Discourse markers in Japanese: Connectives, fillers, and interactional particles

This dissertation analyzes the functions of Japanese connectives, fillers, and interactional particles as discourse markers used by native and normative speakers of Japanese, using Schiffrin's (1987) framework. Quantitative analysis of these markers in relation to sociolinguistic factors is also presented.; Schiffrin analyzes 11 English discourse markers using the discourse model she proposes, consisting of five planes of talk: the ideational, exchange and action structures, the participation framework, and the information state. She argues that with their indexical functions, English discourse markers provide textual and participant coordinates for an utterance, elucidating its relationship to prior and/or upcoming utterances, or to the interlocutors.; Based upon the naturally occurring speech data, I argue that Japanese connectives, fillers, and interactional particles operate in much the same way as English discourse markers. Discourse markers are indispensable part of Japanese conversation with their functions as utterance-initial, utterance-medial and utterance-final brackets of units of talk.; The connective de 'and', for example, functions as a textual coordinate, connecting utterances which are in a sequential or cause-effect relationship. It also functions as a marker of speaker continuation. Fillers not only function as pause-filling devices but also display the speaker's thoughts and feelings, such as uncertainty and hesitation. Interactional particles also reveal the speaker's feelings or attitude towards a proposition and/or the hearer.; My data suggest that the speaker's gender and speech genre are the most significant factor in the use of connectives. In the use of fillers, formality is the most significant factor. Formality and speech genre are most significantly related to the use of interactional particles.; As regards the use of Japanese discourse markers by non-native speakers, it was found that: (1) their proficiency level and the length of formal study are the two most significant factors in their discourse marker usage, and (2) when a marker has both referential and interactional functions, the former are learned before the latter.; Finally, I propose that, given their importance in natural conversation, the roles and use of discourse markers be consciously taught in Japanese language classrooms.