1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Korean Linguistics
  4. Volume 21, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 21, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0257-3784
  • E-ISSN: 2212-9731
PDF
EPUB

Abstract

Abstract

This study explores two discourse markers, in English and in Korean, in the naturally occurring speech of English-speaking and Korean-speaking children. This corpus-driven analysis proposes a unified core meaning of the two markers as signaling contextual divergence from which varied meanings are derived according to the interactional environments. The interactional meanings of the two discourse markers are remarkably similar: they foreshadow topic shift, mark contrast in various ways, and insist on opinions. Children evidently employ the two markers for achieving discourse coherence, signaling interactional divergence, and enhancing their epistemic stance. The plufunctionality of the focal discourse markers indicates that children are developing interactional competence during the course of spoken language development. The corpus-driven analysis elucidates similarities in the meanings of the markers between the two linguistic groups, and thus adds evidence of interactional resources to the body of literature on spoken language acquisition.

© 2025 John Benjamins Publishing Company
Available under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
2025-05-23
2025-06-24

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/kl.23009.kim.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Andersen, E., M. Brizuela, B. Dupuy, & L. Gonnerman, L.
    1999a Cross-Linguistic Evidence for the Early Acquisition of Discourse Markers as Register Variables. Journal of Pragmatics311.1339–1351. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(98)00108‑8
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00108-8 [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersen, E., M. Brizuela, & L. Stallings
    1999b Discourse Markers as Indicators of Register. HISPANIA821.127–141.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Andersen, G.
    2001 Pragmatic Markers of Sociolinguistic Variation: A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to the Language of Adolescents. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pbns.84
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.84 [Google Scholar]
  4. Atkinson, J. M., & J. Heritage
    1984 Structure of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Barnes, J. D.
    2006 Early Triangualism: A Focus on Questions. Second Language Acquisition 16. Multilingual Matters Ltd. 10.21832/9781853598555
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853598555 [Google Scholar]
  6. Bialystok, E.
    1993 Symbolic Representation and Attention in Pragmatic Competence. Interlanguage Pragmaticsed. byG. Kasper & S. Blum-Kulka, 43–57. New York: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oso/9780195066029.003.0003
     https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195066029.003.0003 [Google Scholar]
  7. 2001 Bilingualism in development. Language, literacy and cognition. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511605963
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511605963 [Google Scholar]
  8. Biber, D., S. Johansson, G. Leech, G., E. Finegan, & S. Conrad
    1999 The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. New York: Longman.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Blakemore, D.
    2002 Relevance and Linguistic Meaning: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse Markers. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511486456
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486456 [Google Scholar]
  10. Budwig, N.
    1995 A developmental functionalist approach to child language. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Cameron, D.
    2002 Working with Spoken Discourse. London and Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Carson, L.
    1984 “Well” in Dialogue Games: A Discourse Analysis of the Interjection “well” in Idealized Conversation. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pb.v.5
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pb.v.5 [Google Scholar]
  13. Cho, Y., H. Lee, C. Schulz, H. Sohn, & S. Sohn
    2001 Integrated Korean: Intermediate 1. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Choi, M.
    (2010) The interactional role of discourse markers in Korean. Journal of Korean Linguistics, 251: 41. 249–268.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Choi, S.
    1995 The Development of Epistemic Sentence-Ending Modal Forms and Functions in Korean Children. Modality in Grammar and Discourse, 165–204. 10.1075/tsl.32.09cho
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.32.09cho [Google Scholar]
  16. De Houwer, A.
    2000 Bilingual language acquisition. InP. Fletcher & B. MacWhinney (Eds.), The handbook of child language. Blackwell Publishers.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Dopke, S.
    ed. 2000 Cross-Linguistic Structures in Simultaneous Bilingualism. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/sibil.21
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.21 [Google Scholar]
  18. Erman, B.
