ABSTRACT

Along with the development of Pragmatics, the study of discourse marker has drawn more and more attention from linguists all over the world. And there are mainly three approaches on the study of discourse markers in linguistic field, including the study from the perspective of coherence-based approach represented by Deborah Schiffrin, the grammatical-pragmatic approach represented by Bruce Fraser, and the relevance-theoretical approach represented by Diane Blakemore. 

Based on the previous studies, this thesis further explores the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker well on the basis of Professor Ran Yongping’s study. We use The Desperate Housewives as the corpus and find out well has four pragmatic functions. First, well can be used as a marker to mitigate face-threaten actions, i.e. to minimize the potential threats to interlocutors. Second, it is used as the hesitation or delay marker which may give the speaker more time to think. Third, it is a repair marker which can be subdivided into self-repair and other-repair markers to correct the mistaken information. Fourth, it can be used as an insufficiency marker, implying that there is hidden information for the hearers to dig out. 

Through the analysis of the discourse marker well in The Desperate Housewives, this paper further approves the previous studies: well is one of the most frequent used discourse markers. Though it has no semantic meaning, it performs pragmatic functions in communication, which helps the interlocutors communicate smoothly. Furthermore, the study of discourse markers is significant for English learners to better understand context and realize discourse cohesion. 

Key words: discourse marker well, pragmatic functions, The Desperate Housewives

CONTENTS

摘要

ABSTRACT

Chapter One: Introduction-1

1.1 The Background of the Research-1

1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Research-2

1.3 The Structure of the Research-2

Chapter Two: Literature Review-3

2.1 Definitions of Discourse Markers-3

2.2 Functions of Discourse Markers-4

2.3 Studies on the Discourse Marker Well5

2.3.1 Studies on Discourse Marker Well Abroad..5

2.3.2 Studies on Discourse Marker Well at Home6

Chapter Three: Pragmatic Functions of the Discourse Marker Well-7

3.1 An introduction to The Desperate Housewives-7

3.2 Well as a Discourse Marker-7

3.3 Pragmatic Functions of the Discourse Marker well-8

3.3.1 The Mitigation Marker of Face-threatening Acts-8

3.3.2 The Hesitation or Delay Marker-11

3.3.3 The Repair Marker-13

3.3.3.1 The self-repair marker.14

3.3.3.2 The other-repair marker..15

3.3.4 The Insufficiency Marker17

3.4 Summary.18

Chapter Four: Conclusion-18

4.1 Major Findings of the Research-18

4.2 Applications of the Study-19

4.3 Limitations of This Thesis-19

Appendix.20

Reference-23

Acknowledgements-24