You know: Core Meaning and Functions in Discourse PDF

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Running head: YOU KNOW: CORE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS IN DISCOURSE 1 You Know: Core Meaning and Functions in Discourse Scott A. Benzenberg Radboud University YOU KNOW: CORE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS IN DISCOURSE 2 Particles are classified as lexical units which do not alter the propositional content of the...

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Running head: YOU KNOW: CORE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS IN DISCOURSE

You Know: Core Meaning and Functions in Discourse Scott A. Benzenberg Radboud University

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Particles are classified as lexical units which do not alter the propositional content of the utterance they appear in. Instead, markers operate the organization of discourse, turn structure, interpersonal dynamics and the speaker’s attitude toward the propositional content of the utterance (Foolen, 2014). These pragmatic markers are frequent occurrences in spoken language and are functional in the procedural role they play in discourse (Muysken, 2008). One such marker in English is the phrase you know. Like many pragmatic markers, this one phrase can be used in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes (Östman, 1981, p. 16). This paper seeks to analyse two proposals for core meanings of you know by investigating how you know operates in three distinct domains of language use: textual, social and metalinguistic. All examples will be taken from my own concordance searches from the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MiCASE). While the English particle you know has been observed to demonstrate a variety of functions in discourse, two proposals have been forwarded to account for the core meanings of the marker. Here, core meaning refers to the conventionalized meaning or generic meaning which is used as the basis of interpretation and analysis (Fox Tree & Schrock, 2002). As Frasier (1988) notes, "a discourse marker permits a wide range of interpretations, all of which arguably emerge from a core sense. Starting with this core meaning, the specific interpretation [....] in a given instance is the result of enriching this general signal in light of the details of the particular discourse context" (as quoted in Bell, 1998). For discourse particles such as you know, meaning is context-dependent and highly variable. A core meaning approach provides a useful tool for analysis as it frames particular use as related to the wider categorical network. Here, the prototypical or core meaning implies a basic, salient meaning with figurative or abstracted meanings at the periphery of the category. What is critical about core meanings is that they offer a conventionalized motivation for use from which peripheral usage can be derived. I suggest that this derivational property should be a central criterion for defining core meaning. Core Meanings The first proposal for a core meaning of you know is defined by Östman (1981) as a marker used by the speaker to encourage the addressee to “accept the propositional content of his utterance as mutual background knowledge” (p. 17) or check whether the speaker and addressee share similar views. Fox Tree and Schrock (2002) extend this definition slightly by suggesting you know marks the particular utterance where mutual agreement is sought. (1)

okay okay. so we'll leave all the controversy (xx) controversy is okay…okay? we're not (xx) but, we, we gon- we gonna leave it we gonna talk about it later you know, so save your poin- good points for later. not yet. STP095SU139

In the example (1), the speaker moves a classroom discussion forward by referencing a future opportunity for student elaboration. Here the marker is used as a way for the speaker to check whether the classroom is clear about the propositional content of the utterance and whether they agree with the parameters.

YOU KNOW: CORE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS IN DISCOURSE

(2)

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oh. let's see. well, you know how you have A equals C-Z right? mhm and B equals D-X? mhm B equals, Y minus A, and D equals, one minus C, you plug those in here, add those two equations together... . SGR385SU057

Here the speaker uses you know as a check to ensure the addressee shares the background knowledge relevant and necessary for the discourse to continue. This use also has the additional characteristic of management in the social domain which will be discussed in further detail below. Jucker and Smith (1998) suggest that the discourse marker you know is used primarily “to involve the addressee in the joint construction of a representation” (p. 196). Here the marker highlights the particular information in question and calls upon the addressee to make the correct inference. Jucker and Smith further suggest that this marker is used to address information which may or may not be common knowledge to both speaker and hearer, but which is critical to the point being made. Implied in this proposal for the core meaning of you know is that the marked information which requires inference will subsequently be part of shared knowledge between speaker and addressee.

(3)

S1: alright so, then, you got subjects? S2: i have an idea of subjects… S1: … there are a number of other people around that have, have uh have contacts though. you could uh, you could put a um, um a message out to you know the linguistics faculty. OFC355SU094

In the example above (3), you know marks an instance where S2 must fill in the gaps with an inference. Jucker and Smith (1998) argue that use is a discourse strategy which invites the addressee to participate in a “joint construction of a representation” (p. 196). In the sections below, I will compare these two proposals for core meaning of the particle you know as it is used in three domains of discourse. Discourse Domains Since pragmatic markers are used extensively for an array of functions, any effective analysis must investigate how they operate in context. Erman (2001) argues that pragmatic markers are not meaningful in themselves, but instead are provided meaning based solely in the context in which they appear. He further defines three domains of discourse where pragmatic markers can function: textual, social and metalinguistic. Broadly speaking, a particle is categorized as belonging to one of these domains based upon its primary focus in discourse management. Erman suggests that you know operates as a monitor in each of these three domains. Textual Particles which monitor at the textual level are primarily focused on the discourse itself. Particles here are used to structure and organized discourse to make it manageable and coherent for the addressee. This organizational function of you know is additionally noted by Stubbe and Holmes (1995) who offer that this marker can be employed as a filler which

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provides additional verbal planning time. Together, this textual domain covers pragmatic uses where the focus is in the presentation itself.

