英语词汇学课程论文院系外国语学院专业英语师范班级2014级英语师范1班学生姓名陈雪姣学号201410014131任课教师肖祎2016年 12月 22日Pragmatic Analysis of the Discourse Marker Well 2014级英语师范专业学生：陈雪姣学号：201410014131Abstract: This paper focuses on the pragmatic functions of the discoursemarker well in verbal interaction.Through the analysis of the collected data in English based on the corpus, it is found well can actrespectively as a repair marker, initiation marker, delay marker, mitigator of face threatening acts as well asinsufficiency marker in different contexts.It may help English learners understand the pragmatic functions of well in verbal communication with these specific analyses.Keywords:discourse marker;well; pragmatic functionsI.IntroductionWhen speakers want to make their words achieve their ideal purpose in a conversation, they may use discourse discourses to let it be. A discourse marker is structurally independent of the sentence and semantically without special meaning. Although they don’t have certain meaning of expression, they play the role of continuing the discourse, showing the discourse structure, and expressing the speaker’s implication. There are some common discourse markers, such as well, oh, like, you know, I mean, and, but etc..Well has a higher frequency use in spoken English,and it received much attention among researchers.Well, as a discourse marker, has been studied in various fields. Some researchers were looking for a unified meaning for well, while others aimed to clarify the different function that well performs in certain discourse contexts. Although some functions of well have been explained, it is still needed more comprehensive studies on pragmatic properties. This paper will focus on the pragmatic functions of discourse marker well. In addition, the conversational meanings it encodes in different contexts will also be explained.II.Analysis ofPragmatic Functions of the Discourse Markers “Well”1.Literature ReviewIn recent twenty years, many researchers have been taking serious interest in the study of discourse markers and they have made great contributions in this field. Jucker (1993) uses the theory of the relevance theory (Sperber＆Wilson 1986/1995) to analyze the pragmatic function of discourse markers in detail. In terms of discourse marker Well, he exclaims that “Well”in oral communication can act as a face-threat mitigator, frame marker, marker of insufficiency and delay device.Ran Yongping (2003) based on results of previous research, re-sorting and dividing the pragmatic functions of discourse marker “Well”. And he discussed the possible pragmatic functions of well in different contexts. There are four main aspects: mitigatorof face-threatening acts, hesitation or delay marker, insufficiency marker as well asrepair marker.This paper will combine some specific spoken corpus to further analyze the pragmatic function of discourse markers well in verbal communication.2.Pragmatic Functions of the Discourse Markers “Well”2.1As a Repair MarkerSometimes speakers may hear the wrong words, or misunderstand certain information or inaccurate words. Then they are likely to repair their words on line. (Ran Yongping, 2003) English native speakers often use well to suggest that they will correct their own words.And well as a means of language insertion can play a role in the amendment. As follows:(1) Grandpa:Lots of wonderful memories .We married almost fifty years .Well, forty-seven, to be exact.(2) We walked along in silence for a bit, well,not really silence because she wasbumming.(3) A:Good morning, Fred, I hope you’ve recovered from your illness.B: Yes, thank you. W ell, not fully, but I’m on the mend.Take (1) and (2) for example, speaker uses well to repair specific information, which is called self-repair. While take (3) for instance, B repairs A’s words, which is called other- repair.2.2As an Initiation MarkerWell, as an initiation marker, it always appears at the beginning of a conversationto restart a new conversation, or it acts as the initial part of the last turn, to make a response (Li Ming, Chen Xinren, 2007).As follow:(4) Teacher:(when hearing the bell ring)Well, let’s begin our class.(5) A:I have tons of chutney.B:Well, how much did you pay for it?Take (4) for example, the teacher uses well to start the class, then greeting his students. This kind of beginning makes the conversation natural. While take (5) for instance, well used by B to responseA, then a new topic is referred. It also indicates a new conversation begins.2.3Asa Delay MarkerIn order to avoid long unnecessary pause in a conversation, well acts a delay marker which can effectively adjust the tempo of speakers. On the other hand, it is also indicates the listeners the following words that speakers who just lack of careful thinking will say. In this way speakers can have more time to prepare the following talks. Examples listed as follows:(6) Susan:We couldn’t ask for anything more,could we?Harry:Well1...Susan:Well...? Could we ask for anything more?Harry:Well2 ...we......Susan:What did you mean by “well ...”