Discourse particles and interjections

1. Discourse Particles and
Interjections

2. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
Schiffrin (1987: 127) claims that well can be used ‘whenever the
coherence options offered by one component of talk differ from those
of another’.
Jucker (1993) says that well acts as a ‘signpost’ that the
addressee needs to adjust some of his or her ‘background
assumptions’.

3. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
Aijmer and Simon-Vanderbergen (2003) propose that the general
function of well is ‘to turn the utterance into a heteroglossic one,
signaling the speaker’s awareness of the heterogeneity of views,
positioning the utterance in the context of preceding and following texts’
Despite all the scholarly attention it has received, it is generally agreed
that the meaning of well remains elusive.
Few researchers have been prepared to advance a first-person
paraphrase for the meaning of well, i.e. a formulation of what a speaker
is expressing when he or she prefaces an utterance with well.

4. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
Schourup’s (2001: 1043) idea is that well displays something about the
speaker’s mental state in relation to the flow of discourse: specifically, it
portrays the speaker as ‘pausing briefly to engage in a moment of real-
time consideration before going on’.
A: Are you from Philadelphia?
B: Well I grew up out in the suburbs. And then I lived for about
seven years in upstate New York. And then I came back here t 'go
to college.
In the example, we can see that B's answer turns out to be rather
complex. The message expressed by well in this context makes sense in
terms of the speaker’s need to organize his or her thoughts

5. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
Halliday and Hasan’s (1976: 269) remark that well prefacing an answer
means I acknowledge the question and will give a considered answer.’
By signaling this, the speaker also alerts the addressee that he or she
may need to prepare for a bit of thought too, in order to assimilate what
is to follow.
A: Can I just see them?
B: Um well. I'm not allowed to do that .
Speaker B is obliged to deny the addressee’s request. In this context, the
message expressed by well makes sense as an indication to the
addressee that B’s reply has been well considered.
In this kind of use, well has been described as ‘face-threat mitigator, a
way of reducing a potential clash. As Schourup observes, making a show
of some ‘consideration’ helps to make the reply seem more reasoned and
therefore less personal.

6. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
The ‘response-prefacing’ use of well is not restricted to responses to
questions and requests. It can also be used in response to a statement
that has just been made by one’s conversational partner, as in the
following examples;
A: ‘Sarah, if we were in the slightest danger I ’d have pulled over a
long time ago'.
B: Oh Well. I don't know that you would have, ' said Sarah.
A: Oh', she said. ‘You're not married. ’
B: *Well. I am, but she’s . . . living elsewhere'.
A: I think they ’ve got unite a good opinion of him.
B: Well er , I have too.
As one can glean from the examples so far, the proposed explication can
fit into a wide range of contexts, because there are many possible
reasons why a speaker might want to signal that he or she is engaging in
a little ‘prospective consideration’, before going ahead with the
upcoming utterance.

7. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
Even saying well to introduce a remark which directly conflicts with what
the addressee has just said can make sense in terms of the proposed
explication, especially when we compare a response with well to other
alternatives, such as but.
A:...never mind. It’s not important.
Bl: But it is important.
B2: Well, it is important.
The B1 version, with but, directly highlights the contrast between the
two views being expressed . The B2 version, with well, seems better-
natured and more well-considered , almost as if the speaker were saying,
I’m not saying this without having thought about it.’

8. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
A second discourse context for well is when it occurs not as part of a
response to what someone else has said, but inside a single speaker’s
‘turn’. Sometimes it indicates a moment’s thought in the interests of
choosing the best word or expression, either for accuracy’s sake or for
rhetorical effect, as in the example;
The only thing different I think may be with— well in our area, it
isn’t because of the school. But the only difference I would think
would be maybe the better schools out there.

9. The
Discourse
Marker
Well
As a number of scholars have pointed out, well is sometimes used
in ‘discourse-initial contexts.
A teacher standing before a hushed classroom at the opening of a
class period, and speaking:
Teacher: Well. as you all know, we have a guest speaker with us
today.

