Discourse particle

Discourse particle

In linguistics, a discourse particle is a lexeme or particle which has no direct semantic meaning in the context of a sentence, having rather a pragmatic function: it serves to indicate the speaker's attitude, or to structure their relationship to other participants in a conversation. Discourse particles are primarily a feature of spoken language; in written language they indicate an informal or jocular tone.

Contents

Examples

Examples in English include:

  • well e.g. in "Well, I wouldn't say that." or "Well, look who it is!"
  • y’know e.g. in "It's not as easy as that, y'know."
  • like e.g. in "It can drive some parents, like, nuts."[1]

See also

Notes

References

  • Hansen, Maj-Britt Mosegaard (1998). The Function of Discourse Particles: A study with special reference to spoken standard French. Philadelphia: Benjamins. ISBN 1-55619-815-9. 

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