Cover not available

In:Pragmatic Markers in Irish English
Edited by Carolina P. Amador-Moreno, Kevin McCafferty and Elaine Vaughan
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 258] 2015
► pp. 65–88

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

A corpus-based investigation of pragmatic markers and sociolinguistic variation in Irish English

Published online: 15 July 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.258.03mur
This chapter aims to explore how pragmatic markers like and sure behave when investigated from an age and gender perspective. Using a small sociolinguistic-oriented corpus, the study adopts a multidisciplinary approach to reveal insights into socially-conditioned linguistic variation in Irish English. On a quantitative level, the study shows that both pragmatic markers reveal different levels of variation when explored across the social groups, which shows how they vary in terms of levels of attachment and status within an Irish English context. This sheds light on what stage a sociolinguistic marker is at (Labov 2001). Like, for instance, appears as a marker of youth (see also Tagliamonte 2010) while sure is used more consistently in Irish English and does not appear to be marked by either age or gender. A deeper more qualitative approach to the data uncovers more functionally motivated linguistic variation across the age and gender groups, which provides possible explanations for the patterns which emerge in the quantitative section of the chapter. Like, for example, appears to be more multifunctional than sure in the corpus, and when investigated further, there is evidence of how its function is perhaps somewhat responsible for its high frequency. Like appears to be used as a hedge by the younger groups when they are involved in topics where self-disclosure and personal involvement are common, in contrast to the older groups where such topics are rarely found. The findings from this study emphasise the use of corpus-based tools and methodologies in uncovering insights into sociolinguistics, and variational pragmatics on a small scale. Associations between topic, age, gender and pragmatic markers are discussed and questions are raised as to the interrelationship, if any, which exists between them. The need for further research is emphasised.
References (60)
References
Aijmer, Karin, and Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen. 2006. Pragmatic Markers in Contrast. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Amador-Moreno, Carolina P. 2005. “Discourse Markers in Irish English: An Example from Literature.” In The Pragmatics of Irish English, Anne Barron and Klaus P. Schneider (eds), 73–100. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. “A Corpus-based Approach to Contemporary Irish Writing: Ross O’Carroll-Kelly’s Use of like as a Discourse Marker.” International Journal of English Studies 12 (2): 19–38.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Andersen, Gisle. 2000. “The Role of the Pragmatic Marker Like in Utterance Interpretation.” In Pragmatic Markers and Propositional Attitudes, Gisle Andersen and Thorstein Fretheim (eds), 17–38. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. Pragmatic Markers and Sociolinguistic Variation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Paul. 2010. Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barron, Anne, and Klaus P. Schneider. (eds). 2005. The Pragmatics of Irish English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas. 2012. “Review of Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics by Paul Baker and Corpus and Sociolinguistics: Investigating Age and Gender in Female Talk by Bróna Murphy.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 16 (2): 301–307. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blyth, Carl Jr., Sigrid Recktenwald, and Jenny Wang. 1990. “‘I’m Like, ‘Say What?!’: A New Quotative in American Oral Narrative.” American Speech 65 (3): 215–227. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brinton, Laurel J. 1996. Pragmatic Markers in English: Grammaticalization and Discourse Functions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clancy, Brian. 2005. “You’re Fat. You’ll Eat Them All: Politeness Strategies in Family Discourse.” In The Pragmatics of Irish English, Anne Barron and Klaus P. Schneider (eds), 177–199. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. A Case Study of the Linguistic Features of a Limerick Family. Unpublished MA Thesis. University of Limerick.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clancy, Brian, and Elaine Vaughan. 2012. “‘It’s Lunacy Now’: A Corpus-based Pragmatic Analysis of the Use of Now in Contemporary Irish English.” In New Perspectives in Irish English, Bettina Migge and Máire Ní Chiosáin (eds), 225–246. VEAW Series. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coates, Jennifer. 1996. Women Talk. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, Haruko M. 1999. “Particles.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 9 (1–2): 181–183. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Arcy, Alexandra. 2005. Like. Syntax and Development. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Toronto.
. 2006. “Lexical Replacement and the Like(s).” American Speech 81 (4): 339–357. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. “ Like and Language Ideology: Disentangling the Fact from Fiction.” American Speech 82 (4): 386–419. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dailey-O’Cain, Jennifer. 2000. “The Sociolinguistic Distribution of and Attitudes Toward Focuser ‘Like’ and Quotative ‘Like’.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 (1): 60–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckert, Penelope. 1997. “Age as a Sociolinguistic Variable.” In The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, Florian Coulmas (ed.), 151–167. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erman, Britt. 2001. “Pragmatic Markers Revisited with a Focus on You Know in Adult and Adolescent Talk.” Journal of Pragmatics 33 (9): 1337–1359. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farr, Fiona. 2005. Reflecting on Reflections: A Corpus-based Analysis of Spoken Post teaching Practice Interactions in an English Language Teaching Academic Environment. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Limerick.
