Fischer Kerstin. Approaches to Discourse Particles

Emerald Group Publishing, 2006. — 509 p.''Approaches to Discourse Particles'' serves as a unique reference by presenting the spectrum of approaches to discourse particles/markers in their richness and variability, whilst ensuring that the differences and similarities between the approaches are clear and comparable. With the hundreds of studies now published on discourse particles/markers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make such comparisons. Fischer addresses this problem by asking renowned researchers from different linguistic backgrounds to describe their particular ways of accounting for some of the most important problem areas by addressing issues such as: definition; the functional spectrum of the items considered; the model of polyfunctionality proposed; and the broader framework of the model.Discourse particles fulfil many different functions; they contribute to text structuring, dialogue management, turn-taking, politeness, and more. Their investigation is, thus, relevant from many different perspectives within pragmatics and linguistics as a whole.