10. Some
Discourse
Particles in
Other
Languages
In this section we explore a couple of discourse particles in non-European
languages, Mpamtwe Arrernte, an Aboriginal language spoken in
Central Australia, and Malay (Bahasa Melayu), the national language of
Malaysia.

11. Arrernte -
itanye and
-iknge
Wilkins (1986) begins his description of the Arrernte clitic particles –
itanye and -iknge by pointing out that both are frequently used in
making complaints and criticisms.
To illustrate, we can consider how someone might react if they are
awakened at night by a relative seeking money, an annoying but not
uncommon event in the Arrernte community of Alice Springs.
Ingew kngerre-le-itanye, iwenhe-ke unte petye-me, night big-LOC-
iTANYE, what-DAT 2sgS come-NPP ingkirreke ankw-inte-rlenge?!
everyone asleep-lie-DS
‘What have you come here for in the middle of the night, of all times,
when everyone’s sleeping?!
Note the particle -itanye, glossed as ‘of all times’, which is attached to
the first phrase ingew kngerrel ‘in the middle of the night’.

12. Arrernte -
itanye and
-iknge
If the unwanted visitor continues to press his request, the exasperated
person could say the sentence below.
Arrangkwe! Th-iknge mane ngkwenge nthe-me. Ayenge-me banke?
nothing lsgA-iKNGE money 2sgDAT give-NPP lsgS-Q FOCUS bank?
‘No way! I’m forever giving you money. What am I, a bank?’
Notice the particle -iknge attached to the word meaning ‘I’ and here
glossed as ‘forever’.
However, neither -itanye nor -iknge are confined to criticisms or
complaints, and in other contexts they seem to generate quite different
effects. Although it is associated with a sense of surprise, -itanye does
not necessarily imply anything about the speaker’s attitudes.
For instance, it is quite at home in a ‘matter-of-fact’ simple declarative
like the one below:
Lhwerrpe-k-itanye, urinp-irre-me.
winter-DAT-lTANYE, hot-INCH-NPP
‘Even though it’s winter, it’s getting hot.’

13. Arrernte -
itanye and
-iknge
-Itanye may simply register surprise about the other person’s behaviour.
Mwarre-ng-itanye re picture impe-ke.
gOOd-ABL-ITANYE 3sgA ITlOvie leave-PC
'Despite the fact that it was good, he left the movie.’ [How could he?]
Where the prevailing condition is widely recognized as something which
should constrain behaviour, highlighting this condition with -itcinye
implies strong criticism. The prevailing condition in the sentence
below is that ‘there were iperte (holes) there’. Given this, people would
not think that something like the reported action could happen.
Iperte-k-itanye, mweteke hole-DAT-iTANYE car iperte-ke kwerren-ke
hole-DAT insert-pc ( arerte-l-arteke ) . mad-ERG-SEMBL
‘Even though (he knew) there were holes around, he went ahead and
drove into a hole.

14. Arrernte -
itanye and
-iknge
-iknge can be appended to the end of any argument of a verb to indicate
‘that the argument so marked is perceived by the speaker to be
excessively involved in the verb event in whatever role it is playing and
the speaker is saying s/he doesn’t like that’
Depending on the context, and the kind of verb involved, the effect
conveyed by -iknge can be akin to complaint, sympathy, or criticism:
Complaint
a. Re ayeng-iknge twe-me.
3sgA 1SgO-IKNGE hit-NPP
‘He’s forever hitting me.’
Sympathy
b. ( Kunye) Re renh-iknge ilte-me.
(poor-thing) 3sgA 3sgO-iKNGE scold-NPP
(Poor thing.) He’s always getting told off by him.’
Criticism
c. R-iknge renhe ilte-me.
3sgA-iKNGE 3sgO scold-NPP
‘He’s always telling him off.’

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