Analysis of Discourse Particles Zaten and Ya in Relation to the Informational Structure

摘要

The main questions we aim at answering in the analysis presented in this study are: Is there a relation between the informational status of the utterances and the DPs that occur within these utterances? If so, what should the way to follow in defining the possible relations be? In answering these questions, we deal with two Turkish DPs; zaten and ya, which have previously been defined as conjuncts by Kerslake (1996). In our discussion, we use the tools defined by three main approaches. We claim that zaten is more than an additive conjunct, which is the label given to the item by Kerslake (1996). We use the realis/irrealis discourse frame definitions of Uzun and Erk-Emeksiz (2004) to draw out the epistemic modal value that we define for zaten. Secondly, we use Yilmaz's (2004) definition of the content domain to work with the functions of DPs in the discourse to build coherence. And finally, the informational statuses of utterances are analyzed within the frame of Prince's (1981) discourse/hearer old-new information definitions.