Analysis Of The Pragmatic Functions Of The Discourse Marker Oh From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Many linguists devote themselves to the research on discourse markers with theestablishment and development of pragmatics and discourse analysis. Discoursemarkers do not change the propositional content of utterances, but they mainly affectthe construction and comprehension of the utterances. The study of discourse markershas a theoretically and practically important effect on the use and comprehension ofthe language.This thesis provides a detailed and systematic analysis of the pragmatic functionsof the discourse marker oh with the data collected from Grey’s Anatomy (season8)within the framework of relevance theory. The present thesis adopts both qualitativeand quantitative methods to do the analysis. Qualitatively, different functions of thediscourse marker oh are distinguished. Quantitatively, the number of oh in Grey’sAnatomy (season8) is counted and the frequency rates of oh in different functions arecompared to determine which function is the most popular under the conversationaldomain among doctors or between doctors and patients.The present thesis aims to analyze the following questions: firstly, how does thediscourse marker oh pragmatically function in the ostensive-inferentialcommunication in Grey’s Anatomy (season8)? Secondly, how does the discoursemarker oh achieve the pragmatic functions in context negotiation in Grey’s Anatomy(season8)? Thirdly, how does the discourse marker oh realize optimal relevance withits pragmatic functions in Grey’s Anatomy (season8)?The study shows: through the analysis of the data, we can see the discoursemarker oh has many different pragmatic functions. Under most circumstances, thediscourse marker oh is used as an emotional marker to help the speaker to expressstrong emotions. But within the framework of relevance theory, the discourse markeroh can stimulate ostensive-inferential process. During this process, the speaker shouldprovide enough ostension for the hearer to understand the speaker’s utterance correctly. The hearer makes inferences of the speaker’s utterance to identify thespeaker’s informative intention and gives proper response in an effort to achievecommunicative intention. In daily communication, communicators employ thediscourse marker oh to give some ostension and make inferences to ensure asuccessful communication. In ostensive-inferential communication, the discoursemarker oh can be used as an ostensive marker and an inferential marker inostensive-inferential process. This thesis thinks that the discourse marker oh has fournew pragmatic functions, as commenting marker, requesting marker, expectingmarker and narrating marker.The thesis has found: the discourse marker oh can be used as an indicator incontext negotiation. Context can constrain the utterance production and interpretation.The speaker can use some linguistic devices to choose relevant context. Discoursemarkers are one of the most effective methods. Performing different pragmaticfunctions, oh can strengthen or contradict the present proposition through causingcontextual effects. Through the analysis of the specific data, the discourse marker ohhas four pragmatic functions when it is used as an indicator in strengthening thepresent proposition, in which oh could be used as an information management marker,an attitude marker, a topic continuing marker and a confirmative answer marker. Thisthesis proposes two new pragmatic functions, including oh as an attitude marker and atopic continuing marker. These two functions are first put forward in this thesis. Whenoh is used as an indicator in contradicting the present proposition, it has the followingpragmatic functions: as turn change marker, as negative answer marker, insufficiencymarker and information repairing marker. This thesis innovatively presents thefollowing new functions: oh as a persuasion marker, an explanatory marker, anantiphrasis marker, and an insufficiency marker.The final goal of communication is to achieve optimal relevance. Optimalrelevance aims to achieve enough cognitive effects by paying effective effort. Theemployment of the discourse marker oh can constrain the utterance interpretation andcomprehension, help communicators choose the right cognitive environment and negotiate and renegotiate the relevant context. During this process, the hearer canachieve optimal relevance with the least processing effort. This thesis also deals withhow the discourse marker oh achieve its optimal relevance by which oh can be usedas hesitation marker, face-threatening mitigation marker, initiating marker, contrastivemarker and attention attracting marker. Meanwhile, this thesis innovatively proposesthree new pragmatic functions including oh as a contrastive marker, an informationconfirming marker and a springing to mind marker. When oh performs these functions,it acts as a signpost to constrain the interpretation of the utterance it introduces, thus,to minimize interlocutor’s processing effort, maximize contextual effects and achieveoptimal relevance.To sum up, this thesis analyzes different pragmatic functions of the discoursemarker oh in Grey’s Anatomy (season8) from the perspective of ostensive-inferentialcommunication, context negotiation and optimal relevance. Although the presentthesis has its own limitations, it is the writer’s tentative try in the study of thepragmatic functions of the discourse marker oh. Through the analysis, the writer hasunderstood different pragmatic functions of the discourse marker oh to a certainextent and can correctly understand and use it so as to push forward theconversational turns and ensure effective communication. This thesis also proves thatrelevance theory has strong explanatory power for the study of discourse markers. Itexpands the scope of the study of discourse markers, and enriches and develops thestudy of discourse markers.