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This study examines paternal advice in the ancient Arab world through a socio-pragmatic analysis of 159 pieces of advice from fathers to sons between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The article identifies directness as a predominant feature in these communications, attributed to the intimate father–son relationship, paternal dominance, justifications for advice, and the inherent nature of the advice topics. The closeness between father and son, emphasized by the frequent use of "Oh my son(s)," allows for advice without social veiling, reflecting the Islamic duty of guidance. Power dynamics and the expectation of direct communication underscore the traditional Arab social structure. Justifications accompanying advice in the dataset highlight its acceptability, while the subjects of religion, relationships, and science encourage directness in the discourse. This analysis reveals that directness in advice-giving conveys deeply held cultural and religious values, emphasizing community and mutual responsibility, and showcases the role of clear communication in maintaining societal cohesion across generations. • A socio-pragmatic analysis of 159 pieces of paternal advice from the 7th to 10th centuries CE highlights directness as a key feature. • Directness in advice-giving is linked to close father–son relationships, paternal authority, and the content of the advice itself. • The use of the term "Oh my son(s)" signifies the intimate bond and lack of social distance in these communications. • The study underscores the influence of Islamic teachings on the tradition of direct paternal advice as part of a father's duty. • Justifications in advice emphasize that religion, relationships, and science are areas where directness is prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the speech acts of compliments (Cs) and compliment responses (CRs) has attracted a wide variety of research attention over the last several decades. Cs and CRs index an array of relational dimensions that govern sociocultural expressions of rapport and solidarity. Their importance has been well documented in intra- and intercultural communication pragmatics research across different languages. This study used a discourse analytic approach to examine one type of rare and often underutilized CR strategy, the praise upgrade, and its surprisingly frequent use as a CR response across a corpus of casual conversations between US English speaking young adults in a serious dating relationship. The analyses demonstrate that praise upgrades were often exaggerated and playful responses that re-position the compliment as somewhat absurd and thus not entirely serious. Ironic or playful CR upgrades to Cs worked to dilute the C itself while also attending to the subject-side risks of both the one formulating the C and the one receiving it. Three types of praise upgrades were identified: 1) praise upgrades that playfully rendered the compliment as absurd; 2) praise upgrades with tongue-in-cheek self-praise or boasts; 3) praise upgrades that redefined the compliment on the recipient's terms. • Praise upgrades were frequent compliment response strategy. • Praise upgrades playfully rendered compliments as absurd. • Praise upgrades were common in young adult dating relationships. • Discourse analyses reveal praise upgrades to be exaggerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnomethodology has been influential in many social science fields, including and especially applied linguistics, where conversation analysis is a major subfield for analyzing oral data. Nevertheless, ethnomethodology can also be—and has been—fruitfully applied to written discursive data, using its tools and methods to describe in detail how written texts are assembled and reflexively used, as members' methods, for doing and displaying social actions. This paper proposes an open analytical model to capture existing ethnomethodological analyses of written discourse and create a more transparent and replicable protocol for new analyses. I reconstruct ethnomethodology as set of assumptions and principles, review seminal research that used these principles to analyze written discourse, and present the master concept of "active text" that encapsulates them. I then construct a hierarchical prospective-retrospective model to formalize the methods used in ethnomethodology of written discourse. I use the model to reconstruct the analytical methods of two papers to show how it can be used for transparency and replication. The discussion section covers modelling in qualitative applied linguistics and ethnomethodology, and ends with some conclusions. • Ethnomethodology has a long relationship with discourse analysis, but focused on oral registers. • Ethnomethodology can be conceptualized a set of ontological and epistemological assumptions and principles. • A formalized and open analytical model can be used to apply ethnomethodology to written discursive data. • A model can help make ethnomethodological analysis of discursive data easier to apply and more replicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In jury trials, attorneys must build arguments about the facts and how these facts should be interpreted, and this happens through Q&A sequences with their own and the opposing party's witnesses. The structure of the courtroom interrogation usually disadvantages witnesses, especially in cross-examination because attorneys have the upper hand in the exchanges. This paper analyzes the Q&A sequences in a trial involving lawyers as witnesses and concerning abstract issues to investigate the different strategies attorneys and witnesses use to engage argumentatively. Specifically, the data are from a civil rights trial in which a female attorney sues a law school for not hiring her as an instructor. The suit alleged that the law school politically discriminated against her following her job talk because of her conservative political views. The paper shows how attorneys with their own witnesses can engage in co-reasoning, and how attorneys and the opposing side's witnesses can resist each other's argumentative projects. More specifically, we show that a question's answerability is a key resource which can be exploited by both attorneys and witnesses. • In trials attorneys pursue their own and resist competing argumentative projects • Yes-no questions vary in answerability , i.e., their content abstractness • In direct examination, attorneys co-reason with witnesses • Political discrimination trials involves showing or refuting negative feelings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio remains the most important information and entertainment medium in translingual South Africa. Subject to digitalization, it underwent major technical and structural transformation processes known as media convergence to maintain and to broaden audiences. These transformations have significant effects on the pragmatic realization of interactive talk and knowledge transfer. The study is based on an empirical multimodal discourse analysis of a Facebook video by the isiXhosa radio station Umhlobo Wenene. It observes dynamics of media convergence on the communicative situation. The example from a multilingual and mediated setting highlights impacts of conversation conventions externally imposed by promotional obligations. Furthermore, it examines how material affordances affect the conversation. The analysis shows that radio convergence has some enabling as well as some restrictive effects for realizing translingual knowledge transfer in mediated expert interviews. • Multimodal settings complexify membership in radio talk. • Visual dimension adds level of understanding in translingual radio communication. • Converged radio changes communicative and pragmatic affordances. • Radio genre conventions change through fusion with social media. • Public radio talk commodifies through convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When negotiating sensitive and taboo topics language needs to be used carefully so as not to cause offence or disrupt the interlocutors' relationship. One way to do this is through the use of vague language. In this study, we provide an in-depth, qualitative analysis of vague, euphemistic language, which may be perceived as marginally 'figurative', that is used to negotiate taboo and sensitive topics concerning culture, immigration, race and class. We use the term figurative to include metaphor and metonymy. The paper's focus is on linguistic strategies that employ content words which are in turn, ambiguously figurative, vague and de-emphasising, as well as emphatic qualifiers, and hedging signals, that distance the speaker from their words or prepare the listener for figurative language to come, as tuning devices. The data used in the study are from the METCLIL (Alejo-Gonzalez et al., 2021) corpus and comprise two classes of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) students in Sweden studying international marketing in a post-graduate program. After a detailed discourse analysis, we show how L2 users exploit the vagueness inherent in ambiguously figurative language (i.e. language