2003 3 145

No.3, May 2003 Journal of Foreign Languages General Serial No.145

1004-5139200303-0058-07 H030 A

well

510420

well
well 12
3
4 well

well

A Pragmatic Account of the Discourse Marker WELL

RAN Yong-ping
(CLAL, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510420, China)

Abstract: The present paper focuses on the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker WELL in verbal
interaction. After the analysis of the collected data in English it is found WELL can act respectively as a
mitigator of face-threatening acts, hesitation or delay marker of some speech acts, insufficiency marker as well as
repair marker in different contexts. Such a study from a micro perspective might help to rethink about the
functions of the small words or other parentheticals in interaction, which are detachable with regard to their
syntactic constraints.
Key words: discourse marker; WELL; pragmatic functions; dynamic feature

Blakemore19881996Unger1996
well, oh, you knowyou seeI mean,
that is to sayin other wordsas I said


discourse discourse particle
markers[19; 20] 20 70 pragmatic marker

[16;
5] 80 Levinson [9: 87-88]

Schourup1982Schiffrin1987

58
 but, therefore, in conclusion, well
to the contrary, still, however, anyway, well, well
besides, actually, all in all, so, after all
21

Brown Levinson[4]
metapragamtic indicators Verschueren

1999
well [18]

well

well

Hlker1991, cf. [6] mitigation
mitigator
20 80
a b [5]
c
d
Brown Levinson
face-threatening acts
Well

(1) She sings well. well
(2) They know the meaning perfectly well.

(3) The farmer digs his well in the field.
(4) Water wells from a spring beneath the rock.

(5) It might be well for you to see a doctor.

(6) Well, here we are at last.

15 well


6 well

metapragmatic awareness

Verschueren 1995: 367

59
(7) A: We'll all miss Bill and Agatha, wont we? A
B1: Well, we'll miss Bill.
B2: We'll miss Bill. [8: 80] B
B1
Bill B1 well
Agatha
B2 B1
B2 (10) A: How about going to the cinema?
well B: Well I have to prepare for the exam.
A B
B A
A
(8) A: They must worry about you though Eddie,
dont they, your Mum and Dad, when 22
youre doing all these jumps. Well
B: Er well they always come to all the shows.
(9) A: Can I see them? 11
B: Um well Im not allowed to do that. [6] 12
8 B A (11) A: How much are you selling your car for?
B: Well, let me see how about 4,000
9 A B dollars.
well (12) Jeanne: Oh, come, Mathilde, surely you can
well tell an old friend.
well Mathilde: Well, well, it was all because of
that necklace.
12 Mathilde

[13]
[21]8 A It was all

because of that necklace

must (13) R: Hello, Benjamin.
dont theyA B: Hello, Mrs. Robinson.
B B R: Well
A
A B: Well
B R: Benjamin?
A B: Yes? (The Graduate)
9 A (14) Nala: Oh, mum, can I go with Simba?
Nalas Mom: Hmm. What do you think,

60
 Sarabi?
Sarabi: Well
Simba & Nala: Please.
Sarabi: Its all right with me. well
Simba & Nala: Yeah. (The Lion King)
13 Robinson Benjamin


well (16) A: Did you kill your wife?
B1: Well, yes.
well B2: Yes.
14 Nala Simba (17) A: Did you take the money on the desk?
Nala B1: Well, yes.
Sarabi Sarabi B2: Yes.
Simba Nala B1 B2

well
16 B1

17 B1
(15) A: On the floor.
B: On on [Ti:] well on [Ti:] hatchway there.
[14] well
A B B B1 B2
A B1 A
24
B what do you mean by well yes?
on the hatchway on the floor
B well

well A well
marker of insufficiency
E-e-e En
(18) Zelda: Are you from Philadelphia?
Sally: Well I grew up uh out in the suburbs.
23 And then I lived for about seven years up
Lakoff[7]Schiffrin[11] well in upstate New York. And then I came
back here tgo to college. [11]
Schiffrin Zelda Sally

well aSally bSally

61

background assumptions Sally editing markerBois[14]
Zelda a that is
reference editing
brather
(19) A: The man speaks extremely good English. nuance editing
cI mean
B1: Well he comes from a village in Korea. mistake editing
dwell
B2: Yet he comes from a village in Korea. claiming editing
B1 He comes from a village (21) I drove ninety miles an hour, well, eight-five
in Korea all the way to Santa Fe.
(22) We walked along in silence for a bit, well,
B2 yet B1 not really silence because she was
bumming.
(23) A: Good morning, Fred. I hope youve
recovered from your illness.
B: Yes, thank you. Er well, not fully, but
(20) A: The woman speaks extremely good Im on the mend. [17]
Chinese. 2122 well
B1: Well, she is Chinese. self-repair23 B A
B2: Well, she is American. A
B1 A other-repair

B1
well

B2 well
24

well

25
(24) A: I really don't want to explain that to the
man again.
B: Well, you have to think of the result.
24 (25) (Mr Darcy awaits his Aunt anxiously.)
Darcy: Well?
Catherine: A blank refusal.
Darcy: She refused to see me?
(Pride and Prejudice)
repair on line


well
well

62
 [7] Lakoff, R. Questionable answers and answerable

signpost/ marker questions[A]. B. B. Kachru, et al. Issues in

Linguistics[C]. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois
Press, 1973. 453-467.
[8] Leech, G. Principles of Pragmatics[M]. London:
Longman, 1983.
well [9] Levinson, S. Pragmatics[M]. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1983.
[10] Quirk, R. et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the
English Language[C]. London: Longman, 1985.
[11] Schiffrin, D. Discourse Markers[M]. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987.
[12] Schourup, L. C. Common Discourse Particles in
English Conversation[M]. New York: Garland,
/ 1982.
well [13] Sperber, D. & D. Wilson. Relevance:
Communication & Cognition[M]. Oxford:
Blackwell, 1986/1995.
[14] Svartvik, Jan. Well in conversation[A]. S.
[1] Blakemore, D. The organization of discourse[A]. F. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik. Studies in
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University Press[C]. Cambridge: Cambridge London: Longman, 1980. 167-177.
University Press, 1988. Vol.IV: 229-250. [15] Unger, Christoph. The scope of discourse
[2] Blakemore, D. Are apposition markers discourse connectives: implications for discourse
markers[J]. Journal of Linguistics, 1996, (32): organization[J]. Journal of Linguistics, 1996, (32):
325-347. 403-438.
[3] Blass, R. Relevance Relations in Discourse: A [16] van Dijk, Teun A. Pragmatic connectives[J].
Study with Special Reference to Sissala[C]. Journal of Pragmatics, 1979, (3): 447-456.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. [17] , , .
[4] Brown, P. & S. Levinson. Universals in language [Z]. : , 2000.
usage: politeness phenomena[A]. Ester N. Goody. [18] . well [J].
Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social , 1995, (3).
Interaction[C]. Cambridge: Cambridge University [19] . [J].
Press, 1978. 56-289. , 2000, (4).
[5] Fraser, Bruce. Conversational mitigation[J]. Journal [20] . you know
of Pragmatics, 1980, (4): 341-350. [J]. , 2002a, (4).
[6] Jucker, Andreas H. The discourse marker Well: A [21] . [J]. ,
relevant-theoretical account[J]. Journal of 2002b, (4).
Pragmatics, 1993, (19): 435-452.

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JOHN SINCLAIR TUSCAN WORD CENTER
WOLFGANG TUBERT BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY
ANNA MAURANEN
EMY CUI HONGKONG UNIVERSITY


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200030 62932752 nlpjd@mail.sjtu.edu.cn

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