    2001 Pragmatic Markers Revisited with a Focus on you know in Adult and Adolescent Talk. Journal of Pragmatics331.1337–1359. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(00)00066‑7
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(00)00066-7 [Google Scholar]
  19. Fraser, B.
    1993 Discourse Markers across Language. Pragmatics and Language Learninged. byL. Bouton & Y. Kachru. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. 1996 Pragmatic Markers. Journal of Pragmatics6:2.167–190.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. 1999 What Are Discourse Markers?Journal of Pragmatics311.931–952. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(98)00101‑5
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00101-5 [Google Scholar]
  22. Fung, L., and R. Carter
    2007 Discourse Markers and Spoken English: Native and Learner Use in Pedagogic Settings. Applied Linguistics28:3.410–439. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/applin/amm030
     https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm030 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hansen, M.
    1998 The Function of Discourse Markers: A Study with Special Reference to Spoken Standard French [= Pragmatics & Beyond, New Series 53]. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pbns.53
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.53 [Google Scholar]
  24. Jefferson, G.
    1984 On Stepwise Transition from Talk about a Trouble to Inappropriately Next-Positioned Matters. Structures of Social ActionbyJ. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Jucker, A. H.
    1993 The Discourse Marker well: A Relevance-Theoretical Account. Journal of Pragmatics9:5.435–453. 10.1016/0378‑2166(93)90004‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(93)90004-9 [Google Scholar]
  26. Jucker, A. H., & W. W. Smith W.
    1998 And people just you know like “wow”: Discourse Markers as Negotiating Strategies. Discourse Markers: Description and Theoryed. byA. Jucker & Y. Ziv. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pbns.57.10juc
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.57.10juc [Google Scholar]
  27. Jung, H.
    2017 Development of pragmatic competence in Korean-speaking children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Child Language Acquisition, 35:4. 214–235.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Karkkainen, E.
    2003 Epistemic Stance in English Conversation: A Description of Its Interactional Functions, with a Focus on “I think”. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pbns.115
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.115 [Google Scholar]
  29. Kawanishi, Y.
    1994 An Analysis of Non-Challengeable Modals: Korean -canha(yo) and Japanese –janai. Japanese/Linguistics, ed. byN. Akatsuka, 41.95–111. Stanford Linguistics Association, Center for the Study of Language and Information.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Kawanishi, Y., & S. Sohn
    1993 Grammaticalization of Korean Negation: A Semantic-Pragmatic Analysis of –canh-a(yo). The Fifth Harvard International Symposium of Korean Linguisticsed. bySusumu Kuno, John Whitman, Ik-Hwan Lee, Joan Mailing, & Young-Joo Kim, 552–561. Cambridge, MA: The Harvard ISOKL Committee.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Kim, I.
    2012 Phenomena of Discourse Marker Use of Bilingual Children and Implications for Heritage Language Education. The Korean Language In America171.25–54. 10.2307/42922295
     https://doi.org/10.2307/42922295 [Google Scholar]
  32. Kim, S.
    2010 The use of discourse markers in Korean casual conversation. Discourse Studies, 13:1. 56–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Kim, S., & P. Lee
    2005 A Study on the Acquisition and Development of Discoruser Markers. Korean Education1181. 149–180.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Klerk, V.
    2005 Procedural Meanings of well in a Corpus of Xhosa English. Journal of Pragmatics37:8.1183–1205. 10.1016/j.pragma.2004.11.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2004.11.001 [Google Scholar]
  35. Kwon, J.
    2011 Korean discourse markers: Functions and usage. Korean Linguistics Review, 61. 79–102.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Kyratzis, A., & S. Ervin-Tripp
    1999 The Development of Discourse Markers in Peer Interaction. Journal of Pragmatics311.1321–1338. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(98)00107‑6
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00107-6 [Google Scholar]
  37. Lee, H. S.
    1999 A Discourse-Pragmatic Analysis of the Committal –ci in Korean: A Synthetic Approach to the Form-Meaning Relation. Journal of Pragmatics311.243–275. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(98)00066‑6
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00066-6 [Google Scholar]
  38. Lee, J.
    2008 A study of discourse markers in Korean conversation. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 17: 3. 215–233.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Lenk, U.
    1998 Discourse Markers and Global Coherence in Conversation. Journal of Pragmatics301.245–257. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(98)00027‑7
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00027-7 [Google Scholar]
  40. Levinson, S.
    1983 Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511813313