that we perceive to be "on the fringes of metaphor") to discuss complex topics in a pragmatically sensitive manner in ways that expand previously established categories for VL and collapse others. • EMI L2 users employ a sophisticated combination of vague language (VL) and figurative language (FL). • This use is non-prototypical, on the "fringes" of metaphor, and provides nuance for sensitive topics. • VL and FL interact dynamically: FL may introduce VL (and vice versa) or constitute its use. • Two VL categories (de-intensifiers/vague categories) may be collapsed: both decrease tone. • L2 users can make nuanced use of language to discuss complex topics in a pragmatically sensitive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we study how top-down propagated processes of hierarchical flattening affect the leadership style of participants in an atypical Community of Practice (CofP), namely the cabin crew of an airline. We focus on pre-flight briefing meetings and tease out how cabin crew members (CCMs) negotiate the division of in-flight positions. This decision tends to be based on a general principle, namely the seniority of the CCMs. By means of a micro-oriented discourse analytical approach, we tease out how decisions that follow as well as divert from this principle are discursively negotiated. We conclude the article by discussing what the implications of this discursive work are for the leadership style that is enacted in these meetings and we call for more research on atypical CofPs, such as these highly ephemeral working groups that do not have many chances to develop their own CofP-norms. • We scrutinize how cabin crew (CC) negotiate the division of in-flight positions. • CC form a highly mobile and traditionally hierarchical Community of Practice (CofP). • Top-down propagated hierarchical flattening has affected CofP's leadership style. • Discourse analysis reveals shared leadership has replaced authoritarian leadership. • Seniority has become a decision-making guideline, granting senior CC more authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalation of the opioid epidemic in the United States has sparked sweeping legislation meant to regulate physicians' opioid prescribing practices. The demands of such policies force physicians to initiate discussions that could jeopardize the collaborative doctor–patient relationships necessary for curbing inappropriate opioid prescriptions. Drawing on sociopragmatics, this discourse analysis study of primary care interactions examines the face-saving linguistic features employed by physicians in negotiating the line between policy demands and maintaining collaborative relationships. The findings reveal several face-saving acts—pseudo requests, downtoners, broadening, redirection, tag questions, impersonalization, listing, and (negative) imagery—used by physicians when enacting the three most prominent policies: (1) monitoring opioid use, (2) prescribing anti-overdose medication, and (3) transitioning patients from opioids to alternative treatment. Informed by Goffman's concept of "face-work," this study provides evidence of the communicative burden placed on physicians implementing disagreeable opioid policies, as well as opening up discussions on how policymakers and medical institutions can support physicians in implementing opioid policies. • Discourse analysis of medical consultations surrounding opioids and chronic pain. • Physicians comply with policies patients may disagree with. • Physicians use face-saving strategies to mitigate contentious discourse from enacting policies. • Guidance on language could help ease physicians' communicative burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of functional models of language, which purport to account for text, do not recognize the distinct dimension corresponding to "discourse", as conceived here. Instead, the various semantic-pragmatic aspects of the use of indexical expressions, in particular, tend to be conceived uniquely in terms of the textual environment of the markers involved. Correlatively, the invocation of "context" in such approaches tends to be limited essentially to the co-text. But according to the present study, such expressions operate in terms of the mental discourse representations which the participants are jointly as well as severally constructing as the discourse proceeds. The article's aim is to show that the discourse dimension of language use is crucial to the ways in which indexical markers function, and hence should be taken into account in their modelling. This can only be done, it is argued, by integrating their treatment within a model of the broader utterance context in which such expressions are used, thus permitting a dialectic between the system-derived properties of such expressions and those emanating from the particular uses of such resources in actual communication. • The dimensions 'text' and 'discourse' are often confused or conflated by many authors. • For an adequate account of indexical reference, the roles of each meta-dimension need to be distinguished. • Context is the crucial mediating dimension making possible the creation of discourse from text. • Two major functional models of language are examined in terms of this three-way distinction, but are both found wanting. • Integrating indexical reference within a broader model of use will make discourse and context fully relevant alongside text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the discourse of 19 episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 of "Paranormal Survivor," a reality TV show about ghosts, haunted property, eeriness, fear, dread, and relief. Using various approaches to discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis we uncover the macro-, meso, and micro-level patterns of meaning creation in "Paranormal Survivor" that relate dually to the affective/psychological/sensory experiences of the protagonists as well as the cognitive puzzles, doubts, and (un)certainties underlying such paranormal phenomena. The macro-level analysis relates to the narrative structure of the program delivered through achronological multi-party perspectives, reflecting varying levels of emotional intensity/objectivity. The meso-level uncovers the various coherently related themes underlying the program. The micro-level examines the smaller bits of discourse that combine as they build the meso- (thematic) and macro- (structural) components of the larger spates of discourse through affect, emotion, believability, evidence, and empathy. This three-tiered analytic approach serves to systematically reveal the ways in which discursive mechanisms combine to enhance suspense, intensify horror, bolster both believability and relatability, and ultimately seek to establish and augment audience engagement. • Stance-taking is a discursively psycho-social cognitive and affective reaction to external stimuli. • Reality TV is both a reflection and magnification of everyday life. • Audience engagement in reality TV is a complex communicative process. • Suspense, curiosity, and surprise link both the affective and epistemic/cognitive domains of stance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Discourse Grammar framework, this study investigates what mechanisms are deployed in the rise of Korean DM com. The development of DM com involves two distinct mechanisms, namely grammaticalization and cooptation proposed by Heine et al. (2013a,b, 2020, 2021). More specifically, the rise of DM com involves the following three major stages: early grammaticalization leading from the diminutive quantifying noun cyekoma 'a little (bit)' to the adverb com 'a little' via phonological erosion, followed by cooptation whereby the coopted unit com is deployed as a discourse marker (DM), and finally late grammaticalization whereby the use of DM com is extended to new contexts inviting new discourse functions. The DM com is employed in various contexts including making polite requests, toning down assertions in potentially face-threatening situations, expressing negative emotions, and representing the speaker's playful engagement in seemingly impolite exchanges (e.g. banter and mock-disputes). Our analysis highlights a pivotal phase, which Heine refers to as 'cooptation', whereby lexical uses of com as quantifying noun and adverbial are redeployable for pragmatic uses as discourse markers expressing speaker attitude. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of how quantifying nouns can also evolve into speaker stance markers. • Discourse markers emerge via 2 major mechanisms: grammaticalization and cooptation. • Cooptation transfers lexical/grammatical structures to the discourse domain. • Korean com first evolved from quantifying noun to adverb (early grammaticalization). • Cooptation frees adverbial com syntactically and prosodically from its host sentence. • Once coopted, com develops a variety of attitudinal uses (late grammaticalization). