The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'

Sophia Waters

The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'

Sophia Waters

Writing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Discourse particles are strewn throughout natural spoken discourse, revealing the speakers' attitude towards what they are saying and guiding the interlocutors' interpretation of that utterance. The majority of works in the area of the French discourse particles 'quoi' and 'ben' provide detailed analyses and place their primary focus on usage. Problems arise, however, when word usage is discussed without a systematic approach to semantics. The present study applies the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method of description to these particles, proposing definitive explications that can be substituted into naturally occurring examples of quoi and ben without causing any semantic loss. Explications, framed in the culture-neutral terms of the NSM, capture the subtleties of meaning conveyed by each discourse particle. They are presented in parallel English and French versions and are tested against a corpus of spoken French.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference9th - 11th July, 2009
Editors	Yvonne Treis, Rik De Busser
Place of Publication	Magill, Australia
Publisher	Australian Linguistic Society (ALS)
Pages	1-25
ISBN (Print)	9780980281538, 0980281539
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2010
Event	ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 9 Jul 2009 → 11 Jul 2009

Conference

Conference	ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference
City	Melbourne, Australia
Period	9/07/09 → 11/07/09

Keywords

Discourse and Pragmatics
Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics)
Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)

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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12929

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@inproceedings{b7508d745ee94a4588ca0f4c2624d547,

title = "The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'",

abstract = "Discourse particles are strewn throughout natural spoken discourse, revealing the speakers' attitude towards what they are saying and guiding the interlocutors' interpretation of that utterance. The majority of works in the area of the French discourse particles 'quoi' and 'ben' provide detailed analyses and place their primary focus on usage. Problems arise, however, when word usage is discussed without a systematic approach to semantics. The present study applies the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method of description to these particles, proposing definitive explications that can be substituted into naturally occurring examples of quoi and ben without causing any semantic loss. Explications, framed in the culture-neutral terms of the NSM, capture the subtleties of meaning conveyed by each discourse particle. They are presented in parallel English and French versions and are tested against a corpus of spoken French.",

keywords = "Discourse and Pragmatics, Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics), Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)",

author = "Sophia Waters",

year = "2010",

month = dec,

day = "31",

language = "English",

isbn = "9780980281538",

pages = "1--25",

editor = "Yvonne Treis and Busser, \{Rik De\}",

booktitle = "ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference9th - 11th July, 2009",

publisher = "Australian Linguistic Society (ALS)",

note = "ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference ; Conference date: 09-07-2009 Through 11-07-2009",

}

Waters, S 2010, The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'. in Y Treis & RD Busser (eds), ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference9th - 11th July, 2009. Australian Linguistic Society (ALS), Magill, Australia, pp. 1-25, ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 9/07/09. <https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12929>

The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'. / Waters, Sophia.
ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference9th - 11th July, 2009. ed. / Yvonne Treis; Rik De Busser. Magill, Australia: Australian Linguistic Society (ALS), 2010. p. 1-25.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'

AU - Waters, Sophia

PY - 2010/12/31

Y1 - 2010/12/31

N2 - Discourse particles are strewn throughout natural spoken discourse, revealing the speakers' attitude towards what they are saying and guiding the interlocutors' interpretation of that utterance. The majority of works in the area of the French discourse particles 'quoi' and 'ben' provide detailed analyses and place their primary focus on usage. Problems arise, however, when word usage is discussed without a systematic approach to semantics. The present study applies the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method of description to these particles, proposing definitive explications that can be substituted into naturally occurring examples of quoi and ben without causing any semantic loss. Explications, framed in the culture-neutral terms of the NSM, capture the subtleties of meaning conveyed by each discourse particle. They are presented in parallel English and French versions and are tested against a corpus of spoken French.

AB - Discourse particles are strewn throughout natural spoken discourse, revealing the speakers' attitude towards what they are saying and guiding the interlocutors' interpretation of that utterance. The majority of works in the area of the French discourse particles 'quoi' and 'ben' provide detailed analyses and place their primary focus on usage. Problems arise, however, when word usage is discussed without a systematic approach to semantics. The present study applies the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method of description to these particles, proposing definitive explications that can be substituted into naturally occurring examples of quoi and ben without causing any semantic loss. Explications, framed in the culture-neutral terms of the NSM, capture the subtleties of meaning conveyed by each discourse particle. They are presented in parallel English and French versions and are tested against a corpus of spoken French.

KW - Discourse and Pragmatics

KW - Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics)

KW - Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)

UR - http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2009/waters.pdf

UR - http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2009.html

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9780980281538

SN - 0980281539

SP - 1

EP - 25

BT - ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference9th - 11th July, 2009

A2 - Treis, Yvonne

A2 - Busser, Rik De

PB - Australian Linguistic Society (ALS)

CY - Magill, Australia

T2 - ALS 2009: 2009 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society Conference

Y2 - 9 July 2009 through 11 July 2009

ER -

The Semantics of French Discourse Particles 'quoi' and 'ben'

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