A Study Of Discourse Marker I Mean Under The Theory Of Grammaticalization

I mean is believed to be one of the most frequently used discour se markers because of many pragmatic functions I mean can serve such as editing mistakes,providing clarification,mitigating face-threat,etc..However,current studies on I mean mainly focus on its synchronic usage;sporadic studies are from diachronic p erspective,but they fail to provide a clear syntactic and semantic path for the development of discourse marker I mean.In this thesis,therefore,the author will investigate how I mean,originally a subject-verb structure,becomes a discourse marker by exploring its syntactic and semantic development,the mechanisms leading to these changes and features accompanied.Under the theory of grammaticalization which can account for how grammatical forms emerge in a language,a quantitative and qualitative analy sis is conducted on discourse marker I mean based on data collected from COHA.The following findings are concluded in this thesis: firstly,discourse marker I mean is evolved from I mean + phrasal complement structure,with its syntactic path as I mean + phrasal element > phrasal element + I mean > phrasal element,I mean / I mean,phrasal element(discourse marker I mean)while its semantic path as ideational meaning > non-ideational meaning(textual meaning + expressive meaning);secondly,four mechanisms lead to the grammaticalization of I mean with reanalysis and analogy operating on the syntactic level while metaphor and pragmatic inferencing on the semantic level;thirdly,the grammaticalization of I mean displays the characteristics of unidirectionality,layering,divergence,persistence,subjectification and intersubjectification.Unidirectionality,layering and divergence are demonstrated by the syntactic path of I mean while persistence,subjectification and intersubjectification indicate the semantic-pragmatic features of I mean.This thesis,in general,elucidates a clear syntactic and semantic path for the development of discourse marker I mean.The study will enrich the studies of discourse marker I mean as well as grammaticalization,especially the grammaticalization of discourse marker in the way that they provide references for the study of other discourse markers under the theory of grammaticalization.