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy, broadly defined as the ability to experience another's emotions and perceptions, is one of the major attitudes and actions underpinning an individual's participation in dialogue across diversity. The goal of this methodological paper is to operationalize empathy as a discursive construct, manifested in children and adolescent dialogic interactions. A coding scheme is developed based on three distinct steps. First, a review of the operational definitions of empathy is carried out, to capture how its related values, skills, and dispositions have been detected thus far. Second, the definitional elements resulting from this overview are represented in the dialogical notion of other-orientedness, which can be manifested, actually and potentially, in discourse. Moves are distinguished in 8 categories based on their disposition to be potentially other-oriented (dialogicity), which becomes actually manifested depending on their relevance to the discourse they are used in. Dialogicity and relevance are captured by the coding scheme proposed in this paper, which is validated and used to illustrate how it can reveal dialogical empathy and the development of common ground in interactions. • Providing a validated coding scheme for capturing the manifestations of dialogical empathy in dialogues. • Operationalizing empathy for the purposes of discourse analysis. • Showing the relationship between dialogical empathy and other-oriented moves. • Reviewing the operational definitions of empathy in psychology, discourse studies, and rhetoric. • Providing a tool for analyzing conflicts of "common" grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of hate speech and fake news in political discourse is at the same time a crucial necessity for democratic societies and a challenge for several areas of study. However, most of the studies have focused on what is explicitly stated: false article information , language express ing hatred, derogatory expressions. This paper argues that the explicit dimension of manipulation is only one – and the least problematic – of the risks of political discourse. The language of the unsaid is much more dangerous and incomparably more difficult to detect, hidden in different types of fallacies and inappropriate uses of emotive language. Through coding scheme developed by integrating instruments drawn from argumentation theory and pragmatics, a corpus of argumentative tweets published by 4 politicians (Matteo Salvini, Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, and Joseph Biden) within 6 months from their taking office is analyzed, detecting the types of argument, the fallacies, and the uses and misuses of "emotive words." This coding results in the argumentation profiles of the speakers, which are compared statistically to show their different implicit strategies and deceptive tactics. • Outlining a method for analyzing strategic communication based on pragmatics and argumentation theory. • Analyzing quantitatively types of argument and argument quality, showing the characteristics of populists' rhetoric. • Bringing to light the most common types of argument and manipulative strategies in populist discourse. • Reconstructing and evaluating implicit communication. • Showing the most common strategies for manipulating the common ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze hedging strategies in a financial communication context. The American Federal Reserve System ("the Fed") is frequently investigated by economists, but has rarely been examined in linguistics. From the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics, this analysis of Fed Committee press conferences identifies the hedging strategies employed by the Fed Chair at the lexical, syntactic and discursive levels during Q&A sessions to elucidate how the Chair uses hedging as vehicle to manipulate the public's perceptions of the institution. The findings reveal the Chair uses words of uncertainty, formulations of abstract information, and indirect responses to avoid inconvenient questions and promote a positive image. This study enriches our understanding of the mechanisms of Fed communication, broadens data sets of hedging within financial communication contexts, and offers novel insights into hedging rationales and frameworks as well as the function of hedging. Finally, it provides both linguists and economists with a robust descriptive basis for critically assessing Fed communication. • This paper broadens data sets of hedging to financial communication contexts. • It examines hedging strategies at the lexical, syntactic and discursive levels. • It adopts both qualitative discourse analysis and quantitative corpus-based methods. • It offers novel insights into hedging rationales and frameworks as well as the function of hedging. • It provides both linguists and economists with a robust descriptive basis for critically assessing Fed communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the use of the word respect by the main advocates in the High Court and Supreme Court hearings of R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (the 'Brexit case'). Courtroom discourse has received substantial research attention in pragmatics, and previous work has largely focused on notions of face and im/politeness exhibited in power-asymmetric encounters between lawyers and witnesses in hostile cross-examination. In contrast, this paper focuses on lawyer–judge interaction in appellate hearings and explores the ways in which advocates negotiate the task of making face-threats that are inherent to the discourse situation, while maintaining the levels of professional courtesy demanded by the institution. The word respect has a particular role in managing this balance, and has attached to it well-established implicit, indexical and professional meanings within the legal profession. The corpus analysis here shows that, although the advocates in question use respect in seemingly formulaic and ritualised ways, it is used to achieve multiple facework and interactional goals. Throughout the analysis we see advocates use respect when (dis)agreeing with judges, challenging opposing counsel and making recommendations to the court. • 'Respect' has implicit, indexical and institutional meaning in the courtroom. • Lawyers in appeal hearings must balance disagreement with courtesy. • Lawyers use 'respect' routinely as a marker of professional identity. • 'Respect' is versatile and is used to achieve a wide range of goals. • The pragmatics of the appeal court is distinct from that of other courtroom contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how argument structure constructions (see e.g. Goldberg 1995) are used by Italian newspapers to portray gender-based violence (GBV), how their usage affects responsibility attribution to perpetrators, and how such usage is perceived by Italian readers. The assumption is that constructions critically affect meaning: constructional choices prompt different viewpoints of the same event. For the corpus study, we collected 40 articles from local newspapers and annotated 720 constructions denoting GBV events. Constructions suppressing/backgrounding the perpetrator or depicting the event as a bare happening were the most frequent. Building upon these results, for the perception study, 274 participants read an author-constructed news report portraying GBV and answered four speculative questions about the identity of the perpetrator and the victim. Respondents were divided into groups and each group was presented with a stimulus article containing different constructions of the GBV event surrounded by the same information frame. In line with previous studies, it was found that the perpetrator could be assigned less responsibility when the passive and nominal constructions were employed. • Different constructions enhance the role of the perpetrator of gender-based violence (GBV). • Corpus analysis on newspaper confirmed the preference for constructions that background the perpetrator. • Passivization and nominalization strategies reduce the directedness of the perpetrators' responsibility. • Readers' perception confirmed that third entities like jealousy are assigned responsibility in passives and nominalizations. • The backgrounding strategy produces a focus-change altering the perception of the GBV perpetrator and of his degree of guilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines teacher pragmatic acts (verbal and embodied) in response to children's crying in a Russian preschool. It focuses on crying episodes associated with children's inability or unwillingness to follow the norms and expectations surrounding children's conduct (e.g., crying when not allowed to do something). The paper employs discourse analysis; the data are 40 h of video- and audio-recorded interactions. The analysis shows that teachers used directives and other pragmatic acts (e.g., assessments, explanations) that encouraged children to stop crying. The directives were produced in multi-party participation frameworks where peers were referred to or recruited as active participants. Teachers used positive and negative assessments of crying. Crying was presented in a negative light in contrast with positive non-crying behaviors; positive assessments (praise and affectionate touch) were offered when crying stopped. The consequences of crying were presented as negatively affecting