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Article published In: Vagueness and Elasticity of 'Sort of' in TV Discussion Discourse in the Asian Pacific
Edited by Vahid Parvaresh and Grace Zhang
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 29:1] 2019
► pp. 86–110

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Pragmatic functions of ‘sort of’ in Persian

A vague language perspective

 | Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom
 | The University of Queensland, Australia
Published online: 16 May 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00022.par
Abstract
It goes without saying that as a pragmatic phenomenon, vagueness has over the past few years been a topic of extensive research. However, a huge gap still exists when it comes to the investigation of how vagueness is expressed across different languages and cultures. In the present study, we have put under scrutiny the pragmatic functions of ‘sort of’, a vague expression, in Persian conversation with a view to making cross-linguistic comparisons between different languages possible. Besides confirming the fact that the vague item ‘sort of’ enables interactants to fulfil a wide variety of functions in interactional settings, particularly in face-to-face interactions, the current study reveals that the expression in question can also serve to signal ‘a moment of awkwardness’ as well as the presence of ‘inferable information’. With the former function, ‘sort of’ signals that the speaker is experiencing a feeling of inconvenience and embarrassment. When used as an inferable information signal, however, ‘sort of’ indicates that the utterance has been inferred from the previous or current exchange.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Vague language
  • 3.The current study
    • 3.1 Sort of in Persian
    • 3.2Data and method
  • 4.Analysis
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Transcription conventions
  • References
References (65)
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