(4)

i think i agree with you there because, [S2: it's ] mission statements, are generally too vague to, um, i mean i think they're important to analyze and especially the Focus Hope one which is, the one i remember, [S2: mhm ] um, it was interesting because it it is explicitly trying to bring, you know city and suburb together and like, through sort of service solve those, kind of big divides that have created the, disaster that Detroit is OFC115SU060

One very frequent use of you know as a textual monitor is as a topic organizer, as in (4). Here, the speaker uses you know as a way to merge smaller pieces of discourse into the larger topic. The marker helps to structure the discourse and highlight the new information being introduced. (5)

well, y- it's gonna be (kind of an) elongated triangle okay? so we have, we have the center of the nebula (xx) and we have the (remnant here...) so, like, you know that this distance, (xx) point-three-one parsecs so that's what we just figured out OFC150MU042

In (5), the speaker uses you know to encourage the addressee to accept the new information as relating to the wider topic of discourse. Both examples (4) and (5) operate as primarily structural and establish cues for interpretation to mark information which is particularly relevant. The proposed core meaning for you know set forth by Östman (1981) would suggest that these uses also imply a check or demonstration of shared knowledge. Indeed, both (4) and (5) operate in this way. You know as a structural organizer works by highlighting information which needs particular attention and calling attention to the addressee to accept the relationship between new and old information. The shared view being monitored in (4) and (5) is coherence of the discourse. The second proposal for core meaning would suggest that the use of you know is primarily to encourage the addressee to make the correct inference. This interpretation is not immediately clear. In the example (4), it could be suggested that the speaker is inviting the addressee to make an inference that the new information is related to old information, but this function is a weak one because the relationship is immediately available in the semantics of the utterance. In (5), it could be argued that the speaker is using you know to encourage inference that the distance of pointthree-one parsecs will be necessary and useful as the discourse continues, but again this interpretation stretches and unnecessarily abstracts the immediate function of discourse marking. For the speaker here, it is not important that the addressee is able to infer some missing piece of information or collaborate in the production of meaning. It is, however, critical for the speaker that the addressee is aware of the significance of the marked information. Marking in these examples from the textual domain more closely fits Östman’s (1981) proposal. Social In addition to functioning as textual monitor, you know also operates as a pragmatic marker for social management. Here the particle is used to manage interpersonal relationships through what Erman (2001) refers to as negotiation signals. Interpersonal management in

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conversation has the primary function of turn-taking and turn-yielding, though Fox Tree and Schrock (2002) note that this use of you know can occur at any point in the turn. Additionally, a number of studies about the use of you know as social monitor have been conducted to determine whether you know appears more frequently among different sets of social groups and in different types of talk. A study by Stubbe and Holmes (1995) investigated the use of discourse markers in middle-class and working-class speakers and found that you know was used significantly more often by working-class men in informal contexts. They offer that these findings suggest you know may be a marker of solidarity. (6)

S1: i really enjoyed my film and video class S2: why don't you take another film and video course then? you know? S1: i really did enjoy that class a lot. ADV700JU047

In the example (6), you know is clearly operating as a turn-yielding marker as the speaker uses the marker in the turn final position. What is particularly interesting is that you know is also functioning as a question tag at the end of the speaker’s question.

(7)

S1: in a sense i guess we're supposed to be stumped by Benjamin. in that very sort of, that way of writing that, one could perhaps write an entire dissertation on, what is, the brink in modernity? you know. S2: Jaime and i are gonna fight over that one. SEM545MG083

Example (7) shows a similar pattern. The speaker marks the previous question with the tag you know as a way of marking the turn yield to the addressee. In both (6) and (7), the speaker makes a distinct appeal for the addressee to respond the question posed. (8)

S1: okay, (xx) and seventeen, [S2: okay ] five hundred S2: five hundred so, what's, what is it, five hundred and seventeen? so uhh, you know it's S1: i know it's part of the other one OFC150MU042

Example (8) also shows some turn management properties, but this conversational turn is slightly more adversarial. Here the speaker marks a question with the additional tag, but does not immediately seem ready to yield the turn. The addressee, however, recognizes this as an opportunity, responds directly and begins a new turn. The use of you know in the social domain operates primarily as a social negotiator, but under what motivation? In example (6) and (7), the addressee responds by affirming or continuing the propositional content of the speaker’s utterance. Two things are immediately important in these examples. First, while you know has the function of turn-yielding, both examples demonstrate a case where the turn is clearly finished even if you know were omitted. While you know has a turn management function in these cases, this doesn’t seem to be the primary motivation for use. Additionally, the addressee responds directly to the propositional content that is being marked by you know. Taken together, these examples demonstrate you know is being used to check shared views in strong support of Östman’s proposal. Further support is provided by example (8). Here the addressee interprets the marker as a direct prompt. The alternative view of a core meaning as it relates to interpersonal relationships is

