A corpus-based study of quoi in French native speech
-
Delin Deng
and
Fenqi Wang
Abstract
Based on data drawn from two corpora collected in Orléans, France, in two waves (ESLO 1, 1968–1971; ESLO 2, 2008–) over a 40-year period, this paper investigated the use of quoi as a discourse marker (DM) in the speech of 234 French native speakers. Our results indicate that the DM quoi has increased in frequency in the more recent corpus. The distribution of its discursive functions has changed between the two corpora. Meanwhile, we also demonstrate that the DM quoi is mainly used in final position and this tendency continues to increase in ESLO 2. Regarding the relation between function and particle position, the planning function is the only function favored by medial position in ESLO 1, while in ESLO 2, the quantification function also becomes one of the favored functions in this position. We suggest that this might indicate potential competition for the same position. Meanwhile, we also point out that the benchmarking function is quasi-categorically used in final position in ESLO 2. The relation between functions and positions changes between the two corpora.
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- Editorial
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- Research Articles
- Tapped /r/ in RP: a corpus-based sociophonetic study across the twentieth century
- Revisiting English written VP-ellipsis and VP-substitution: a dependency-based analysis
- Agreeing objects in Zulu can be indefinite and non-specific
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