Farr, Fiona, and Anne O’Keeffe. 2002. “ Would as a Hedging Device in an Irish Context: An Intra-varietal Comparison of Institutionalised Spoken Interaction.” In Using Corpora to Explore Linguistic Variation, Randi Reppen, Susan Fitzmaurice and Douglas Biber (eds), 25–48. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farr, Fiona, Bróna Murphy, and Anne O’Keeffe. 2004. “The Limerick Corpus of Irish English: Design, Description and Application.” Teanga 21: 5–29.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foolen, Ad. 1996. “Pragmatic Particles.” In Handbook of Pragmatics, Jef Verschueren, Jan-Ola Östman, Jan Blommaert and Chris Bulcaen (eds), 1–24. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “Pragmatic Markers in a Sociopragmatic Perspective.” In Pragmatics of Society, Gisle Andersen and Karin Aijmer (eds), 217–242, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harrington, Kate. 2008. “Perpetuating Difference? Corpus Linguistics and the Gendering of Reported Dialogue.” In Gender and Language Research Methodologies, Kate Harrington, Lia Litosseliti, Helen Sauntson and Jane Sunderland (eds), 85–102. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hickey, Raymond. 2007. Irish English. Its History and Present-Day Forms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet. 1995. Women, Men and Politeness. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jucker, Andreas, and Yael Ziv. 1998. Discourse Markers. Description and Theory. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, William. 2001. Principles of Linguistic Change, Volume II: Social Factors. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levey, Stephen. 2006. “The Sociolinguistic Distribution of Discourse Marker Like in Preadolescent Speech.” Multilingua 25 (4): 413–444. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Macaulay, Ronald K.S. 2002. “You Know, it Depends.” Journal of Pragmatics 34 (6): 746–767. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Talk That Counts: Age, Gender and Social Class Differences in Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCarthy, Michael. 1998. Spoken Language and Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, Jim, and Regina Weinert. 1995. “The Function of LIKE in Dialogue.” Journal of Pragmatics 23 (4): 365–393. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “Gender Identities and Discourse.” In Pragmatics of Society, Gisle Andersen and Karin Aijmer (eds), 53–78. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murphy, Bróna, and Fiona Farr. 2012. “‘I’m Fine Girl, and How Are You?’: The Use of Vocatives in Spoken Irish-English.” In New Perspectives in Irish English, Bettina Migge and Máire Ní Chiosáin (eds), 203–224. VEAW Series. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nestor, Niamh, Catriona Ní Chasaide, and Vera Regan. 2012. “Discourse ‘Like’ and Social Identity – A Case Study of Poles in Ireland.” In New Perspectives in Irish English, Bettina Migge and Máire Ní Chiosáin (eds), 327–354. VEAW Series. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Keeffe, Anne, and Svenja Adolphs. 2008. “Response Tokens in British and Irish English: Corpus, Context and Variational Pragmatics.” In Variational Pragmatics: A Focus on Regional Varieties in Pluricentric Languages, Anne Barron and Klaus P. Schneider (eds), 69–98, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romaine, Susanne, and Deborah Lange. 1991. “The Use of Like as a Marker of Reported Speech and Thought: A Case of Grammaticalization in Progress.” American Speech, 66 (3): 227–279. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romero Trillo, Jesús (ed.). 2008. Pragmatics and Corpus Linguistics: A Mutualistic Entente. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rühlemann, Christoph. 2010. “What Can a Corpus Tell Us About Pragmatics?” In The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics, Anne O’Keeffe and Michael McCarthy (eds), 288–301. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, Klaus P., and Anne Barron. (eds). 2008. Variational Pragmatics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schourup, Lawrence C. 1985. Common Discourse Particles in English Conversations ‘Like’, ‘Well’, ‘y’know’. New York: Garland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schriffin, Deborah. 1987. Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schweinberger, Martin. 2012. “The Discourse Marker LIKE in Irish English.” In New Perspectives in Irish English, Bettina Migge and Máire Ní Chiosáin (eds), 179–202. VEAW Series. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stenström, Anna-Brita, Gisle Andersen, and Ingrid K. Hasund. 2002. Trends in Teenage Talk. Corpus Compilation, Analysis and Findings. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tagliamonte, Sali. 2005. “So Who? Like How? Just what? Discourse Markers in the Conversations of Young Canadians.” Journal of Pragmatics 37 (11): 1896–1915 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torgersen, Eivind Nessa, Costas Gabrielatos, Sebastian Hoffmann and Susan Fox. 2011. “A Corpus-based Study of Pragmatic Markers in London English.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 7(1): 93–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tottie, Gunnel. 2002. An Introduction to American English. Oxford/Malden, Mass.: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Underhill, Robert. 1988. “Like Is, Like, Focus.” American Speech 63 (3): 234–246. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Walshe, Shane. 2009. Irish English as Represented in Film. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

O’Keeffe, Anne
2023. Irish English Corpus Linguistics. In The Oxford Handbook of Irish English, ► pp. 243 ff. DOI logo
P. Amador-Moreno, Carolina
2023. Discourse-Pragmatic Markers in Irish English. In The Oxford Handbook of Irish English, ► pp. 426 ff. DOI logo
Walshe, Shane
2023. Irish English in the Media. In The Oxford Handbook of Irish English, ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Magliacane, Annarita
2020. Erasmus students in an Irish studyabroad context. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 5:1 ► pp. 89 ff. DOI logo
McCafferty, Kevin & Carolina P. Amador-Moreno
2019. ‘but a[h] Hellen d[ea]r sure you have it more in your power in every respect than I have’ – Discourse marker sure in Irish English. In Processes of Change [Studies in Language Variation, 21], ► pp. 73 ff. DOI logo
Bogdanova-Beglarian, Natalia, Tatiana Sherstinova, Olga Blinova, Gregory Martynenko & Ekaterina Baeva
2018. Towards a Description of Pragmatic Markers in Russian Everyday Speech. In Speech and Computer [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 11096], ► pp. 42 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2023. The Sociophonetics of Dublin English [Studies in Language Variation, 30], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue