Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change
Theory, Innovations, Contact

The book highlights the expansion of discourse-pragmatic variation and change, especially under-studied variables and languages.

Elizabeth Peterson (Edited by), Turo Hiltunen (Edited by), Joseph Kern (Edited by)

9781108836203, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 July 2022

285 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.4 cm, 0.67 kg

Discourse-pragmatic markers are central to everyday language, yet many aspects of their use and functions remain elusive or under-investigated. Bringing together a global team of leading scholars, this volume presents a representative showcase of work currently being conducted in the field of discourse-pragmatic variation and change, including investigations of features such as uh/um, please, sentence-final is all, and discourse-pragmatic features from a number of languages. The book emphasizes that not only have researchers answered the call to address complex issues such as cross-linguistic reliability, extending research across languages, and expanding and improving on methods and analysis, but that they continue to address perennial questions in the field of language variation and change. With sections on theoretical and methodological issues, innovative variables, and language contact situations, the volume offers a robust overview of best practices for both new and experienced researchers.

Foreword Jan-Ola Östman
Introduction Elizabeth Peterson, Turo Hiltunen and Joseph Kern
Part I. Innovations in theory and method: 1. Reflexes of abruptness in the development of pragmatic markers Derek Denis
2. Evaluation of pragmatic markers: The case of You Know Erik Schleef and Bradley Mackay
3. Quotative variation and change in French, with additional insights from Brazilian Portuguese and Italian Stephen Levey, Laura Kastronic, Salvio Digesto and Mélissa Chiasson
4. Cross-linguistic variation in spoken discourse markers: Distribution, functions and domains Liesbeth Degand, Zoé Broisson, Ludivine Crible and Karolina Grzech
Part II. Innovative variables in English: 5. An emerging pragmatic marker: sentence-final is all Daniela Kolbe-Hanna and Laurel J. Brinton
6. “That is totally not my type of film”– innovations in the intensifier system of UK English Karin Aijmer
7. Uh, what should we count? Tim Gadanidis and Derek Denis
8. Modeling listener responses Mirjam Eiswirth
Part III. Language Contact: 9. You know in L1 and L2 English Chloé Diskin-Holdaway
10. General extenders in bilingual speech Joseph Kern
11. The diverging paths of consequence markers in Canadian French Hélène Blondeau, Raymond Mougeon and Mireille Tremblay
12. What governs speakers' choices of borrowed vs. domestic variants of discourse-pragmatic variables? Gisle Andersen
13. A place for pliis in Finnish: A discourse-pragmatic variation account of position Elizabeth Peterson, Turo Hiltunen and Johanna Vaattovaara
Afterword Heike Pichler.

Subject Areas: Semantics, discourse analysis, etc [CFG], Bilingualism & multilingualism [CFDM], Sociolinguistics [CFB]