: Mediatised performance of Derry English in Derry Girls 155
  14. 10 Salutation and leavetaking formulae in 18th-century varieties of English 173
  15. 11 Automatically detecting directives with SPICE Ireland 205
  16. 12 Concluding remarks and future directions in studies on sociopragmatic variation 235
  17. Index 241
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