others. It is argued that such discursive treatment of crying contributes to socializing children to conformity. The paper contributes to our understanding of how through the use of pragmatic acts, child crying is discursively treated in ways that invoke norms of pragmatic conduct (e.g., not crying when asked to participate in a planned activity) and social values regarding group membership. • Analysis examines teachers' pragmatic acts (verbal and embodied) in response to crying in a Russian preschool. • Methods utilize discourse analysis. • Findings explore teachers' use of directive trajectories and other pragmatic acts that encouraged children to stop crying. • Conclusions are discussed in relation to norms of pragmatic conduct and social values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I discuss and explore how two cognitive systems – fast and slow thinking – may affect our pragmatic decisions and judgements. I draw on Kahneman's (2011) description of mental life by the metaphor of two agents, System 1 and System 2 , which respectively produce fast and slow thinking. The capabilities of System 1 include –among other things– mental, linguistic and sociopragmatic activities, all of which have an effect on people's relational work (Locher and Watts 2005). Research in psychology (cf. McGuire and Botvinick 2010; Simon 1992; Klein 1999) suggests that the 'intuitive' System 1 is frequently more influential than the 'rational' System 2, the former thus being the secret author of many of human beings' choices and judgments, including those speakers make in discourse. My approach in this study is therefore multidisciplinary. Drawing from Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Pragmatics, Functional Linguistics, (Socio)pragmatics and Discourse Analysis, I theoretically explore how the systems of fast and slow thinking participate in our discourse-pragmatic decisions and activities. I also analyze different examples of statements and short narratives where the (un)conscious exploitation of the interplay between these two systems (for the negotiation of pragmatic meanings) can be appreciated. • Kahneman's two cognitive systems – fast and slow thinking – (System 1 and System 2 respectively) may affect our pragmatic decisions and judgements. • Research in psychology suggests that System 1 is the secret author of many of human beings' choices and judgments, including those speakers make in discourse. • This study involves theoretical exploration regarding how the systems of fast and slow thinking participate in our discourse-pragmatic decisions and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the mitigating meaning within an empirical discourse analysis framework that integrates its cognitive, emotive, relational, situational, and linguistic components. Mitigation is understood as a psychological category to cope with one or more stressors in communication. The mitigating apparatus is instantiated in discourse with the goal of managing interactants' vulnerabilities. This conceptual framework is applied to examine the mitigation strategies devised by participants in an online forum for recovery from an eating disorder. The analysis reveals that participants in the site resort to different mitigation patterns to perform the acts of advice solicitation and advice provision. Advice seekers use mitigation devices and discursive moves to tune the illocutionary force of their requests to the audience, to modulate their self-presentation agenda to the forum normative requirements (facework) and to cope with the stressor of the illness. Advice providers, in contrast, produce a comprehensive body of mitigating strategies related to the notions of empathy and perspective-taking, two cognitive constructs that are negotiated, represented and managed interactionally. Mitigation, therefore, constitutes an instrumental and motivational category that shapes the ways of dealing with multiple stressors and multidimensional vulnerabilities in discourse. • Defines mitigation as a psychological category to cope with stressors and vulnerabilities. • Includes argumentation, empathy and perspective-taking moves as mitigation mechanisms. • Describes the speech activity of advice exchange in an online forum for eating disorders. • Examines mitigation motivations for advice-seeking and advice-giving. • Identifies distinctive patterns of mitigating meaning when asking for advice vs giving advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions involved in postgraduate theses supervisions can be crucial to students' development of research skills, academic writing and their own sense of themselves as research writers. One relatively unexplored area of supervisory sessions, however, is the dynamic interplay of power in these interactions. This study examines advice-giving by two supervisors in supervision meetings with two L2 master's students at an English-medium university. Drawing on observational data and detailed analysis of supervision transcripts, we show how supervisors and students co-construct their interactions through shifting power relations to shape the Literature Review Chapter. Exploring participants' language choices in these encounters, we show how language helps to shape student and supervisor roles and enact power relations which in turn mediate students' understandings of research knowledge and their positioning of themselves as writers. The findings suggest that power is reproduced as supervisory advice is accepted and challenged through student agency during the interaction. Power-over , power-gaining and power-maintaining interactions helped to reinforce sense-making in the encounters, develop students' orientation to the task and increase their self-assured stance taking. • Supervisions involve a dynamic interplay of power between participants. • Power interactions are collaboratively constructed and constantly shifting. • Language shapes student and supervisor roles and enacts power relations. • Shifting roles and power mediate learning and students' positioning as writers. • Power-over , power-gaining and power-maintaining assist sense-making and students' growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swearing has been shown to affect hearers' perceptions of speakers. Existing studies show mixed effects. Some identify favourable perceptions, including: greater speaker informality, intensity, humour, and credibility. Others show negative outcomes, with swearers perceived as: less competent, intelligent, and trustworthy; and as more aggressive and socially inept than non-swearers. Most existing studies are based on experimental methodologies, typically using constructed data and directly eliciting evaluations. In this paper, using Discursive Psychology principles, I adopt a perspective that is closer to 'real world' processes of perception and evaluation. Specifically, I analyse online reader responses to news reports of a celebrity host's swearing during a televised awards event. Here, the data are unelicited, discursively formulated, and produced in response to a concrete swearing example. In the analysis, I examine the meaning frameworks through which the respondents evaluate swearing; and the types of perceptions that they form about the speaker, including his motivations for swearing and his personal characteristics. I demonstrate that: (a) evaluative categories are negotiated in different ways; and (b) evaluations are inextricably linked to existing representations of the speaker, as well as contextualised judgements and expectations. The study highlights the role of socio-pragmatic concerns in swearing and speaker evaluation. • Examines swearing perceptions outside of the experimental setting. • Provides discursive data on swearing perception, rather than standard scale ratings. • Perceptions are freely expressed, rather than elicited by researcher. • Focuses on participants' own (rather than the researcher's) category meanings. • Evaluative categories are negotiated and informed by socio-pragmatic knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the interviewer (IR) employs repeats of his interviewees' (IEs') prior turns to further their (IEs') agenda and stance in Aljazeera's al-itijaah al-mu'akis ('The Opposite Direction', hereafter). 