The Interpersonal Functions of the English Discourse Markers

摘要

Systematic researches concerning the English discourse markers began only in the 1980s, yet the study has been turned into a "growth industry" in linguistics, with dozens of articles appearing yearly (Fraser, 1990: 384, 1999: 932). Though rich and fruitful, researches on discourse markers are far from complete, and there are no general agreements among their research highlights. Disagreements are held in terminology, properties, classifications and functions. Moreover, there seems to be fewer systematic researches on the interpersonal functions of the English discourse markers; therefore, the present study attempts to refine our understanding of the English discourse markers, and to explore their interpersonal functions.