Linguistic literature addressing the roles of discourse particles in English Lingua Franca (ELF) settings currently remains scarce. Research has shown that ELF communication presents different...Show moreLinguistic literature addressing the roles of discourse particles in English Lingua Franca (ELF) settings currently remains scarce. Research has shown that ELF communication presents different rules and structures than native English conversations. This study aims to explore the use of the particle I mean in ELF business communication. Building on general work in the subject, it asks two main questions: What are the functions of I mean as a DP used by ELF speakers in business settings? To what extent is I mean employed to pre-empt communicative misunderstanding? Based on the review of previous findings and the analysis of empirical data from a corpus of ELF business meetings, this thesis demonstrates the multifunctionality of I mean executing 15 functions. The results indicate that speakers in such contexts stay engaged in discourse, anticipating any potential source of misunderstanding. On that basis, it is recommended that further research should concentrate in the study of the influence situations involving hierarchical structures like business meetings have on the behaviour of I mean.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis focuses on the relation between preference and particles. It researches the modal particles 'even', 'maar' and 'misschien', used in informal telephone conversations. I analyse all...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the relation between preference and particles. It researches the modal particles 'even', 'maar' and 'misschien', used in informal telephone conversations. I analyse all occurrences of these particles in a second pair part that answers a question, to be able to see if these mitigating particles are used to mitigate the non-preference, as expected.Show less