'The Opposite Direction' is a weekly news interview program that broadcasts live in Arabic on Aljazeera. The show hosts two guests with opposing political views. Twenty, 50 min episodes were studied and transcribed following Conversation Analysis as my analytic method. This paper argues that the IR uses a specific questioning practice with those interviewees whom he favors, I refer to them as interviewees in the f avorable position (IEFs), allowing them to further their agenda against the other's. The paper shows how the IR's actions of agenda furthering is achieved by repeating his IEFs' previous turns in a question format which allows IEFs an opportunity to confirm and highlight a previous turn for the overhearing audience. I refer to this IR practice as the Affiliative Other Initiated Repeats (AOIRs). This study has implications that are multidisciplinary for Conversation Analysis, Arabic linguistics, cross cultural studies, and Arabic media studies. • Repeats of previous talk can be done affiliatively in broadcast news interviews. • AOIRs allow certain guests a chance to repeat and highlight a previous point. • Repeats are arguably done for the overhearing audience. • AOIRs are used with guests whose political views are in sync with the IR's. • Claims of impartiality and neutrality by the IR are challenged in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irony and humor play an important role in both organizing and organizations, because they both help to collide and contrast ideas as well as mitigate and moderate criticism. Our empirical observations of a senior management team suggest participants frequently use verbal irony and aggressive conversational humor through 'ironic personae' – a cast of characters, real or imaginary – as a vehicle for pragmatically making sense of complicated topics. We show how ironic personae perform three functions: (i) testing new positions on topics in a non-committal way; (ii) stretching the frame of comparison of a group; and (iii) aligning shared understanding and commitment. Thus, our analysis sheds light on an underexplored and undertheorised pragmatic vehicle for the expression of humorous verbal irony and aggressive conversational humor. • Ironic personae enable expression of humorous and aggressive verbal irony in team conversations. • Participants use them to position in relation to others and make sense of complicated topics. • Ironic personae test new positions, stretch frames of comparison, and align participants. • The metaphor of the carnival shows how heteroglossic texts supplement discourse analytic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While narrative competence has been well documented in autistic children and young adolescents, fairly little is known about narrative performance of autistic adults. However, narrative abilities continue to develop well into adulthood. Hence, the main objective of the present study is to provide a clearer linguistic and communicative profile of ASD in adulthood by performing a systematic description of narrative performance in autistic adults. A specific annotation scheme was developed to code narrative production, in order to be able to compare the production of autistic participants to pairwise matched neurotypical adults relative to microstructure (syntactic complexity), macrostructure (overall story structure and cohesive ties) and internal state language of the corpus' narratives. The results suggest that autistic adults performed worse than their neurotypical peers on all three dimensions of narrative production, resulting in less coherent narratives overall for autistic adults. • Narrative production continues to be an area of difficulty for ASD adults. • Group differences emerged in all three main dimensions of narrative production. • ASD adults exploit linguistic features less efficiently to enhance their narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the use of self-praise in an online community of pick-up artists (PUAs). The male community of practice engages in speed seduction of women, drawing on a shared repertoire of techniques and scripts. The field reports, which are produced to process the experienced interactions and posted online for evaluation by others, are at the centre of our investigation of positive self-disclosure. We find that PUAs rely on three kinds of self-praise: brag statements, proxy brags, and evidential brags. Self-praise (of any type) is by no means a rare occurrence as revealed by a quantitative breakdown of self-praising speech acts in the data set. The analysis of the reactions towards self-praise, as evidenced in forum replies, shows that self-praise is not censored as it is part of PUA interactional norms. The self-praise iceberg which emerges in this paper posits that self-aggrandizing discursive behaviour is more widespread, and less censored, than previously assumed. • Introduces the iceberg model to illustrate the self-praise paradox in discourse. • Investigates the use of self-praise by Pick-up Artists in a corpus of online data. • First description of the PUA bragging ecology. • PUAs rely on three main brag types: brag statements, proxy brags, evidential brags. • No evidence for censorship by the community; bragging is an essential PUA practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extend the relatively neglected line of cross-linguistic research on metadiscourse in research articles (hereafter RAs) in Chinese and English languages and cultures, this article, adopting the reflexive approach, investigated the use of metadiscourse in Chinese and English RA introductions and discussions. Based on manual discourse analysis of 60 Chinese and English RAs in sociology, it is found that more impersonal than personal metadiscourse was deployed and the distribution of the impersonal subcategories displays similarity in both Chinese and English introductions and discussions. However, English sociologists tend to include more metadiscourse as a whole, and the respective personal and impersonal metadiscourse, particularly personal metadiscourse and in the discussion section in their RAs, than their Chinese colleagues. Furthermore, the gap between impersonal and personal metadiscourse use was notably more salient in Chinese than in English in both sections. Linguistic features, sociocultural factors and rhetoric functions may be responsible for these differences. • 60 research aricles in Chinese and English were annotated and analysed. • More impersonal than personal metadiscourse units were found in both languages. • English outnumbered Chinese in metadiscourse use. • More marked cross-linguistic gap was identified in discussions than in introductions. • Taxonomy of reflexive metadiscourse units for scholarly writing in Chinese and English was set up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the semantic values and informational role of the French discourse marker par ailleurs (literally "by elsewhere") in modern academic writing. The corpus compiled for the study consists of one hundred French PhD thesis abstracts (and their accompanying translations in English), taken from various fields in the humanities and social sciences.The methodology is based on the analysis of a number of features of the French marker including sentence position, text position, co-textual environment and discourse functions. Five main discourse functions for the French marker are distinguished: (1) return to a prior topic, (2) addition or continuation (3) enumerative addition), (4) alterity (5) digression. A second stage of the analysis involves identifying and examining the English translation equivalents of par ailleur s used in the accompanying English abstracts. Although the marker has no generally accepted standard translation in English, our hypothesis is that this contrastive focus can serve as a heuristic to better identify the core functions of the French marker and its role in signalling topic development. • Analysis of the discourse functions of French par ailleurs in a corpus of academic writing • Dominant function of par ailleurs in the data is 'addition/continuation' (58%) • Par ailleurs is translated in 12 different ways in English • Translation of the marker into English as a heuristic to refine meaning • The genre constrains the use and type of markers involved [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper is devoted to a contrastive analysis of the French discourse markers d'ailleurs and par ailleurs and their Dutch equivalents, which we carried out as part of a multilingual research project. The first part of the paper is a syntactic, semantic and discursive analysis of the two topic shifters in French, while the second part examines their Dutch translations in a sample of each marker taken from the Dutch Parallel Corpus. • Contrastive analysis of the French discourse markers d'ailleurs and par ailleurs and their Dutch equivalents. • Syntactic, semantic and discursive analyseis of the two topic shifters in French. • Analysis of their Dutch translations in a sample of each marker taken from the Dutch Parallel Corpus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the contested notion of culture, intercultural (im)politeness represents an understudied area of research. Yet, (im)politeness research should examine broader social forces. Drawing upon data from five focus group discussions and their dialogical discourse analysis, my study relies on the discursive approach and relational work (Locher and Watts, 2005). My study shows that cultural outsiders reported adhering differently to cultural politeness norms as resources. As such, a reported low tolerance for pragmatic variation in the Finnish and French cultures appears to carry two consequences. First, Finnish and French participants reported changing their adherence to cultural politeness norms in order to follow behavior that better corresponds to the expectations framed by the target culture, and to avoid negatively marked behavior judged as impolite/inappropriate. Second, participants who reported adhering less to the politeness norms of their culture of origin found a better match