Resumen de tesis doctoral:,TRAVIS,C. Discourse Markers in Colombian Spanish. Department of Linguistics,La Trobe University

[Carlos Subirats Rüggeberg]

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                          Resumen de tesis doctoral:
TRAVIS, Catherine. 2002. Discourse Markers in Colombian Spanish.
Department of Linguistics, La Trobe University [Melbourne, Australia]
Dissertation Directors: Alan Baxter, Hilary Chappell, Timothy Jowan Curnow.
               De: Catherine Travis <cetravisunm.edu>
             Información distribuida por Linguist List:
           http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-592.html#1
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                            Resumen:

    This dissertation presents a semantic analysis of a set of four
functionally related discourse markers that are used frequently in
conversational Colombian Spanish. The markers analysed are 'bueno'
(well, OK), 'pues' (well, then), 'o sea' (I mean, that is to say), and
'entonces' (so, then).

    The analysis is based on a corpus of four hours of spontaneous
conversation, recorded in Colombia in 1997, and transcribed according to
the UCSB transcription method (cf. Du Bois, Schuetze-Coburn, Cumming and
Paolino 1993). The different functions of these markers identified in
the corpus are outlined and compared with functions identified in
previous analyses. A definition for each marker is proposed, using the
Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach (cf. Wierzbicka 1996, inter
alia). It is argued that each marker has an identifiable semantic core,
and that this is related to the lexical source from which the marker has
grammaticised. It is shown that 'bueno', which developed from the
adjective meaning 'good', is a marker of (partial) acceptance; 'pues',
which developed from a causal marker, is used to highlight the link
(both causal and other) between the utterance with which it occurs and
an aspect of the prior discourse; 'o sea', literally 'or be it', marks
an alternative formulation of a prior aspect of the discourse; and
'entonces', from the temporal adverb meaning something
like 'then', marks the succession of events and of elements of the
discourse.

    This is one of the first corpus-based studies to present a semantic
account, using a rigorous methodology, of the multifunctional nature of
discourse markers. It demonstrates not only that discourse markers have
definable meanings, but that an understanding of their meanings is
essential to full understanding of their use.

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