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forwarded by Fox Tree and Schrock, who suggest that you know might be used as a way to invite addressee inferences. It is difficult to reconcile this view with the examples above. Jucker and Smith (1998) suggest that “you know invites the addressee to recognize both the relevance and the implications of the utterance marked with you know” (p. 194). While this view can be adapted to the examples above, it seems strange and unnecessary to mark a question with an invitation to recognize its relevance while also anticipating a response. Metalinguistic The final domain of discourse as forwarded by Erman (2001) is the metalinguistic domain. This category refers to discourse markers used to comment on the discourse, mark illocutionary force and highlight the speaker’s commitment to the propositional content of the utterance. Erman suggests that you know is used in this category most often to mark speaker emphasis on a proposition, but you know is also commonly used as a hedge or as a substitute for filling out potentially face-threatening content. Additionally, Erman proposes the use of you know as an approximator which can be used to give the addressee an idea about the general purpose of the discourse. (9)

S1: so you pretty much gotta question everything. S2: (anything) well whatever interests you [S1: okay ] you know whatever you know just S1: well yeah cuz i just i normally just read the book and like i kinda like i understand what the author S2: i'm just showing you how to ask questions [S1: yeah ] i'm not telling you what questions to ask. ADV700JU047

(10)

so like everything you need for your pet mhm um or every- all the vitamins you need or, you know whatever. um, so i'm not sure that you can hold this point, so, think about it some more and see if it... mkay OFC115SU060

In the examples (9) and (10) above, the speaker is using you know as a way to summarize and approximate the general meaning of the discourse. Here, the speaker trusts that the addressee will be able to follow the connections between the approximated information and the rest of the discourse. What is also noteworthy about these examples is that the marker you know is collocated with whatever, a further way to elide components of the discourse. (11)

S1: and then you just go on when i heard the ne- ne- y- that's fine [S2: mm okay. ] you just kind of, you know it's just, without giving any specific details [S2: mhm ] it sounds very mysterious and you don't uh you know[S2: i understand ] doesn't need to be totally S2: right. OFC301MU021

In (11) the speaker is a writing instructor providing some advice to an undergraduate student about the contents of a paper. Here, the speaker is trying to carefully convey that certain changes to the paper may be necessary. When details become difficult to elaborate, the speaker chooses to employ you know as a hedge. In all the examples above, the speaker is indeed asking the addressee to make some inferences about the contents of the discourse. In (9) and (10), the inference is in regards to the elided contents of the utterance. The speaker

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highlights the particular place where the inference is required and in (9) the addressee demonstrates the ability to make the correct inference. In (11), the speaker’s use of you know additionally requires an inference on the part of the addressee. These examples suggest that inference marking is indeed an important function of you know. Here though, the view that you know is a check for shared views still fits rather well. In the above examples, while the speaker is specifically asking for an inference on the part of the addressee, the more general function of marking or checking shared views is still very much in effect. Discussion In the above analysis, Östman’s proposal that the core meaning of you know is primarily to check or demonstrate shared views between the speaker and the addressee seems to fit most directly with the linguistic data from the MiCASE corpus. I argue that the directionality between Östman’s core meaning and the use of you know as a call for inference is one that closely resembles the core/periphery framework outlined above. While all examples of you know above can be viewed as marking a check for mutual understanding between speaker and hearer, only examples from the metalinguistic domain function as inference markers. Even in these cases, Östman’s proposal appears to operate as a core motivation for the more peripheral and derived uses of you know.

YOU KNOW: CORE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS IN DISCOURSE

References Bell, D. (1998). Cancellative discourse markers: A Core/Periphery approach. Pragmatics 8(4), 515-541. Erman, B. (2001). Pragmatic markers revisited with a focus on you know in adult and adolescent talk. Journal of Pragmatics 33, 1337-1359. Foolen, A. (2014, June 5). Dutch particles in the right periphery. Nijmegen. Retrieved from Blackboard. Fox Tree, J. E., & Schrock, J. C. (2002). Basic meaings of you know and I mean. Journal of Pragmatics 34, 727-747. Jucker, A. H., & Smith, S. W. (1998). And people you know just like 'wow': Discourse Markers as Negotiating Strategies. In A. H. Jucker, & Y. Ziv, Discourse Markers: Descriptions and Theory (pp. 171-202). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Muysken, P. (2008). Functional Categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Östman, J.-O. (1981). You Know: A discourse functional approach. John Benjamins. Simpson, R. C., S. L. Briggs, J. Ovens, and J. M. Swales. (2002) The Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English. Ann Arbor, MI: The Regents of the University of Michigan. Stubbe, M., & Holmes, J. (1995). You know, eh and other 'exasperating expressions': An analysis of social and stylistic variation in the use of pragmatic devices in a sample of New Zealand English. Language & Communication 15, 63-88.

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