?You hadsomething on your mind when I said we couldn’t ask anythingmore....Susa:Well3, are you going to tell mewhat’s onyour mind, Harry?Harry:I have been offered a job with a major accounting company in Los Angeles.(7) ...then first, I, you see, you may meet a lot ofnew words in, ...well..., in your, er, firstyear. ...Take (6) for instance, Harry had a good opportunity of his work. But what confused Harry is that he had to leave New York for Los Angeles. This means he will be depart from Susan who married Harry not very long ago. So Harry was so confused that he didn’t know how to tell the fact to Susan. Well1and well2act as delay marker, indicating Harry’s hesitation.And as for (7), the speaker apparently didn’t organize his words fully, so he used well to leave more time for thinking, and italso indicated his words was continuing.In both (6) and (7), well act as delay marker, in one way or another, it is the means to protect speakers’ talking chances.2.4As a Frame MarkerWell can also be used to separate different units of speech, acting the role of conversion topics. In the following example, the speaker uses well to return to the topic and functions to divide the different discourse frameworks.(8) A: ...but if they wanted people around to talk to, then I would be very happy to stay, and got a letter back saying we have arranged for you to stay — well, le t’s take the interview first...As the last example, at first the speaker expresses his idea of willing to stay here, talking to people who want to talk to him. But next he just turns the topic to another one. Well used as a frame marker to separate the two points, reaching its functions at this situation.2.5As a Mitigator of Face-threatening ActsOntheinterpersonal level, well mainly functions as a face-threatmitigator (Jucker 1993), In communication, people tend to be polite to others and also hopethat others are polite tothem, or in other words, people are conscious to save face or to reduce face threat. Therefore, in communication people will try many means to reduce face threat and well is one of them. We say well is a means used to obtain mitigation in order to save face when there is misunderstanding or misconception.(9)(Scene: The Launderama, Rachel is there, waiting for Ross. An old woman takes Rachel's clothes off the machine and begins loading it with her things.) Rachel: Oh, ’scuse me, I was kinda using that machine.Woman: Yeah, well, now you are kinda not.In the above example, a woman takes Rachel’s place and Rachel tries to tell the woman that the place is hers, using “kinda” to reduce face threat. The woman, also trying to be less impolite, uses “well” to save face.2.6As an Insufficiency MarkerIn daily conversation, both of speakers are always unwilling to tell the fact to the other directly. Instead, they want to hide the real intention or imply some information. So, well, as an insufficiency marker, is used to reach speakers’ purpose.(10) Reporter: How do you know this?Hayden:Well, they’re right behind us.You can call Mr. Anderson, who’s righthere, who has been assigned to me. I shook him three days ago.Take (10) for example, when the reporter asked Hayden how he known that those policemen in plain clothes are on some kind of special assignment, he did not give the full explanation and meanwhile gave him some advice to ask for another person Mr. Anderson whom he shook three days ago. Wellis used here to show that the Tom does not give enough information to the reporter.III.ConclusionThis paper is based on the findings of previous studies, generalizing some typical results that scholars have ever researched, and analyzing pragmatic functions of the discourse m arkers“well” in a more specific way.Sixtypes of pragmatic functions of well are presented in this paper, including as a repair marker, as an initiation marker, as a delay marker, as a frame marker, as a mitigator of face-threatening acts, and as an insufficiency marker. As a repair marker, it is used to correct speakers’ own mistakes or to correct other’s wrong assumptions.It is used as an initiation marker to restart a new conversation, or to make a response.Well acts as a delay marker, which signals that the speaker needs time to meditate. As a frame marker, it signalsa shift in the topic and it also helps the speaker return to the main topic after some breakings or some irrelevantutterance.It is used as a mitigation of face-threatening acts in order to solve misunderstanding or disapproval. As an insufficiency marker, it means the speaker don’t want to supply some information or explanations to the hearer.With the abundant data that the BNC provides,eachfunction has been tested and analyzed pragmatically. Such an intensive method ensures an in-depth interpretation of well’s conversational meanings in different discourse contexts. This provides a solid basis for the later analysis of the core function and core meaning of well.References[1]Jucker, A.H.1993.The discourse marker well:Arelevant theoreticalaccount[J].Journal ofPragmatics 19 (5).[2]冉永平，2003 ，话语标记语well的语用功能[J] ，《外国语》。
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