between their behavior and the dominant politeness norms in the target culture, which carried positive consequences related to constructing their identity. Finally, the close link between relational work and identity construction demonstrated that although participants reported adhering to the politeness norms of the target culture, they emphasized teaching their children the politeness norms of their culture of origin. • Cultural outsiders adhere differently to cultural politeness norms as resources. • Cultural outsiders change their adherence to avoid behavior considered impolite. • Some found a match between their behavior and the norms in the target culture. • Parents teach their bicultural children the norms of their culture of origin. • Parents of bicultural children face challenges due to a conflict between norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an account for maximal superlative modifiers (e.g. at most), based on a corpus examination of two Hebrew maximum modifiers: le-xol ha-yoter 'at most' and maksimum 'maximally/at most'. In this first detailed analysis of such modifiers, I argue for three superlative maximum sub-constructions: Scalar, Concessive and Concessive-Evaluative. I claim that the Concessive and Concessive-Evaluative sub-constructions share a single argumentative function, namely, introducing as insufficient a counter-argument for a conclusion which the speaker wishes to establish in the discourse. Interestingly, a comparison with at least constructions (as analyzed by Kay, 1992) shows that both superlative maximum and minimum constructions similarly serve speakers in constructing non-optimal arguments in their favor. • An analysis of three sub-constructions associated with superlative maximum modifiers (at most). • All three sub-constructions have an argumentative function. • Analysis of discourse profiles of two Hebrew superlative maximum modifiers. • Maximum and minimum constructions are both used to construct non-optimal arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores humorous intertextual media references in the audio-recorded everyday talk of a European American friend group. Focusing on stereotypes of ethnically-marked varieties of American English in media references, I analyze talk where white speakers perform African American English appropriated from an Internet meme and "Hollywood Injun English" as portrayed in TV tropes. I also examine post-recording playback interviews in which speakers acknowledge and comment on the problematic source texts and their performances. I illustrate how speakers construct their individual humorous identities and their shared cultural and ethnic identities through the "others" they voice, while simultaneously activating and reinforcing the social stereotypes represented in the media they reference. While these speakers do not immediately critique these stereotypes, in playback interviews they resist the identities formerly performed, with their statements ranging from ambiguous evaluation to deconstruction of the media and the references. This study contributes to understanding how and why speakers invoke media-embedded linguistic and cultural stereotypes for humorous individual and group identity construction, and how humorous media references serve as a site for activating, reinforcing, and deconstructing media stereotypes about linguistic and cultural identities in everyday interaction. • A group of friends performs linguistic stereotypes via media references in talk • Speakers construct humorous group identities in performing linguistic stereotypes • Speakers activate and reinforce stereotypes represented in the media they reference • Later, in playback, speakers acknowledge and evaluate stereotypical performances [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates attitudes towards discriminatory speech among a sample of Greek Cypriot youth and aims to identify motivators/factors that might produce hateful attitudes. Questionnaires and face-to-face interviews are explored with corpus linguistics tools, and discourse analysis is used to evaluate the sample's intra-cultural attitude towards hate speech as well as the differences and commonalities in beliefs and attitudes towards the Other and the Self. We focus on the respective roles of salience (Giora, 2003) and common ground (Kecskes & Zhang, 2009) to explain the internal dialogue that is witnessed during the interviews. Intra-cultural beliefs and attitudes that incline to rejecting out-groups seem to be confronted with the pressure of external calls for acceptance that characterize the European discourse. This negotiated positioning of the participants is externalized in what we have called 'a double act stance'. • Externalized inner speech describes the negotiation of identity stance between rejection of outgroups and calls for tolerance. Its absence characterizes far-right discourse which considers the core common ground as non-negotiable. • Strategies of justification on the basis of history and religion are used to preserve the national Self confirming a core common ground. • Strategies of disparagement used to discredit the 'Other' and the Self point at essentialist views of identities. • Questionnaires give only half of the story : a rejection of hate speech in questionnaires is reconsidered in interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generic person is particularly interesting in gendered languages such as Hebrew and Arabic, where the coexistence of (unmarked) masculine and (marked) feminine forms posits a choice when both are applicable. Inclusive generics, i.e. impersonal forms whose scope includes 'I' and 'you', were analyzed in women's discourse in Israeli Hebrew and Negev Arabic. In the Hebrew corpus, consisting of 7 journalistic interviews with women in both interviewer and interviewee roles, F-you (generic P2 f. sg) turned out to be the undisputedly unmarked generic form; M-you (generic P2 m. sg) is restricted to very specific contexts, such as shifted viewpoint, a man or a mixed gender group in the speaker's mind. A very different pattern emerged in a Traditional Negev Arabic corpus, representing 7 elderly Bedouin women interviewed by female Bedouin students. Here, the highest ranking form was M-one (generic P3 m. sg), followed by M-you. This radical difference fits in with findings of research on cultural discourse patterns that has classified Arabic under the polychronic type, reflecting a relatively depersonalized 'collective self' and complementary gender relations. Israeli Hebrew, as reflected in our data base, is closer to the monochronic individualistic, equal gender relation type. The gap between these two types is neatly and consistently filled in by data from the Young Negev Arabic corpus, representing 7 female Bedouin students interviewed by female peers. Their medial position points to the transition which the young Arab generation is undergoing from the traditional Arabic culture to the western culture predominating the Israeli public space. • Hebrew-speaking and elderly Negev Arabic-speaking women use generic pronouns differently. • Hebrew speaking women use predominantly feminine generic 'you'. • Elderly Negev Arabic-speaking women prefer 'one' and masculine 'you'. • These uses represent monochronic and polychronic communication patterns respectively. • Young Negev Arabic-speaking women demonstrate a transitional stage between these two types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines video recordings of one multilingual family whose members interact using a voice translation application that runs on a mobile phone. Its purpose is to explore the ways in which the app does or does not function as a participant. Taking the perspective that participation is negotiated and displayed collaboratively and is only achieved if people orient to each other as participants, I demonstrate how the app is constituted as a participant in the interaction to the extent that it fulfills the animator and principal roles that make up the production format (Goffman 1981), and as an object to the extent that it aids the human participants to fulfill those roles themselves. People display their orientation to the app as a participant through gaze and laughter directed at the mobile phone. They orient to the mobile phone (henceforth, "the app") as an object when they use it to fulfill the animator role themselves or display responsibility for the original message by gazing at the other participants and by asking for validations of the app's translations. The study contributes to our understanding of technologically mediated interaction by demonstrating how participation roles are distributed between human and non-human entities. • Participation is constructed through the collaborative efforts of all parties. • The presence and use of a mobile phone alters the participation framework. • Fulfilling animator and principal roles grants a mobile phone app participant status. • Interlocutors use an app's affordances to create involvement. • A mobile phone app can be treated as a participant or as an object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-mentions (i.e., first person pronouns and self-citations) have