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813313 [Google Scholar]
  41. Markee, N.
    2000 Conversation Analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 10.4324/9781410606471
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410606471 [Google Scholar]
  42. Martin, S.
    1992 A Reference Grammar of Korean: A Complete Guide to the Grammar and History of the Korean Language. Routland: Tuttle.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Maschler, Y.
    1994 Metalanguaging and Discourse Markers in Bilingual Conversation. Language in Society231.325–366. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. 1997a Emergent Bilingual Grammar: The Case of Contrast. Journal of Pragmatics, 281.279–313. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(96)00085‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00085-9 [Google Scholar]
  45. 1997b Discourse Markers at Frame Shifts in Israeli Hebrew Talk-in-Interaction. Pragmatics7:2.183–211.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Norrick, N.
    2001 Discourse Markers in Oral Narrative. Journal of Pragmatics331.849–878. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(01)80032‑1
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(01)80032-1 [Google Scholar]
  47. Owen, M.
    1981 Conversational Units and the Use of “Well ….” Conversation and Discourse, ed. byP. Werth, 99–116. London: Croom Helm.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Pak, M., R. Sprott, & E. Escalera
    1996 Little Words, Big Deal: The Development of Discourse and Syntax in Child Language. Social Interaction, Social Context, and Language: Essays in Honor of Susan Ervin-Tripped. byD. Slobin, J. Gerhardt, A. Kyratzis, & J. Guo. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum associates, Publishers.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Pomerantz, A.
    1984 Agreeing and Disagreeing with Assessments: Some Features of Preferred/Dispreferred Turn Shapes. Structures of Social Actioned. byJ. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Ritchie, W. C., & T. K. Bhatia
    1999 Child language acquisition: Introduction, foundations, and overview. InW. C. Ritchie and Bhatia, T. K. (Eds.). Handbook of Child Language Acquisition. Sandiego, California: Academic Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Schegloff, E.
    1988 On an Actual Virtual Servo-Mechanism for Guessing Bad News: A Single Case Conjecture. Social Problems. 35:1. 10.2307/800596
     https://doi.org/10.2307/800596 [Google Scholar]
  52. 1990 On the Organization of Sequences as a Source of “Coherence” in Talk-in-Interaction. Conversational Organization and Its Developmented. byB. Dorval. Vol. 38 in the seriesAdvances in Discourse Processes. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Schiffrin, D.
    1987 Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511611841
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611841 [Google Scholar]
  54. 2001 Discourse Markers: Language, Meaning, and Context. The Handbook of Discourse Analysised. byD. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. Hamilton. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Schourup, L.
    2001 Rethinking Well. Journal of Pragmatics331.1025–1060. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(00)00053‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(00)00053-9 [Google Scholar]
  56. Smith, S. W., & A. H. Jucker
    2002 Discourse Markers as Turns: Evidence for the Role of Intersubjectivity in Interactional Sequences. Rethinking Sequentiality: Linguistic Meets Conversational Interactioned.A. Fetzer and C. Meierkord. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/pbns.103.07smi
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.103.07smi [Google Scholar]
  57. Sohn, H. M.
    1999 The Korean Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Sperber, D., & D. Wilson
    1995 Loose Talk. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society561.153–171.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Strauss, S.
    2006 Learning and Teaching Grammar through Patterns of Conceptualization: The Case of (Advanced) Korean. Educating for Advanced Foreign Language Capacitiesed. byH. Byrnes, K. Sprang, & H. Wether-Guntharp, 87–102. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Svartvik
    Svartvik 1980 Well in Conversation. Studies in English linguistics for Randolph Quirk, 167–177. London: Longman.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Waring, H. Z.
    2003 “Also” as a Discourse Marker: Its Use in Disjunctive and Disaffiliative Environments. Discourse Studies5:1.415–436. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Watts, R. J.
    1986 Relevance in Conversational Moves: A Reappraisal of well. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia191.37–59.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
Loading
Discourse markers as contextual divergence
Korean Linguistics 21, 26 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
/content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
/content/journals/10.1075/kl.23009.kim
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): coherence; contextual divergence; contrastive; core meaning; cross-linguistic

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error