Discourse markers

Small words such as oh, well, now, then, you know and I mean, along with connectives like so, because, and, but and or, do a great deal of work in everyday talk. This book examines them closely, drawing on linguistics and sociology to show that understanding them requires attention to grammar, meaning, pragmatic use and social context at once. Its central evidence is a comparative study of these markers in conversations gathered by the author during sociolinguistic fieldwork.

Beyond the data, the study takes up a broad set of theoretical and methodological questions. It is therefore relevant to anyone trying to build a workable account of how discourse is organised, which the author presents as a demanding problem in the field.