proven to be one of the most powerful ways of rhetorical self-projection in academic discourse and their role in the construction of a self that engenders credibility in more overtly persuasive genres, such as political debates, has been extensively studied, given the vast literature on pronouns in political discourse analysis and specifically on their uses in political debates. To gain a better insight into the ways in which politicians can build a credible ethos through a competent and authoritative presentation of themselves in electoral debates, this paper compares the frequency and rhetorical roles of the self-mentions used by the candidates of the two major political parties (i.e., Democrats and Republicans) during the debates held for the United States presidential election of 2016. The Republican candidates (i.e., Trump and Pence) were found to make a notably greater use of self-mentions than their Democratic counterparts (i.e., Clinton and Kaine). Significant differences were also found in the rhetorical roles most commonly adopted by each politician to convey authority through the use of exclusive pronouns and self-citations. • A key component of persuasion is the ability of speakers to establish a positive representation of themselves. • The aim of this paper is to analyze how a credible representation of self (or ethos) is established in political discourse. • The various functions of the self-mentions employed by each speaker are categorized. • It is shown that political challengers need to put extra effort into constructing a powerful ethos within discourse. • H. Clinton foregrounds her political career to gain credibility. • D. Trump uses different rhetorical strategies to win votes centering on his personal side and business achievements. • This seems to be in line with the prior ethos that they carried before the debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent approaches to im/politeness have emphasised the importance of lay understandings of politeness and suggested that they should constitute the locus of attention in politeness research. Pursuing this direction of research, the data for this paper come from an on-line article entitled "Greek impoliteness: 10 things that kill you in this city" and the comments it received. The analysis of the data shows that the understandings of impoliteness presented are not restricted to what researchers understand as impoliteness but reflect the rather broader concept of incivility. Drawing from various fields, the paper investigates understandings of in/civility and the relationship between im/politeness and in/civility and shows the conceptual affinity between the two concepts. Despite this affinity, their exact relationship and their points of overlap and divergence remain rather unclear. The paper argues for the significance of lay conceptualisations of im/politeness and suggests that in/civility and its relationship to im/politeness which have so far been neglected in im/politeness research deserve further in-depth exploration. • In/civility is broader than im/politeness encompassing a lot that is non-verbal. • Language use may be impolite but not uncivil, especially in political discourse. • In/civility is closely related to morality rather than just to the moral order. • Civil interaction promotes democratic goals. • The study of im/politeness and in/civility necessitates collaboration of disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore how the analysis of im/politeness can be tackled from a discursive pragmatics perspective. Pragmatics and discourse analysis are interrelated disciplines as they are both concerned with language use. However, they differ mostly in terms of the units of analysis traditionally associated with them: pragmatics is typically concerned with the utterance whereas discourse analysis with what is beyond the utterance. Im/politeness research has drawn from both as it was initially based mostly on pragmatic notions and later, reacting to these and embracing the pragmatic turn, it turned primarily to big D discourse for additional or more useful tools. Thus, researchers abandoned isolated utterances as their data and gravitated towards longer stretches of discourse in context. However, context was mostly explored through aspects of the micro- and macro-levels leaving rather underexplored the meso level. Our contention in this paper is that for a truly discursive approach to pragmatics in general and to im/politeness in particular, we need to develop methods and tools that will facilitate the analysis of politeness phenomena also at the mesolevel and reveal the dynamic interaction among these three levels. • Pragmatics and discourse analysis are interrelated but differ mostly in terms of the units of analysis associated with them. • A trichotomy covering the macro/meso/micro levels of sociological enquiry is needed. • Genres/ texts are central to a discursive pragmatics. • A truly discursive approach to im/politeness should facilitate the analysis of phenomena at the meso-level. • It should also reveal the dynamic interaction among these three levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Much has been said about the problems of internet trolls in recent mainstream media reporting of online communication, yet surprisingly little empirical work has been conducted on the pragmatics of trolling. Existing studies of trolling come from different disciplines and provide different interpretations and definitions of trolls, leaving many questions about the phenomenon unanswered. The present study aims to narrow this empirical gap by providing a discourse-analytic account of online trolling. Specifically, the study utilizes the notion of floor spaces to uncover how online users discursively orient themselves to trolling behavior and why such responses vary from one message thread to another. The findings show that the extent to which an alleged troll is accepted into a discussion is partly related to how contributors discursively orient themselves to floor spaces, or in other words, co-establish appropriate forms and ways of communication. The finding that any given message can potentially be treated as an attempt to troll is helpful in understanding the extent to which trolling should be viewed as deviant behavior. Highlights • Any contribution to a message can be interpreted as an act of being disagreeable, which is sometimes viewed as a trolling characteristic. • The intentionality of a disagreeable contributor is not necessarily a factor in whether other contributors view this person as a troll. • The act of trolling can be oriented to in a number of ways (e.g., as fun, disruptive, annoying, or important). • It is potentially problematic to construct fixed understandings of trolls and trolling, as such terms are negotiated in situ , according to how the floor space unfolds. • As is commonly understood in other contexts where arguments and other forms of heated exchanges are normative behavior, some individuals enjoy, and indeed relish, such trolling exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We examine how participants in a moral conflict hold fast to their beliefs during a highly-publicized moment in an ongoing social controversy. We apply discourse analysis to a video-recorded confrontation between a same-sex couple seeking a marriage license, and a county clerk refusing to provide the license for religious reasons, which took place after the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act in the U.S.A. (and had prohibited same-sex couples from marrying). We examine how pragmatics of account avoidance sequences and framing are deployed in interaction to accomplish "being morally principled." This case illustrates how mediated public conversations around social changes provide participants opportunities to perform moralities and define the terms of debate in relation to cultural institutions. We reflect on how the consequence of this event is a form of debate in which participants speak past each other ritualistically, constructing worldviews as incompatible and problems as unresolvable. Highlights • Moral conflicts are characterized by being committed to one's principles. • Avoiding accounts is one way of performing being committed to one's principles. • Being committed to one's principles is a way of accomplishing intractable conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Discourse analytic treatments of medical communication have traditionally centered on dyadic interactions, occurring between a physician and a patient. However, given the increasing complexity of healthcare systems, contemporary medical encounters often involve additional participants, including patients' family members. The present study builds on previous research investigating triadic and multi-party medical encounters – primarily in pediatric and geriatric contexts – and extends it to other specialties (i.e., neurology and rheumatology), which include patients with a wider range of ages – in medical contexts where patients are capable of speaking for themselves. Focusing on audio-recordings of naturally-occurring medical discourse, we explore the ways in which family members establish