37.2310, Confs: Panel at the 20th International Pragmatics Conference: Interactional Expressions as Sources of Pragmatic Markers (Finland)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2310. Fri Jul 10 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2310, Confs: Panel at the 20th International Pragmatics Conference: Interactional Expressions as Sources of Pragmatic Markers (Finland)

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Date: 09-Jul-2026
From: Haiping Long [lhpszpt at 126.com]
Subject: Panel at the 20th International Pragmatics Conference: Interactional Expressions as Sources of Pragmatic Markers


Panel at the 20th International Pragmatics Conference: Interactional
Expressions as Sources of Pragmatic Markers

Date: 27-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis; Historical Linguistics;
Pragmatics

A common distinction in linguistics is between transactional uses of
language, which serve the communication of information, and
interactional uses, which express attitudes and social relationships
(Jakobson 1971; Brown and Yule 1983; Hyland 2005). Within the latter
domain, Heine (2023) identifies a range of interactional expressions,
including attention signals (Hey!), directives (Look!), evaluatives
(Great!), interjections (Oh), response elicitors (What?), response
signals (Yes), social formulae (Hello), and vocatives (Jesus).
Although authentic human communication involves both transactional and
interactional uses of language, interactional expressions have long
remained peripheral in linguistic research. Recent theoretical work on
natural discourse has renewed interest in them, with much of the
literature focusing on their recurrent role in signaling speaker
stance and speaker–hearer alignment (Ginzburg 2012; Widlok 2016;
Wiltschko 2021; Heine 2023; Dingemanse 2024). Yet, apart from Heine
(2023), little attention has been paid to their emergence, and even
less to their subsequent development in natural discourse.
Pragmatic markers “signal what the speaker/writer (SP/W) intends the
addressee/reader (AD/R) to understand regarding such factors as: (a)
SP/W’s (represented) social relationship with the interlocutor
(please), (b) SP/W’s degree of epistemic certitude regarding the
upcoming discourse segment (of course), and (c) the relationship
between discourse segments that SP/W intends to convey (but, by the
way)” (Traugott 2022: 60).
The development of pragmatic markers has long attracted attention in
discourse studies, with much scholarship tracing their origins to
transactional uses of language (e.g., Traugott 1995, 2022; Brinton
1996, 2008, 2017; Traugott & Dasher 2002; Fischer 2007; Heine et al.
2021). By contrast, their emergence from interactional uses of
language remains underexplored. To our knowledge, apart from a few
recent contributions (Long 2025; Long & Zhou 2025; Pardo Llibrer 2025;
Zhu 2025), this pathway has received little systematic investigation
(Traugott 2025: 281).
This panel aims to address this gap by examining the processes through
which interactional expressions develop into pragmatic markers. We
invite contributions that explore these developments across the
world’s languages. We particularly welcome studies on languages with
rich historical records (e.g., English, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, and
Japanese), as well as research on language use in digital environments
such as the internet and social media. Topics of interest include, but
are not limited to:
(1) Which categories of interactional expressions (Heine 2023) may
develop into pragmatic markers, and what kinds of changes accompany
this process? Does this development involve mechanisms typically
observed in changes of transactional language use, such as
metaphorical transference, analogy, and pragmatic inferencing?
(2) Do interactional expressions show cross-linguistic similarities in
their development into pragmatic markers? Do comparable developmental
pathways emerge across languages? More broadly, what typological
implications might such developments have?
(3) Do these developments follow unidirectional or bidirectional
patterns? If bidirectional changes occur, what mechanisms may account
for them?
(4) What developmental pathways link interactional expressions to
pragmatic markers? Can these changes be adequately explained within
existing frameworks, such as grammaticalization, pragmaticalization,
and constructionalization, or do they require new theoretical
perspectives? (495 words)
Organizers:
Long, Haiping (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China)
Rhee, Seongha (Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand)
Kazemian, Reza (University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran)
Zhu, Bing (Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan)
Potential contributors:
Andrason, Alexander (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Cuenca, Maria Josep (University of Valencia, Spain)
Foolen, Ad (Radboud University, Netherlands)
Heine, Bernd (University of Cologne, Germany)
Kazemian, Reza (University of Isfahan, Iran)
Khammee, Kultida (University of Phayao, Thailand & Hankuk University
of Foreign Studies, Korea)
La Roi, Ezra (Ghent University Gent, Belgium)
Long, Haiping (Sun Yat-sen University, China)
Pardo Llibrer, Adrià (University of Salamanca, Spain)
Rhee, Seongha (Mahidol University, Thailand)
Scivoletto, Giulio (University of Catania, Italy)
Zhan, Fangqiong (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Zheng, Wuxi (Jinan University, China)
Zhu, Bing (Kyushu University, Japan)
Desired panel length: [one day] 25 min. presentation + 5 min.
discussion; 12 presentations altogether.
Other requirements: None.
References:
Brinton, L. J. 1996. Pragmatic markers in English: Grammaticalization
and discourse functions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Brinton, L. J. 2008. The comment clause in English: Syntactic origins
and pragmatic development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brinton, L. J. 2017. The evolution of pragmatic markers in English:
Pathways of change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, G., & Yule, G. 1983. Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Dingemanse, M. 2024. Interjections at the heart of language. Annual
Review of Linguistics 10: 257–277.
Fischer, O. 2007. Morphosyntactic change: Formal and functional
perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ginzburg, J. 2012. The interactive stance. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Heine, B., Kaltenböck, G., Kuteva, T., & Long, H. 2021. The rise of
discourse markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heine, B. 2023. The grammar of interactives. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Hyland, K. 2005. Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in
academic discourse. Discourse Studies 7(2): 173–192.
Jakobson, R. 1971. The framework of language. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Long, H. 2026. Token agreement and the development of discourse
structuring markers/SAs: With Chinese dāngrán ‘of course, but’. In: A.
Haselow & G. Kaltenböck (eds.), Language in social interaction, Trends
in Linguistics, 181–206. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Long, H. & Zhou, W. 2025. The development of copula/affirmative
response marker polysemy in Chinese and other languages in China.
Lingua 327: 1–25.
Pardo Llibrer, A. 2025. From vocative contexts to digressive uses: On
Spanish ah. In: G. Scivoletto & R. Takamura (eds.), Semantic-pragmatic
change from intersubjective to textual meanings, 190–220. Amsterdam:
John Benjamins.
Traugott, E. C. 1995. The role of the development of discourse markers
in a theory of grammaticalization. Paper presented at International
Conference of Historical Linguistics XII, University of Manchester,
13–18 August.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228691469_The_role_of_discourse_markers_in_a_theory_of_Grammaticalization
(Accessed 14 February 2026).
Traugott, E. C. 2022. Discourse structuring markers in English: A
historical constructionalist perspective on pragmatics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Traugott, E. C. 2025. Afterword. In: G. Scivoletto & R. Takamura
(eds.), Semantic-Pragmatic Change from Intersubjective to Textual
Meanings, 272–285. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Traugott, E. C., & Dasher, R. B. 2002. Regularity in semantic change.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Widlok, T. 2016. Small words – big issues: The anthropological
relevance of Khoesan interjections. African Study Monographs
52(Suppl.): 135–145.
Wiltschko, M. 2021. The grammar of interactional language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Zhu, B. 2025. Between intersubjectivity and textuality: On the
connectives derived from prohibitives in Mandarin Chinese. In: G.
Scivoletto & R. Takamura (eds.), Semantic-pragmatic change from
intersubjective to textual meanings, 129–152. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.



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