Table Of ContentExpressing Opinions in French and Australian English Discourse
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Volume 200
Expressing Opinions in French and Australian English Discourse. A semantic
and interactional analysis
by Kerry Mullan
Expressing Opinions in French
and Australian English Discourse
A semantic and interactional analysis
Kerry Mullan
RMIT University
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mullan, Kerry.
Expressing opinions in French and Australian English discourse : a semantic and inter-
actional analysis / Kerry Mullan.
p. cm. (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, issn 0922-842X ; v. 200)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Discourse markers. 2. French language--Discourse analysis. 3. English language--
Australia--Discourse analysis. 4. Grammar, Comparative and general--Indirect
discourse. 5. Semantics. I. Title
P302.35.M85 2011
401’.45--dc22 2010030447
isbn 978 90 272 5604 1 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 8765 6 (Eb)
© 2010 – John Benjamins B.V.
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Different cultures have different ‘cultural scripts’ – different unwritten rules
about how to behave, how to speak and also how to think and how to feel.
(Wierzbicka 2002b: 244)
Language, culture, and society are grounded in interaction: they stand in a
reflexive relationship with the self, the other and the self-other relationship,
and it is out of these mutually constitutive relationships that discourse is
created. (Schiffrin 1994: 134)
Our expression of stance … is shaped by culture and custom – we are social-
ized to use particular stance markers in particular ways.
(Precht 2003: 240)
Table of contents
Acknowledgments xi
Transcription conventions xiii
List of tables and figures xv
List of appendices xvii
chapter 1
Introduction 1
1.1 Aims and objectives 1
1.2 Contents of the book 3
chapter 2
Methodology and data collection 5
2.1 Methodologies 5
2.1.1 Interactional sociolinguistics 7
2.1.2 Conversation analysis 9
2.1.3 Brown and Levinson 13
2.1.4 Semantic primes and cultural scripts 14
2.2 Data collection 15
2.2.1 Participants 17
2.2.2 Procedure 20
2.2.3 Transcriptio n method 21
chapter 3
Overview of interactional style and discourse markers 29
3.1 Interactional style 29
3.1.1 French interactional style 30
3.1.2 Australian English interactional style 35
3.2 I think, je pense, je crois, je trouve as discourse markers 41
3.2.1 Definitions of discourse markers 42
3.2.2 Characteristics and functions of discourse markers 44
3.2.3 Discourse marker meaning 48
3.2.4 Grammaticisation of discourse markers 53
viii Expressing Opinions in French and Australian English Discourse
chapter 4
The role of I think in Australian English interaction 59
4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Previous studies on I think 60
4.3 Occurrences of I think 66
4.4 Roles of I think in Australian English 70
4.4.1 Intonation unit-initial I think 73
4.4.1.1 Intonation unit-initial I think as an organisational
discourse marker 73
4.4.1.2 Intonation unit-initial I think to mark speaker opinion /
doubt 86
4.4.1.3 Intonation unit-initial I think as a face-saving device 89
4.4.2 Intonation unit-medial I think 95
4.4.2.1 Intonation unit-medial I think as an organisational
discourse marker 96
4.4.2.2 Intonation unit-medial I think to mark speaker opinion /
doubt 98
4.4.3 Intonation unit-final I think 103
4.4.3.1 Intonation unit-final I think as an organisational
discourse marker 103
4.4.3.2 Intonation unit-final I think to mark speaker opinion /
doubt 107
4.4.4 Intonation unit-separate I think 110
4.4.4.1 Intonation unit-separate I think as an organisational
discourse marker 110
4.4.4.2 Intonation unit-separate I think to mark speaker opinion /
doubt 117
4.5 Summary 119
chapter 5
Je pense, je crois and je trouve 125
5.1 Introduction 125
5.2 Previous studies on je pense, je crois, je trouve 128
5.3 Occurrences of je pense, je crois, je trouve 143
Table of contents ix
chapter 6
The role of je pense in French interaction 149
6.1 Roles of je pense in French 149
6.2 Intonation unit-initial je pense 150
6.2.1 Intonation unit-initial je pense as an organisational
discourse marker 151
6.2.2 Intonation unit-initial je pense to mark speaker opinion 162
6.3 Intonation unit-medial je pense 171
6.3.1 Intonation unit-medial je pense to mark speaker opinion 171
6.4 Intonation unit-final je pense 177
6.4.1 Intonation unit-final je pense as an organisational
discourse marker 177
6.4.2 Intonation unit-final je pense to mark speaker opinion 180
6.5 Intonation unit-separate je pense 182
6.5.1 Intonation unit-separate je pense as an organisational
discourse marker 183
6.6 Summary 187
chapter 7
The role of je crois in French interaction 191
7.1 Roles of je crois in French 191
7.2 Intonation unit-initial je crois 195
7.2.1 Intonation unit-initial je crois as an organisational
discourse marker 195
7.2.2 Intonation unit-initial je crois to mark speaker belief 205
7.3 Intonation unit-medial je crois 209
7.3.1 Intonation unit-medial je crois as an organisational
discourse marker 209
7.3.2 Intonation unit-medial je crois to mark speaker belief 210
7.4 Intonation unit-final je crois 213
7.4.1 Intonation unit-final je crois as an organisational
discourse marker 213
7.4.2 Intonation unit-final je crois to mark speaker belief 215
7.5 Intonation unit-separate je crois 216
7.5.1 Intonation unit-separate je crois as an organisational
discourse marker 217
7.6 Summary 219
x Expressing Opinions in French and Australian English Discourse
chapter 8
The role of je trouve in French interaction 223
8.1 Roles of je trouve in French 223
8.2 Intonation unit-initial je trouve 224
8.2.1 Intonation unit-initial je trouve as an organisational
discourse marker 225
8.2.2 Intonation unit-initial je trouve to mark speaker opinion 230
8.3 Intonation unit-medial je trouve 235
8.3.1 Intonation unit-medial je trouve to mark speaker opinion 236
8.4 Intonation unit-final je trouve 238
8.4.1 Intonation unit-final je trouve as an organisational
discourse marker 238
8.4.2 Intonation unit-final je trouve to mark speaker opinion 242
8.5 Intonation unit-separate je trouve 245
8.5.1 Intonation unit-separate je trouve as an organisational
discourse marker 245
8.6 Summary 250
chapter 9
Conclusion 253
References 265
Appendices 277
Index 281