legitimacy as co-collaborators, drawing on strategies that display knowledge, assume authority, and share responsibility within the interaction. In this way, their contributions help to construct an understanding of the patient's condition and, in many cases, affect the treatment decision-making process. Highlights • Medical encounter interactions are qualitatively transformed when family members participate in the interactions. • Medical encounter interactions were used to explore the various linguistic and discursive strategies family members use. • Family members employed various discursive strategies to establish legitimacy as co-collaborators in medical encounters. • In many cases, family members' contributions affected the treatment decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Building upon previous literature and insights from natural corpus data, this paper questions the theoretical bases and applicability of Information-Structural categories, such as topic and focus, and proposes an alternative approach to this field. In the proposed framework, so-called "information-structural" phenomena are epiphenomenal effects of diverse linguistic devices, related directly to a broad array of primarily intersubjective, interactional and discourse-structuring aspects of communication and language. The paper presents cross-linguistic data that support this view and proposes the ensuing directions for the systematic study of these phenomena. Highlights • Universal definitions of IS-categories (topic, focus) involve circular methodology • IS-categories are epiphenomenal effects of heterogenous linguistic devices • Diverse intersubjective, interactional and grammatical categories trigger IS-readings • Case studies from English, Hebrew, Burmese and Quechua demonstrate this diversity • Bottom-up approach to IS as typology of categories that trigger diverse interpretations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract While much research exists on specificational clauses, this paper is the first to systematically use real corpus examples to examine the meaning potential of prosody in signalling informational value in specificational clauses. Carefully distinguishing between two senses of information structure – the relational and the referential – we show that the interplay of prosody and specificational clause, reversed and non-reversed, is far from random. In the majority of non-reversed clauses, we found that the value and variable were realised in different tone units. Thus, claims that the value will receive the focal accent were found to be overly simplistic. Instead, where the variable and value were realised across different tone units the prosodic choice was motivated by the variable's discourse status and relative unpredictability. Rising tones presented the value as non-exhaustive, allowing for multiple values for a single variable. This re-enforced the projected lack of epistemic certainty. As expected, reversed specificationals were found to be produced mostly as single tone units; contrary to expectation, their focal accent was often on the variable. This, we noted, was likely due to the high incidence of demonstrative values in subject position. To conclude, our innovative approach demonstrates the importance of examining the interplay between syntax, discourse and prosody in explicating the meaning potential of constructions such as specificational clauses. Highlights • The intonation of specification functionally exceeds a mere background-focus distinction. • The different communicative dynamism of (non)reversed clauses correlates with differences in tonality. • (In)definite variables are typically uttered with different tones, conveying different interpersonal meanings. • Reversed specificationals commonly serve as phoric bridges between prior and following context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the expression of subjective and intersubjective stance through a particular class of possessive markers in Central Mongolian. Central Mongolian has two morphologically distinct sets of possessive pronominal markers, and while those used in prenominal position fulfill referential functions, the postnominal possessives convey additional attitudinal meanings. The most subjective form, 1sg.poss min' , and the most polite form, 2sg.hon.poss tan' , are primarily used to express the speaker's affective evaluation of the possessee and retain their possessive meaning. The forms that combine an intersubjective perspective with a lack of deferential politeness, 1pl.poss maan' and 2sg.poss čin' , may dispense with their original possessive and affective meanings and instead be used in an attempt to sponsor a common ground between the interlocutors, either cooperatively (reflecting addressee inclusion) or unilaterally (reflecting implicated higher speaker status from the use of a non-honorific form). In terms of grammaticalization, these forms hint at a cline from the subjective-evaluative 1sg/2sg.hon.poss over intermediate 1pl.poss to the intersubjective, partially epistemic 2sg.poss to the purely discourse-structuring specificity marker n ' 3poss. The subjective forms prevail in poetic texts and the intersubjective form prevails in conversational data, while only n' is compatible with detached registers like law. Highlights • Mongolian prenominal possessives are indexical, while postnominals express attitude. • Postnominal possessives are often reinterpreted as (inter)subjectivity markers. • Subjective markers convey closeness (1sg), deference (2sg.hon) or common bond (1pl). • The intersubjective markers express joint epistemic stance. • These markers can be cooperative (1pl) or authoritative (2sg.non-hon). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Vague category markers (hereafter VCMs), also known as general extenders, are a pervasive phenomenon of spoken discourse. They include expressions such as and things like that and or whatever. They have been studied in conversational contexts and specialised contexts (e.g. courtroom discourse, radio broadcasts) but spoken business and professional communication has received relatively less attention. Using two corpora, this article addresses: (1) the forms and functions of VCMs in English business talk and in Russian business/professional talk, and (2) the comparability of VCMs across the two datasets. In both corpora, a range of VCMs similar to those found in everyday conversational contexts occur. The functions of VCMs in business/professional data replicate those illustrated in previous research into VCM use, i.e., the projection of fluid, exemplar-based categories which appeal to shared knowledge, hedging, the projection of a shared identity both within and between groups and as shorthand references to different levels of shared knowledge, from internal knowledge shared by the group to general, global knowledge and experience. The efficient functioning of VCMs is evidenced in turn-taking. VCMs in both datasets attach to a wide range of exemplar-types, regardless of syntactic configuration. Although the two datasets could not be perfectly matched, sufficient similarities enable useful comparisons to be made, albeit translatability of VCMS is often complicated by the number of internal variants any VCM may display. Highlights • Vague Category markers which are common in casual conversation are also found in business talk in both English and Russian. • The functions of vague category markers are largely comparable between English and Russian. • VCMs often display no syntactic matching between exemplars and their projected categories. • Both English and Russian VCMs are prominent markers of linguistic identity. • The creation and maintenance of identities (whether corporate, national or cultural) is supported by VCM use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates three pragmatic markers which hitherto have not been discussed in Nigerian English. It examines the meaning, grammatical properties and discourse-pragmatic functions of these pragmatic markers: o, sha and abi in the International Corpus of English-Nigeria, from a grammatical-pragmatic approach. The results reveal that o is an emphasis marker and a mitigation marker, sha is a discourse marker, an attention marker and a mitigation marker while abi occurs as a discourse marker and as an agreement marker. The three markers are syntactically optional; they mostly occupy the clause-final position and are mainly found in informal talks. While o is derived from various Nigerian indigenous languages including Yoruba, Igbo and Ishan, sha and abi are borrowed from Yoruba. The paper concludes that o may be a likely candidate for inclusion in Standard Nigerian English, due to its frequency, distribution and functions in Nigerian English. Highlights • O, sha and abi are pragmatic markers borrowed from Nigerian indigenous languages into Nigerian English. • The data were taken from the International Corpus of English-Nigeria. • O is an emphasis marker and a mitigation marker. • Sha is a discourse marker, an attention marker and a mitigation marker. • Abi occurs as a discourse marker and as an agreement marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]